Puppies are naturally curious, exploring to understand their world and how they fit into it. So, before you bring your new Rottweiler puppy home, you need to make sure that every space will be a safe environment for them to be in.
Install child proof latches on cabinets and closets. Keep all small or sharp items locked away or pushed to the back of a table, counter, etc. Lock away all foods, cleaning products, soaps, and medicines. Keep wires off the ground. Cover your pool with a net. Secure the property fence line.
You can use the following article as a kind of checklist to make sure each space in your house is a safe environment for your Rottweiler puppy to be in and also that your belongings are safe from their curious mouths!
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Puppy Proofing Your Kitchen
We’ll start with one of the most used rooms in any house-the kitchen.
Puppy hazards are abound in most kitchens, and this is combined with attractive food smells, so it’s very important that you take proper precautions to protect your Rottweiler pup-and your kitchen!
Install Child Proof Latches on the Cabinets
You should secure your lower kitchen cabinets by installing child proof latches. This will prevent your clever and curious Rottweiler puppy from getting among the clean dishes.
Not only would this be unsanitary, but your puppy could end up breaking something and hurting themselves on any sharp pieces.
The cabinet under the kitchen sink is a common spot for storing cleaning supplies, which means that it is especially important to secure this cabinet.
Furthermore, your plumbing is usually exposed in this cabinet, and you do not want your Rottweiler chewing through your pipes.
Shut the Dishwasher Door
When the dishwasher is empty, you should keep the door shut to prevent your Rottweiler puppy from hurting themselves on the metal racks.
It also stops your puppy from remodeling the plastic pieces, like the cutlery rack.
When you start loading the dishwasher, you should always keep the door closed to stop your Rottweiler from licking the dishes and ingesting potentially toxic food substances.
Secure All Appliance Cables
Appliances like your electric kettle, coffee machine, and toaster will probably be sitting on your kitchen countertop, and so their cables won’t pose a threat to your Rottweiler puppy.
However, something like your refrigerator may be plugged into a low wall socket, and it has to stay plugged in permanently.
You should make sure the cable is tucked safely away from your Rottweiler. Pull the refrigerator over slightly so that the wall socket is right in the middle.
Alternatively, you can enclose the cable in a tough PVC casing designed to house cables.
Keep the Pantry Cupboard Closed
If you have a pantry cupboard, the best thing to do would be to keep the door closed. If the latch pops open easily, then installing a child (or puppy) proof lock can go a long way toward preventing accidents.
Not only should your Rottweiler puppy not be permitted to eat certain human foods (see the next section), but things like cans of food can be knocked off the shelves and hurt your Rottweiler.
You can try these child proof latches, they get the job done, and there are also many other on the market to choose from at a very reasonable price. These are also great for just general puppy proofing as mentioned above.
Store All Food out of Reach
So many of the foods that are fine or even really healthy for us to eat are actually bad for dogs.
It is best to store all foods out of reach of your Rottweiler puppy. Either lock them in the pantry, keep them in a cabinet, or store them at the back of the kitchen countertop.
This article provides an extensive list of foods that dogs can and cannot eat. You can read through it to find out which are the most important foods to move out of reach.
Push Dangerous Items to the Back of the Countertop
As we mentioned earlier, your electric kettle or coffee machine cable is not likely to be a concern because they are on top of the kitchen counter.
However, the appliances themselves can become dangerous if your Rottweiler puppy starts counter surfing. A Rottweiler can easily reach counter surfing height before they have been fully trained.
You do not want any chance of your puppy pulling a boiling kettle of water off the counter onto themselves.
Protect Pipes
We have already mentioned protecting your kitchen sink plumbing by keeping the cabinet underneath it locked.
If there are any other plumbing pipes exposed in your kitchen, then try to rig up temporary blockades or install box cases over them.
Additionally, the refrigerator coolant pipes, etc., are a hazard as they contain dangerous chemicals.
They are usually quite well-tucked away in the back of the refrigerator unit, but make sure that your puppy cannot squeeze behind it.
Puppy Proofing Your Bathroom
Your bathroom may not seem like a dangerous place for your Rottweiler puppy when compared to your kitchen, but it does indeed contain some hazards.
Let’s now take a look at how to address these hazards to keep your puppy safe.
Lock up Personal Hygiene Products
In the bathroom, make sure that your make-up, shampoo, soap, lotion, tampons, cotton pads, deodorant, toothpaste, etc., are all locked up in the bathroom cabinet and not sitting on the side of the bath, the bath tray, or the shower floor.
If your bathroom cabinet is on the floor as opposed to higher up on the wall, then you can install child proof latches here as well.
