Episode 50: Dog-Proofing Our Homes with Susan Patterson

This week on the Good Dog Pod, our very own Susan Patterson joins host Laura Reeves to talk about dog-proofing our homes. Susan was a breeder advisor here at Good Dog and runs the weekly advice column Straight from the Whelping Box. She is also a renowned breeder of Labrador Retrievers and Gordon Setters. 

As many of us return to the office, questions arise about dog-proofing our homes and addressing safety concerns. This is an especially important topic for owners who acquired new puppies during the pandemic. 

Where should I start in puppy-proofing my house? According to Susan, the first and best place to start is with crate training. When properly utilized, a crate can be a safe place for a dog - a warm and welcoming place with a bed, toys, and food. Susan recommends owners to start crate training their puppies at 8 weeks old, being mindful that puppies need to go outside often, and to stop giving water and food a few hours before bedtime.

How else should I dog-proof my house, outside of crate training? Start with supervising the puppy in a small, tiled space in the house. Puppies are inclined to chew anything in their reach, so be especially careful about electronics, house plants, clothing, etc. In addition, be mindful about the human foods that are harmful to dogs; the lists here and here are good starting points. 

What are some additional tips and reasons for crate training? Sometimes owners are more worried about leaving their dogs at home alone than the dogs themselves are worried! Understand that your dog most likely will appreciate a few hours to themselves to nap. Our host has some of her own tips, including covering the crate with a blanket for a sense of security, and serving meals in the crate for positive reinforcement. 

Remember, puppy-proofing is a form of pet insurance. It can prevent your puppy from needing blockage surgery after eating something indigestible. While thinking about good puppy-owning practices, make sure to get pet insurance at a young age and check out puppy socialization classes, including Good Dog’s Savvy Socialization Course. 

Will you be attending Westminster 2021? Join us for a Breeder Appreciation Party on Friday, June 11th. The event will be outdoors, at Hudson Anchor Rooftop in Tarrytown, NY. There will be free food, drinks, live music and giveaways. And better yet: dogs are welcome! Make sure to pre-register at: https://bit.ly/3f9fwGr and follow our Facebook Event for the latest updates!

Transcript

Laura Reeves [1:20] Welcome to the Good Dog Pod! I am your host, Laura Reeves, and I’m super excited today. My friend, Susan Patterson, who’s a breeder advisor with me here at Good Dog, who is a Labrador Retriever breeder, who runs a fabulous resource online on the Facebook reproductive community—we’re going to talk about puppy-proofing/dog-proofing your house. Many of us are finding that the pandemic is affecting our work schedules less, and some of us are going back to work. Some of us have pandemic puppies that we acquired, and now their schedule is changing. So let’s talk about how we’re going to safely and happily save our house and our puppy. 

Susan Patterson [2:08] Believe me: I get that. I, too, as a Labrador breeder and Gordon Setter breeder have acquired a pandemic puppy. In December!

Laura Reeves [2:15] Yes, you have this new miniature long-haired Dachshund, right?

Susan Patterson [2:20] I do! I got her from a wonderful breeder, Helen Paradise of Paradise Dachshunds, and he is the most amazing Dachshund. He embodies everything that we all need to protect our house from. He digs. He chews. He retrieves. 

Laura Reeves [2:40] He barks a little bit, probably? 

Susan Patterson [2:42] Yeah, I got a little of that going on. But the Labradors keep him under control. But he needs to explore everything, so he’s kind of like the epitome of a Marley in a really cute package. 

Laura Reeves [2:55] And he’s smaller than the dogs you’ve had before, so that’s another consideration. 

Susan Patterson [3:00] Right now, at about 5 months old, he doesn’t even reach the belly of my 12-week-old Gordon Setter. He kind of runs under everybody, which gives puppy-proofing an entirely new meaning. Did you know puppies will tear the lining off the underside of a chair if you let them? I will get right into puppy-proofing here! 

