So you’ve decided to get a new puppy. That’s awesome! Dogs can bring so much joy to their owners. But then maybe you stop to think about what that means for your home. Dogs, and especially puppies, can be rough on your home, especially your carpet. Do you have to choose between your flooring and a new best friend?
The Impact of Your New Puppy on Your Carpet
Puppies are wonderful, highly energetic little creatures. All that energy and the lack of training and discipline can be a bit rough on your carpet though. You can expect to be cleaning up accidents if you aren’t prompt about getting them outside to go until you manage to get them house trained. You’ll need to be prompt about cleaning up after those accidents too. Getting pet smells out of carpet is harder once they’ve soaked into the padding underneath the carpet. The same can be said for dirt tracked in by those cute little paws. Once it’s ground into the carpet, it’ll be harder to get out.
The Need for Training
The best solution is to house train your new puppy so they don’t have accidents and damage your carpet. There are a few different house training options you can choose from, depending on how you want to approach the process. While you can start laying the foundation for house training, your puppy isn’t going to be physically mature enough to really get started until they are about three months old. As you go about training your new puppy, be patient and consistent. Dogs tend to respond better to positive reinforcement over being punished.
Friendlier Flooring Options
If you still aren’t sold about mixing puppies and carpet, you do have the option of installing more pet-friendly flooring options. Tile, stone, cork, bamboo, luxury vinyl, and engineered hardwood are all fairly pet-friendly flooring options. They are easier to clean than carpet and tend to hold up better to puppy-related wear and tear. If you’re worried you’ll miss the softness of having carpet underfoot, consider getting an area rug to put over your new flooring. You may find it easier to clean your area rug than it is to clean an entire room’s worth of carpet.
Getting a puppy while you live in a place with carpet floors should only be done after giving careful thought and consideration to the idea. Your new puppy could do a number on your carpet. Your best options are to either seriously invest in training or install more pet-friendly flooring options. What works best for you will depend on your specific situation, so make sure to give it some careful thought before moving forward with your final decision.
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