Safety First

On June 1st, we welcomed Jim to our home. Although we had thought about bringing him home a few days before we actually did, we had not prepared for his arrival until we picked him up and drove him from Chowchilla to Fresno. Before we came home we went by a few stores to pick up some essentials including a food and water dish, leash, indoor training pads, collar, flea collar, a few toys, and of course food. These seemed to hold us over for a few days until we were able to see exactly what we would need to keep our little guy healthy and happy.

On occasion over the last week and a half, Zac and I have both had to work during the day which meant that our little Jim was left at home alone. We didn't have many concerns about the kind of trouble that Jim could get in. After all, our little guy is too little to jump up on the furniture which meant that our throw pillows weren't at risk of becoming chew toys. Also, to prevent Mr. Jiminy from chewing on the cable and television cords, we turned off the power strip just to make sure that we didn't come home to an electrocuted pup.

Our biggest concern about leaving Jim home alone was coming home to a wet mess or a stink bomb. Thankfully our floor downstairs is all tile so the mess wouldn't be to difficult to clean, but we worried that leaving Jim without a way to get outside (we don't have a doggie door) would hinder our puppy house training...but that's a whole other story.

When we first brought Jim home we encouraged him to follow us up the stairs so that we could get him acquainted with his new home, but he only stood at the bottom of the stairs and stared up at us. We figured that he was too small to climb our staircase and decided that we wouldn't have to worry about any puppy mischief upstairs while we were gone. After a few days, we realized that Jim was more than capable of getting himself up the stairs and he was only stopped earlier by his own fear of the unknown. We also realized that although he could make his way upstairs he was (and still is) too scared to get down the stairs on his own. So, as a temporary solution, we barricaded the bottom of the staircase.

Although the boxes full of books and the computer lap tray seemed to do the trick as a temporary solution, they quickly became a hazard after just a few days. Not only did they make our normally clean downstairs space look cluttered, but Zac and I both almost tumbled down the stairs tripping over our quick fix. Also, while Zac and I were upstairs one afternoon, getting ready to go to work, a surprise visitor appeared in the hallway. Somehow, Jim had manuevered through our barricade, climbed over the box and made his way upstairs. It was clear that a more permanent solution would need to be found sooner rather than later. So one afternoon while Zac was getting ready for work, I headed to the store to pick up a baby gate to protect our newest addition from getting stuck upstairs and causing chaos while we were at work.

I went to Target and found this secure pressure gate made by The First Years for just $10.99. Not a bad deal, right?! The baby gates that Target had in stock ranged from $10.99 to over $150.00. Without doing any real research and seeing what the difference was between each item, I opted to go for the cheapest one. If it didn't work out I could always bring it back, look online for the best rated gates and make another trip to the store to get a gate that best suited our needs. For now, anything had to be better than box of books.

So, I brought home the gate, quickly read the almost unnecessary instructions, and voila!  the baby Jim gate was assembled and in place. I had neglected to measure the space before heading to the store to pick out a gate which could have been a real problem. Thankfully, the gate fit the space, but just barely. The space required the gate to be locked in place at the very last notch possible. If our staircase was even a half an inch wider, the gate would be rendered useless and we would probably be stuck spending a bunch more money for a wider gate to fit the space. Thankfully that isn't the case and even though the gate barely fits, it does indeed fit!

Thanks to the baby gate, Jim is happy and safe downstairs while we're gone at work. Most importantly, there's no way that he can get through this barricade and get stuck upstairs. Zac and I are still getting used to stepping over a big gate as we go up or down the stairs, but it's a small adjustment to make for the saftey of our new pup.