Laura Reeves [3:25] My friend’s work computer  just got pulled to the floor this morning by her puppy when she wasn’t looking, so there you go. 

Susan Patterson [3:32] My daughter’s puppy ate her high-speed internet cord.

Laura Reeves [3:37] We have some serious safety concerns! This is something I think is very important for us to talk about. Where do we start? 

Susan Patterson [3:45] The first place I start when I send puppies home: we talk about crate-training. I think that crate-training is so important, whether the dog is going to be 5 pounds full-grown or 150 pounds full-grown. A crate is a safe place. It is where I feed my dogs. It has got their toys in it. It is warm. It is welcoming. It is not a place for punishment, although it can be a place for a time-out if I have things to do—which is why there’s toys in there, why it’s a good place to be. 

Laura Reeves [4:24] Which is why it’s safe. When you have things to do (if you have to run to the store for a half an hour, if you have to deal with people), having that crate as a safe space (that den, his own little space). 

Susan Patterson [4:40] I actually ordered one of those super comfy, fluffy—something I never do for the big dogs—I broke down and ordered two. Something got into me. It was bad. But anyway, he’s got this big, fluffy bed. It is really important that the crate is that place. It’s also the place that, when I’m working, if they decide that they want to be a little rambunctious, even the big girls, the 12-year olds get given a bone for crate time. That works out. But when you start with a puppy, the crate is one of the most important things. I tell people that puppies, like children, need to earn their space. They become trustable by inch. So I allow them to earn their space, because they’re not sure what a potty is or what a potty isn’t. They’re not sure what is and what isn’t good. I’d start with a crate that is sized appropriately. The ordinary, average dog does not want to potty in its own bed. I tell people for the bigger dogs, a 400-size crate (24 x 26 x 36). Can you tell how many of these I bought? For a Labrador or Gordon puppy, I put a panel right in the middle, so they only buy it once and it can grow with the puppy. When they are in their space, you take them back, piece by piece by piece until they’re trustable in the crate that they won’t find a corner that they have to potty in. Usually within a month or two, they can have the full crate, and they’re absolutely fine. That makes a big difference in the house. 

Puppy-proofing the house: I do not give my dogs run of the house until they’re trustable. We start in a space that has a tiled floor because that’s easy to mop up. I also am very careful with electrical things. Cords and outlets. I have five children. I will tell you that I puppy-proof the same as I baby-proof. I put the fake plugs into the plug. I have had dogs do strange things. You never know who’s going to lick the outlets! 

Laura Reeves [6:52] Window lickers! We’ve all had them. 

Susan Patterson [6:55] Yeah, it’s kind of like licking that frozen pole outside. Don’t do it! Anyway, I put the plugs in, and then I get down on puppy level and I look. What’s hanging? What’s dragging? What could be considered a chew toy? And then I make sure that the space that they have is safe for them. I will use a puppy play pen. I have some super XTRs or an X pen to give the puppy space to play and then let it grow from there if I can’t be observing it at all times. I do value my cabinets. While it’s cute to have teeth marks on some of my oak kitchen chairs, it’s not quite as much fun as it used to be. I really make sure that I have things in there the puppy can chew on (because that’s what they’re going to want to do) and that the puppy can wrestle with and explore. A lot of fun things for them. Then they start earning space, but it’s always under observation. For my guys, it takes almost a year for me to be able to trust them. 

Laura Reeves [8:06] For my guys, it’s two! But I have Wirehaired Pointers, and they’re much more rambunctious. 

Susan Patterson [8:10] I will say that, like you said, the small Dachshund is very interesting. I should pay him for picking up after me: an athletic sock on the floor or a sneaker or a leather sandal. It is automatically his, and he brings it to me. Maybe he could be picking up after me! 

Laura Reeves [8:30] Which is better than him chewing them up and eating them. These are some of the things I think we need to be aware of. Your dog can not only make a mess on your fancy carpet, not only chew up your fancy furniture—your dog can ingest something that could conceivably kill it. 