Prevent Access to Cleaning Products
People commonly store cleaning products in the bathroom. Your Rottweiler should not have to access to these at all.
Some people keep some bleach in the bottom of their toilet brush holder for hygiene reasons. If you do this, then make sure your toilet brush and holder are kept off the floor (try moving them to the back of your toilet cistern).
Store Razors out of Reach
Another dangerous item in the bathroom is your razor. Whether you have an electric razor or a normal one, you do not want your puppy trying to chew it!
So, keep it high on the shower caddy or locked away in the bathroom cabinets.
Never Leave Medicine Out
You probably don’t store your medicine on the bathroom floor. But it should preferably be locked away in a drawer or cabinet.
Puppies will happily surf bathroom vanities as well as kitchen counters.
It can be extremely dangerous for your pup to ingest medication, especially if you do not see it happen and they are not able to receive immediate medical care.
If you do suspect that your puppy has ingested medication, be sure to contact your veterinarian immediately!
Keep the Toilet Lid Down
If you keep the toilet lid down, you can prevent your Rottweiler from falling in by accident and either trailing toilet water through your house or getting stuck.
Additionally, closing the toilet lid will curb your Rottweiler puppy’s temptation to drink directly out of the toilet bowl!
Limit Access to the Bathroom Altogether
There is no real reason for your puppy to be in the bathroom at all.
If you go to the bathroom and you want to bring them along so you can keep an eye on them and so that they don’t feel sad, then that’s fine.
But just remember, your puppy can get into a lot of mischief during your ten-minute shower, so take all necessary precautions.
When you are not in the bathroom, you should consider keeping the door closed if it does not cause a ventilation or drying issue.
Puppy Proofing Your Bedroom
Now on to the bedroom. This room is especially important to keep safe, since your puppy will be largely unsupervised while you are sleeping.
Pack Everything Away
Handbags, shoes, slippers, and clothes. These are all items that smell like you will draw your Rottweiler puppy to investigate.
As puppies most open investigate new items using their teeth, this is not something you want.
The solution is to make sure that all items that can and should be packed into a closet are in the closet.
You can also use this opportunity to get into good habits or out of bad ones.
After all, it is better for your clothes to be hung up neatly instead of balled up on the floor.
Install Child Proof Latches on the Closets
Sometimes, just packing things away is not enough. Closet doors can be a breeze to open for your smart Rottweiler pup, so you should consider installing child proof latches.
The same applies to your bedside table cupboards.
Keep Your Phone Charger in a Drawer
We are all tempted to unplug our phones in the morning and leave the charger in the wall. However, you should rather unplug it and store it in your bedside drawer.
First and foremost, it is dangerous for your Rottweiler puppy to chew on a cable that is plugged into an electrical socket.
Secondly, phone chargers are expensive to replace, so why take the risk?
Unplug Appliances if Possible
Bedside lamps, hairdryers, straighteners, etc.—all these things are potentially dangerous to your Rottweiler puppy because of their power cords.
While your puppy is learning, it is best to unplug them when you are not using them and loop the cables onto a high surface.
Keep Jewelry out of Reach
Store all of your jewelry well out of reach, preferably in a drawer or cupboard.
Your Rottweiler could choke on a broach or necklace, or an earring can perforate their gastrointestinal tracts.
Even if they swallow some jewelry with no physical harm, do you really want your precious items to be lost forever or processed through your pup’s digestive tract and pooped out?
Stop Your Puppy From Crawling Under the Bed
When you bring your Rottweiler puppy home for the first time, they can feel quite overwhelmed and may try to hide away.
It is best not to let them crawl and hide under your bed as it can be a mission trying to get them to come out again, and in the process, you might have to be grabbing and pulling (gently!) at them, but it can be distressing.
You also don’t want them having any toilet accidents under there because clean-up will be difficult.
Rolled-up carpets are great for blocking off the area underneath your bed.
Puppy Proofing Your Living Room
Pay attention here, as your living room likely contains some hazards that you are unaware of. Plus, you may have some expensive items in this room that you prefer keep their value!
Secure Your Entertainment System
More wires!
Your living room is most probably one of the biggest risks in the house in terms of wires that your puppy can chew.
This is dangerous for your pup, but also, it can cause hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of damage.
Make sure your setup is tidy and that all wires are tucked away. Those that cannot be tucked away out of reach should be encased in PVC tubing.
Additionally, you may want to take the extra step of covering your cords with purpose built covers such as these from PetCords.
You also don’t want your pup to chew on your actual equipment or the remote controls, but this is more difficult to control apart from actually just supervising your puppy.
