Room-by-Room Safety Audit — Pet-Proofing Your Home — Learn — Lapdog
Back to Pet-Proofing Your Home
1 2 3 4 5 6

Room-by-Room Safety Audit

A practical walkthrough checklist for every area of your home.

How to Conduct Your Safety Audit

The best way to find hazards is to see your home from your pet’s perspective. Literally get down on the floor and look around at their eye level. You will be surprised what you notice — dangling cords you never see from standing height, small objects under furniture, gaps behind appliances.

Work through each room methodically. Do not try to fix everything at once — identify the hazards first, then prioritise the highest-risk items. Use the checklists below to guide your audit.

Checklist

Kitchen and Bathroom Safety Check

0 of 8
All food stored in sealed containers or closed cupboards
Rubbish bin has a secure lid or is stored inside a cupboard
Cleaning products in locked or high cupboards
Dishwasher kept closed when not in use
Medications stored in a closed cabinet (not on benchtops)
Toilet lid kept down (especially for small dogs and cats)
No essential oil diffusers running in enclosed spaces with pets
Laundry pods stored out of reach in a closed container
Checklist

Living Areas and Bedrooms Safety Check

0 of 7
Electrical cords covered or routed behind furniture
Small objects (batteries, coins, hair ties, rubber bands) stored away
Candles never left burning unattended
Blind cords tied up or replaced with cordless blinds
Houseplants checked against toxic plant list
Bedside medications moved to closed drawers
Shoes and clothing stored away (socks and underwear are common foreign body ingestions)
Checklist

Garage, Shed, and Garden Safety Check

0 of 9
Antifreeze stored securely (extremely toxic, sweet taste attracts pets)
Rat and snail baits removed or placed in pet-proof bait stations
Fertilisers, herbicides, and pesticides locked away
Tools and sharp objects stored on high shelves or in locked cabinets
Toxic plants identified and removed or fenced off
Compost bin secured (decomposing food can contain mycotoxins)
Fencing checked for gaps, holes, and escape routes
Pool fenced or covered when unsupervised
Mulch checked (cocoa mulch is toxic to dogs)
Tip

Schedule a quick safety walkthrough every three months, and always after bringing new products or furniture into the home, after holiday decorating, and at the start of each new season. A five-minute check can prevent a trip to the emergency vet.

True or False

Safety Audit Check

Cocoa mulch is safe to use in gardens where dogs have access.
True
False
Cocoa mulch (also called cocoa bean shell mulch) contains theobromine and caffeine — the same compounds that make chocolate toxic to dogs. Dogs are attracted to its sweet smell and may eat it. Use pet-safe alternatives like pine bark, hardwood mulch, or pebbles instead.
Previous Next
Important Question

Do you speak
cat or dog?

Choose wisely. This affects everything.

Dog Woof woof!
Cat Meow meow!