Susan Patterson [8:46] That is absolutely true. This is something you don’t even think about. Things like sweaters—they can chew off a button. I will tell you that I had a puppy get a zipper. That was not fun. We did like the baby that eats the penny. We watched poop for 24 hours. Fortunately, everything came out alright. But, yes, it’s the little things. And it’s also plants! I have all plants up, except the fig tree in the back which no one but the cat likes. But it is true: lilies are poisonous. We’ve got to watch for all kinds of plants.

Laura Reeves [9:22] You dropped a pill by accident that you didn’t realize. 

Susan Patterson [9:25] Another thing for puppies! Absolutely pills. Aspirin. 

Laura Reeves [9:30] An Aspirin maybe won’t kill them, but an Aleve or a Bronson sodium will. 

Susan Patterson [9:35] Candies. Candies are another thing. I have grandchildren. Nobody here has sugarless things, but if you have sugarless things, the sorbitol is very dangerous. 

Laura Reeves [9:46] Artificial sweeteners are very, very deadly. 

Susan Patterson [9:49] Things people don’t realize. When you take your puppy home, whether it is from a reputable rescue or from a responsible breeder, do yourself the favor and see if you can find the list of things that puppies shouldn’t eat. Not just puppies, but dogs. They are very easily available online, as well as from your vet.

Laura Reeves [10:13] We’ll have a link on it here in the podcast. 

Susan Patterson [10:15] Good, good, good! Because it does make a difference. Their goal is to explore their environment, test it out, see what the good stuff is. They’re really good at that. Part of puppy-proofing, if you add a second dog, is the introduction of your dog to the new dog and recognizing that there is a pack order. Old dog always rules. 

Laura Reeves [10:40] Bringing a new puppy into an existing household. 

Susan Patterson [10:44] That’s exactly what I was talking about. I just did an APET testing where we had one puppy that was inappropriate. Do not let your puppy jump on your older dogs. This is an introduction with manners. You don’t have to make the older dog the babysitter. We need to give everybody some space and learn each other’s habits and little things. If we don’t, it could create a problem that can be life-long. That’s not fair to either dog. It’s easy enough to take the time to introduce. Like you said, pandemic puppies—this is just an interesting case. I think we had more time to spend with them, to make sure that they’re doing well and they’re building a really good bond with us. I think that’s really important. 

Laura Reeves [11:33] I think it is, too. Kids are going back to school now. Some folks are starting to go back into an office-type setting. We see this as things start to open more and more. I think the important part is to understand that that puppy that you’ve spent all this time with, supervising, isn’t necessarily going to still be a good puppy if you aren’t supervising. 

Susan Patterson [11:58] Well, I’m going to agree and disagree. I think sometimes we humanize things. I think sometimes the dogs would really like to go take a nap and be left alone and that to be alone for 3 or 4 hours before the puppy walker comes is not a bad thing. I know sometimes my dogs look at me like: Really? We have to do this again with you? So, I’m very careful to make sure that I don’t humanize, that I recognize that dogs do nap a lot during the day, that when I was not working from home my dogs were perfectly fine for 4 hours until the puppy walker came and perfectly fine for the next 4 hours till I got home. They were very excited to see me, but no harm, no foul. And then we had lots of time to go do our walks and do other things. I’m kind of on the fence about if we are creating a problem through humanization or is it something that is basically a change in routine and we just take a week and get them used to it? I have perhaps a different perspective on that, not necessarily either one is wrong. I’m just very conscious. When I send a puppy home, one of the things I sent my owners home with is the saying that when your dog walks on two legs and brings home a paycheck, please call me because then your dog is in charge. Until then you’re in charge. 

Laura Reeves [13:27] That’s beautiful. I have a very similar mindset, as you know. I think that too often we are more worried about the dog than the dog is worried. That can start to create a problem. The most important part is that we make sure that they have a safe play environment. Talk a little bit about crates and crate-training. What are your tips for crate-training? 