Pack Away Your Standard Lamps or Hide the Cables
You may have to pack up your standard lamps until your puppy is a bit older. You still have the main lights, and you can have table lamps, so this should not affect you too badly.
Alternatively, you can run the power cables underneath a rug, but just make sure you are not violating any safety codes in doing so.
Minimize the Number of Throw Pillows
Fluffy throw cushions are just asking to be ripped apart—at least, this is probably your Rottweiler’s opinion!
For the first few months of having your Rottweiler, you should pack away any unnecessary throw cushions.
Put Your In-House Plants up Higher
If you have any in-house plants, then make sure that you keep them out of reach. You do not want to have to try and clean mud and soil out of your living room carpet.
Additionally, be sure that you research the house plants that you presently have or intend on buying, as some can be harmful or even lethal to dogs.
One example of a common plant that many people own, yet are unaware is dangerous to cats and dogs is a Fiddle Leaf Fig. While these may be pretty to look at, it is wise to remove any that you may have from your home altogether.
Limit Access if Need Be
The living room is one of the rooms in the house that your pup doesn’t need access to unless you are in there.
If you can (if you do not have an open-plan living area), try to keep the door shut.
This only works if the whole family knows the new rules. Door signs are not a bad idea while you all get into the habit of pulling the door shut behind you.
Puppy Proofing Your Children’s Play Area
Your children’s play area is a tricky room to puppy-proof, depending on the age of your kids.
You do not want to keep the door shut because your kids should have free access to their toys and books, but it is also the location of many choking hazards and chewing catastrophes.
Just imagine your puppy chews up that one toy that never fails to stop your child from crying!
Hide Small Toys out of Reach
Store small toys in toy boxes or up higher.
For the most part, if it is a choking hazard for your puppy, then it is a choking hazard for your child who is too young to open the toy box or reach the spot where they are stored.
Temporarily Move Books Higher
Clear out the lower shelves of your bookcases for a few months.
Put them where your kids can reach them or tell them to come and fetch you when they want to read or look at a specific book.
Teach Your Children About What Is Safe for the Puppy
Speaking of teaching your kids, one of the best things that you can do is to explain to your children what you are trying to achieve by puppy proofing their play area.
If they also know your Rottweiler is not supposed to be chewing things, then they can help you to supervise them (to a variable extent, depending on their age).
Puppy Proofing Your Office
Many of us work from home, and therefore spend a lot of time in our home offices. In doing so, we can sometimes overlook recognizing things that we are used to as puppy hazards.
In the following section, we’ll show you what you can do to keep your home office safe from your Rottweiler puppy, and vice versa.
Secure Your Computer
If you have a desktop computer, keep everything on top of the desk and plug your computer cables into the sockets of an extension cord.
This way, the only cable near the floor is the extension cord, and you don’t risk damage to your computer cables.
If you have a laptop, then also plug it into an extension cable or make sure that you unplug the cable and keep it in a drawer or even just on your desk when you are not using it.
Obviously, this is not the first concern when puppy proofing your home. As we have stated throughout the article, the first concern is the danger to your pup’s well-being.
Thus, you should conceal your extension cord in a PVC casing (like this one – also listed above).
By using an extension cable plugged into the wall with your laptop, it means that you can leave the protective casing on the cord, and your laptop cable can remain portable.
Store Important Papers in Drawers or Cupboards
If you cannot risk losing a piece of paper to your puppy’s in-built shredder, then always keep these papers in a drawer or a cupboard.
Even if they are on your desk, they can get knocked off or blown off by a passing breeze, landing on the floor and becoming fair game to your Rottweiler.
If you must leave anything out on your desk, then make use of a paperweight.
Keep Stationary High Up
The ink from pens, graphite from pencils, correction fluid, highlighter fluid, etc., are all potentially toxic for your Rottweiler puppy to ingest.
In addition, things like staples, tacks, and paper clips can cause esophageal and intestinal blockages or perforations.
Therefore, all stationary in the office must be kept out of reach of your Rottweiler, even if they were to jump up and investigate what’s on your desk.
Temporarily Move Books Higher
As with your children’s books, you should relocate your own books to higher shelves until your puppy is properly trained.
No Unsupervised Access
If you work full-time from home, then you do not want to lock your Rottweiler away from you while you work in your office.
But make sure that you don’t leave them in there unsupervised and that you close the door when the room is not being used.
Puppy Proof Your Stairs
Your Rottweiler puppy will have to learn how to use the stairs, but this is best done under supervision to begin with.
You cannot close a door to your stairs (except the basement stairs) like you can close the door to your office or bathroom.
