17/05/2026
Setting your puppy’s environment up for success
Managing your puppy’s environment properly makes life easier for everyone and helps prevent problems before they start.
Why is it important?
🐾 Keeps your puppy safe
🐾 Protects your belongings
🐾 Prevents unwanted habits developing
🐾 Encourages proper rest and sleep
🐾 Helps speed up toilet training
Take a walk around your home and garden and look at everything. If it’s within reach, assume your puppy will investigate it… usually with their mouth!
If you don’t want something chewed, pick it up:
👟 Shoes
📺 Remotes
🧸 Kid’s toys
👕 Clothing
🔌 Cables etc
Spray such as Grannicks bitter apple may protect corners of furniture (may 😂)
Also check carefully for hazards such as:
⚠️ Cleaning products or other toxic substances
⚠️ Toxic plants
⚠️ Ponds or buckets of water (sometimes left out after cleaning up accidents.)
⚠️ High drops from decking or patios
⚠️ Electrical cables
Think of a puppy like a toddler — you would never give a small child unrestricted access to the whole house unsupervised, and puppies are no different.
Using stair gates or pens to limit access can help massively. Young puppies can get into mischief very quickly, toilet where you don’t want them to, or practise behaviours you’d rather avoid such as chewing your property. Repeated rehearsal of this kind of behaviour creates habits.
Crates can also be really useful when introduced correctly. They provide:
🐾 A safe place to relax
🐾 Protection from older dogs in the household
🐾 A break from puppy shenanigans for the whole household
🐾 Prevention of destructive chewing when unsupervised
🐾 Support with toilet training, as dogs usually avoid soiling their sleeping area.
🐾 Prepare them for possible vet, or kennel stays or even being confined in the back of the car
If you choose to use a crate, introduce it gradually and make it a positive, relaxing space. Before settling your puppy in, make sure their needs have been properly met:
✔️ Toileted
✔️ Fed and watered
✔️ Had social interaction
✔️ Had appropriate mental and physical stimulation
✔️ A long lasting natural chew such as a pizzle or pigs ear can help with calming
✔️ It's not a prison sentence and should only be for a short stay
A well-managed environment doesn’t just prevent problems — it helps your puppy learn good habits from day one.
This is Flint getting some down time in his crate. His crate is also attached to a large pen which I can use if he's unsupervised. The pen has another bed and plenty of toys in it. I have 2 other dogs. Elsa is 12. She thinks he's great but she's clumsy and she's deaf now so if she gets too rough she can't hear him squeak. He also wears her out. Zuka is not entirely sure what to do with him and she is completely unreliable so can not be trusted unattended with him. I also have 2 cats. Lily is in her 20s and Gem is well in her teens, neither can be bothered with the hassle of a puppy. This set up means that everyone gets their own time and space and should keep some kind of harmony within the house.