Susan Patterson [13:58] I’m an every-2-hour kind of person if I’m going to start with crate-training. Especially at 8 weeks of age—that’s pretty much how big the puppy’s bladder is, 2 hours’ worth, especially if you’re providing your dog with free access to water. I suggest stopping water and meals at between 6 and 7 at night so that the puppy has time to eliminate. The last time out is 11 o’clock. This is my humanization. I think that sending a puppy home with the snuggle puppies is great. I also think the background music (the ocean sounds) so it’s not this deathly quiet “I’m in the crate, by myself!”—that makes a difference. I also don’t hesitate to cover it. Make it like a den. Very secure. 

Laura Reeves [14:51] I think that is highly underrated—I’d like to definitely emphasize that. Like a bird cage, it is calming. I actually, with my puppies, start them in a crate when they’re 7 weeks old so that when my owners get them home, they know what a dog crate is and they know how to go to sleep in it. They’re not going to scream and cry and throw a big fit. I would definitely speak to if the puppy is crying and you let it out, the puppy has simply trained you to let it out when it cries. If you don’t let it out when it cries, it’s going to cry louder because you are not responding to its signals. This is the conversation I think is super important.

Susan Patterson [15:34] It’s under the category of “who has who trained.” I think that’s important. We also, as we get used to the puppy, new puppy getting used to sounds and signals and cues—I think we also can hear the difference between “I need to go out now” and “No one’s playing with me!” 

Laura Reeves [15:53] Right. Like an infant, I’m having a temper tantrum. Temper tantrums are a thing in kids and in dogs. 

Susan Patterson [16:00] Oh, are they ever!

Laura Reeves [16:01] As soon as we feed that tantrum (this is perhaps old-school parenting concepts)...

Susan Patterson [16:08] I’ve got 5 kids. I believe in the old-school parenting concepts. Yes, you are accountable. You are responsible. But speaking of food and things like that, I also remind people (like we said) with the crate and crate-training, they don’t spend a whole lot of time in the crate because I have a space where they can be with me and I can watch. Like I said, they can be in the puppy play pen until they earn more space. I’ve also done with the leash attached to me so if they make any moves—

Laura Reeves [16:35] That’s actually a great one, too. I love that one. 

Susan Patterson [16:40] But feeding. Remember growing up with those Play-Doh machines? Where you put the Play-Doh in and the Play-Doh comes out? Well, with puppies, you put the food in and the poop comes out. It’s almost instantaneous sometimes. So I feed very close to the doors so that they’re done. We get about 2 seconds of play and then it’s “Let’s go out!” And I’m always rewarding potty time. High value, high praise. We’ve got a space in our yard—not that they don’t use other spaces, but it’s a space I prefer and I dominantly use that. Especially for people who only have one dog, they can very easily start with training to a specific space.

Laura Reeves [17:22] You mentioned earlier that your dogs eat in the crate. That is how I train my puppies to like the dog crate. You go in your dog crate to get dinner. And then you come out of the dog crate to go potty. You weren’t in there very long, but that’s how I start. It can continue from there, but that is a great, positive reinforcement way for puppies to understand that the dog crate is a good place. 

Susan Patterson [17:45] Especially if you have a multi-dog household, whether you’re a breeder or a pet owner, the ability for the dog to feel safe while they’re eating means you’re not going to encourage resource guarding. You don’t want resource guarding. I have one of my girls for whom I am her best resource, so she tends to be a little guard-y, and we nip that in the bud every time she exhibits that. But you have to learn to recognize that there are things that we do as owners that can contribute to their problems. Just be cognizant of it. Like you said, feeding in the crate is great. It gives them a confined space. They let you know when they’re done. Bowl gets clanged to the side. Time to go out! They’re rather loud about it. 