However, you can purchase some stair gates. These are an especially good idea if you have uncarpeted stairs, as once a puppy steps down a stair or two, they may go careening down the rest of the way!
Make sure that you understand the importance of this. If a puppy has a bad experience, such as with water, sounds, or stairs, it can make them timid of that stimulus for the rest of their lives – so it can be worth it to invest in a stair gate like the one listed above.
Puppy Proofing Your Garage and Basement
Puppy proofing your garage and basement is easy. Simply lock the doors.
Unless you have converted either of these spaces into a living or bedroom area (in which case the puppy proofing tips for those areas apply), then your Rottweiler has no reason to be in the basement or garage.
These are often used to store stacks of boxes, garden chemicals, and other dangerous items that can pose a threat to your Rottweiler puppy.
Furthermore, your Rottweiler puppy could be accidentally run over by a car if it had free access to the garage. Or it could escape through the opening garage door and get lost.
Puppy Proofing Your Yard
Be sure to pay attention here, as your Rottweiler puppy will likely (and hopefully!) be spending lots of outdoor time in your yard.
Making sure that you remove all hazards is extremely important, as Rottweiler puppies are very curious by nature – if there is something available to get into, you can be sure that they will find a way to do it!
Store All Chemicals and Tools in the Shed
If you have a shed, you should use it to store all of the garden and pool chemicals, tools, like gardening forks and hedge trimmers, potting soil, bags of compost, etc.
You don’t want your Rottweiler puppy to have access to anything that they can ingest or which can cut them or fall on them.
Then make sure that you keep the shed locked at all times.
Remove Dangerous Plants
Most people know about the dangers of plants like foxglove, but did you know that rhubarb leaves and tomato plants can also be toxic?
The ASPCA have compiled an extensive list of the plants that are toxic to animals.
Go through the list and uproot or securely fence off any dangerous plants that you have in your garden.
Cover Your Pool and Pond
Accidental drownings happen far more often than they should. Puppies do not know that the pool is dangerous until they fall in, and then it may be too late for them to benefit from that lesson.
If you have a pool, you should install a safety net and make sure that it is over the pool whenever the pool is not in use, even if you think you might come back in an hour or two for another swim.
As an alternative, you can put up a fence around your pool; just make sure that your puppy cannot fit through the bars, crawl under it, or jump over it.
Furthermore, you should check it every day for holes and make sure that everyone in the family knows to keep the gate latched.
Should you live on a property that has a dam, pond, or reservoir, make sure that your puppy cannot access them should they wander off without you noticing.
Secure the Fence Line
Puppies, even large breed puppies like Rottweilers, manage to squeeze themselves through the smallest of spaces.
Before you bring your Rottweiler puppy home, you should make sure that the bars of your fence are close enough together to prevent your pup from escaping.
If they are not, or if you are worried, then you can temporarily put up a mesh with smaller apertures.
Property gates must always be kept closed, and when you are opening them, first make sure that you can see your puppy—preferably have them on a leash or in your arms.
Puppy Proofing the Dog Food
Something that you may not have thought about puppy proofing is the bag of puppy food.
However, you should definitely keep this out of reach of your Rottweiler. They can chew a hole in the packet and spill the food, and some will even eat until they can’t move.
It is wise to keep your dog food in lockable bins. A Rottweiler that has unfettered access to food will eat himself sick unless you are there to stop it. This can lead to expensive vet bills and harm to your Rottweiler puppy.
Take a look at the Vittles Vault listed below, or choose from any number of similar products on Amazon or elsewhere. The only requirement is that it keeps your hungry Rottweiler out!
Puppy Proofing Does Not Replace Supervision
All the puppy proofing in your house is meant to protect your new puppy for the minute or two when you lose track of their whereabouts.
Ideally, you should know where your puppy is at all times, especially while they are learning what they can and cannot do and what is safe and what is dangerous.
If you need to leave your Rottweiler puppy alone for an hour or so, then rather crate train them and then close them in their crate for these short periods.
Redirect Chewing
Another thing to remember is that when a puppy chews, it is not necessarily being naughty. Puppies chew things to explore new parts of their environment.
They also chew when they are teething, and their gums hurt.
When you find your pup nibbling on something that they should not be, make sure you give them a toy or a dog chew instead.
Final Thoughts
There may seem to be a million things to do to puppy proof your home. However, you will not have to do these things forever. Your puppy with grow bigger and learn what is allowed and what is not allowed.
Then you can relax—until you get the next Rottweiler puppy. Because Rottweilers are such amazing dogs, don’t be surprised if you find yourself wanting another.
Read more about that in the informative article below: