Dog-Proofing the House

At the stage of parenthood Doug and I are at, our child being somewhat mobile, most people start baby proofing their home.  Not Doug and I.  We are dog-proofing our home. 

Ever since we had Weston, Doug and I have had to follow Hattie around to make sure that she doesn't have any of Weston's tiny socks, clothes, and toys in her mouth.  It is truly a full-time job.  Anytime Hattie walks through the house to go outside, she always grabs something of Weston's.  It's hard to know if she has something in her mouth sometimes because her lips and mouth are so big.

Hattie's favorite things to grab of Weston's are his blocks, his various stuffed animals and his clothes.  She usually just carries them around, not chewing on them or swallowing anything.  However, we have had her swallow his socks and bibs because she gets hold of stuff and we either don't know it or before we can get to her, she's swallowed it because she knows she's not supposed to have it.

She knows that she's not supposed to have anything of Weston's in her mouth, so as soon as you look at her she drops her head and thinks about dropping the item.  However, you normally have to grab her collar for her to finally drop whatever she has.

I get so tired of telling her to "DROP IT!" and "NO!" that she ends up spending a lot of time in her crate.  I can't possibly pick up everything that she may decide she wants to have.  This week, I'm going to work on making Weston's things less accessible to Hattie, perhaps with a baby gate around his play area.  This way life will be more harmonious for all of us.