Laura Reeves [18:26] As I said, it’s assisting potty training, which is a high-value goal. It is assisting crate-training—high-value goal. And it enables (if there’s more than one dog in the household or if there’s a dog and a cat or whatever it is) that everybody has a safe place to be while they eat. 

Susan Patterson [18:42] I don’t like people poking their nose in my food.

Laura Reeves [18:45] Don’t be stealing my french fries, woman! 

Susan Patterson [18:48] That’s it. Exactly. Not without asking. That makes a difference. The other thing is toys in the crate. Puppy-proofing your home means appropriate toys. I think for me, because my dogs are larger, I have actually used some of the elk horns. Because my guys are chewers. They make these chew-forevers that have a scent to them that are like a Nylabone. Those are good. 

Laura Reeves [19:20] Boiled beef bones are my very favorite. You can get them with stuffing or you can stuff them yourself. Puppies like to chew. They’re teething. There’s all of those things. Every time they go and pick up your Manolo Blahnik, you need to take it away and give them this appropriate chew so that they understand. Number one: you should have your fancy shoes not where the puppy can get to them. This is part of puppy-proofing your house. If you don’t want your puppy to pick it up and carry it around, don’t leave it where they can get to it. 

Susan Patterson [19:50] That just reminded me: scatter rugs. I can’t tell you how many sacrificial rugs we have had. With the older dogs whose steps are not quite as good, I do put them down for them. With a puppy, they kind of get rolled up and everybody says, “We know we don’t have slick tile, but rugs are going to be up for a bit while we do this.” Because puppies do tend to eat. They’ll eat socks. Blockages are generally $1,000–$2,000. It’s just not something you want to add to the price of your puppy. Puppy-proofing 101 is also, for me, pet insurance. Because the first two years are when my dogs (I don’t know about anybody else’s) are more than likely to get into trouble requiring that blockage surgery because they ate a stick. 

Laura Reeves [20:45] A sock. A towel. A rock. A toy. 

Susan Patterson [20:50] I am a big fan. For everybody, I do have most of my dogs on pet insurance because for me it makes sense because I live in the Northeast and I love my veterinarians but not enough to put a whole wing on the hospital. 

Laura Reeves [21:08] Yes. I think that there are many insurance programs many breeders and even shelters will work with to send a dog home with insurance. I strongly recommend finding an insurance that works. In many cases, the insurance company that I’ve personally worked with—that premium that I pay when the puppy is a puppy doesn’t appreciably change over time and it is much lower than the one I would have if I had insured the dog as an adult. 

Susan Patterson [21:39] I do send my puppies home with the 30-days free. It does make a difference. The other thing is microchipping. I consider that because there’s a lot of people. Puppy-proofing your home means making sure your doors are locked. I have grandchildren who love my dogs dearly, and it’s, “Here, Meg, let’s go out!” and then it’s like off to the races they all are! So a microchip (never mind a collar, because not everybody remembers to put the collar on) is a definitive sign of ownership. You can be scanned by the shelter, by the police. It’s not just puppy-proofing your home, but it’s getting yourself ready for the puppy and making sure in the first few weeks that you have your crate, your health insurance, your microchip. And then, part of puppy-proofing, is training. I encourage people, at 12 weeks, to start looking at puppy socialization classes so they’ve had 4 weeks to bond with you and now it’s time to learn some manners and learn what other dogs and other people are like in a very safe environment. 

Laura Reeves [22:53] Right. Of course, here at Good Dog, Savvy Socialization course is outstanding. I strongly recommend everybody check it out.

Susan Patterson [23:00] Oh, I second that! 

Laura Reeves [23:03] Excellent. Thank you very much, Susan. I think that as we all adjust to the post-pandemic life, our dogs are part of our adjustment. All of the things that we can do to make ourselves reassured and our dogs comfortable is important. 

Susan Patterson [23:21] Very much so. Thank you for having me on, Laura!