5 Tips To Help Protect Your Home From Pet Damage

We love our pets, but we don’t love the damage they cause to our home. Unless you are a do-it-yourselfer and can repair or replace entry doors or window sills, you need to find a way to protect your home from pet damage.

Shelter and rescue operators share that many pets are surrendered simply because the dog chewed shoes or the cat clawed the couch or the dog caused such damage to an interior or exterior door that the door had to be replaced. Imagine losing your rental deposit because your dog is so stricken with separation anxiety that he claws and claws trying to be reunited with you. We’ve been there, done that!

Pet parent anxiety is as real as pet separation anxiety.

Protect Your Home From Pet Damage

All of us at Clawguard are pet parents too! We love our pets like you, but we don’t love the damage they cause. Because we love our dogs and cats we knew we needed to find ways to protect the home. Here are our best DIY tips for using pet hardware.

Crate train. Some pet parents swear by crate training. Their dogs love the safety and security of the crate and happily spend the day there while “mom and dad” are at work. If crate training works for you, great! We recommend starting when your pup is young. Always make certain your puppy or dog associates the crate with happy events; don’t use the crate as a punishment tool. In fact, we only recommend positive reinforcement training methods. What about cats and crates...
Offer scratching alternatives. Chances are, you’re not going to crate a cat. Let’s face it, they don’t take kindly to being “caged” so this means you need to find another way to keep them from clawing the furniture. What can you do? Start by training your cat or kitten as soon as you bring them home to use a scratching post. If your cat or kitten starts scratching the couch, pick him or her up and put their paws on the scratching post. Give them a treat when they start scratching on it. Positive reinforcement training works for cat training as well as it does for dog training. Remember to try out various types of scratching posts. Some cats like scratching on sisal poles, others like corrugated scratching posts or pads, others like carpeted poles, others prefer wooden poles. Try several until you find one your cat likes. For more information, check our guide to why cat's scratch and the keys to protecting your home and furniture.
Trim their nails. If you trim your dog’s and cat’s nails you can help prevent damage to your home. If you don’t know how to trim them, ask your vet or groomer for advice or take your pet to a local groomer who will usually trim nails on a walk in basis.
Provide toys and treats. Keep your dog and cat’s brains engaged by giving them toys and treats they only receive when you’re away. Give a treat puzzle toy or a “snuffle mat” in which your dog or cat can root around and uncover treats. This will keep her busy and entertained.
Exercise. Take your dog or cat for a walk, jog or a rousing game of fetch before you leave for the day. A tired dog is a happy (and sleepy) dog. Play fetch with your cat. Grab that laser pointer and give your cat the opportunity to chase it around and tire him out before you leave for the day.

Be prepared for damage to occur. Positive reinforcement training takes a while and you may have to brace for some chewed shoes and clawed doors. While you’re training, you can use our products to protect the interior doors. Put our Furniture Shields on the areas where your cat scratches and use that continuously until he learns to only scratch on the scratching post.

We’d love to see photos of any damage your pet has caused. We’d also love to see a CLAWGUARD in “action” in your home! Send us photos or videos and you could be featured on our website and Facebook page!

CLAWGUARD builds shields that help protect homes from damage caused by dogs and cats. Products include door shields, couch guards, and universal protective tape that protects commonly scratched areas like window sills, furniture, banisters, weatherstripping and more. Check us out on Amazon and read our many FIVE STAR reviews!