Wow THANK YOU!!! You just saved us a lot of time and stress! I was just talking to the hubby about how he will have to make something and I don't think he liked that idea...and this will definitely work! Thank you so much! I cannot even tell you how long I've been looking and wracking my brain to figure out what to do about these stupid stairs!! Thank you for relieving my worry and making the hubby's life easier!!

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EVRICA! I could not remember where I found them initially. I had a mental frt...block.

Pet Gates Search Results | Overstock.com, Page 1

Oh wow so many choices!!! Thank you so much for sharing!! I actually really like this one, Black Free-standing 23.6-39.4-inch Pet Gate | Overstock.com

This way, the cats can maneuver around it. The bottom stair is not surrounded by wall, so if we can just block the stairs, then the cats can still use the house freely by walking around this block to the side of the stairs, if that makes sense. Just as long as Champ doesn't try to chase them up the stairs Do puppies usually try to use the stairs or are they scared of it in the beginning?

I love overstock.com! The shipping is so cheap and actually I've gotten all the rugs around the house from overstock. So I'm guessing you like the gate you got? There was another one on overstock that I liked that had a mini cat door, and if I felt like spending more money I could buy that one for the office where the cats litter and food is, but before we just used a regular pressurized baby gate and that's probably what I'll do starting next week, unless I feel like going on an overstock spending spree.

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the only issue I had with the gate was that Rose could go thru the little door for the cat. I got this one. Carlson Extra-tall Walk Through Pet Gate | Overstock.com
I was thinking extra tall so she cannot jump it but she could pass thru the little door until she was 5 months old. So we stopped using it.
We do not have an indoor cat at home (only at the office) but we do babysit a little shihpoo for our neighbor. So I was thinking of Coco when we got the gate.
Other than that I like it. I love the fact that I can just open the gate door and pass thru instead of having to constantly remove the entire thing. I got 4 of them. And darn it - they are on sale now.

I quickly discovered that throw rugs made for great toys. Tesia would drag them around. They all got promptly removed - probably for the first 9 months of her life. I had magazine baskets on the floor - very tempting to chew. So they got lifted. For cords - I sprayed them regularly with bitter apple. There were no shoes left out - basically there was nothing on the floor that wasn't her toy. Thankfully, she didn't chew table legs. But she was also never unsupervised.

I also couldn't make baby gates work - I used bookcase shelves, believe it or not. Not very attractive, but I was able to lay them across areas and doors, and I could easily step over them, but she couldn't. Any pieces of wood or particle board (cheaper) could work. You can get it cut to size.

That also provides a good space for puppies to sleep.

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Tesia
"Joy and loyalty wrapped in sunshine."
The Laughing Dog Press

Sept. 21, 2000 ~ Feb. 5, 2013
My sweet, joyful, beloved heart.

We took a piece of vinyl lattice like you get at Home Depot and framed it with lattice framing (same area they sell the lattice), and we just slide it back and forth. Works great! We also cut lattice down to make sure the puppy couldn't accidentally go through the stair rungs and fall a floor. We used the plastic ties to secure. It looks messy but we figure we can remove them when he's around 6 months old. I used interlocking rubber matting to protect our upstairs carpeting in my office and I'm thinking since he's pretty much potty trained that we can start removing it. It worked pretty well for us because it took him some time to realize he needed to signal us when we were upstairs that he needed to go potty-- he couldn't go to the door and point so he just went until he realized he could pace and whimper and we "got" the message!

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Meet Yogi! http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/...tion-yogi.html

Thanks! I told my husband about locking the cabinets, and we literally just redid our kitchen, including the cabinets, so both hubby and I are REALLY hoping that we don't have to put locks on them! We are also hoping that he doesn't like to chew on them as well! We just came back from the pet store and bought a lot of toys, including kong bones and nylabones, so hopefully he enjoys those instead!

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We have a baby gate similar to this one that has served us well. It mounts by pressure against the wall. We raise it of the floor, so the cat can fit underneath, so the baseboard never was an issue. Bella was a big puppy, and our cat is very small, so it wasn't mounted high enough for Bella to fit underneath. We still use it. I like that it's not permanently mounted to the wall, and it's easy to remove. I would never use it on stairs with babies or toddlers, though.

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Grasslands Liberty Belle "Bella" CGC (5-7-2012)

I sprayed my cabinets with bitter yuck when I noticed that sage liked to naw on the corners...it worked excellent. Honestly even though we were watching her like a hawk, there were things that she just went after no matter how much we tried to re-direct her...that's where removing it for a while or spraying it liberally every day really helped. And to be honest if you don't want something tried out with their teeth and you can move it do it. Yes they have to learn to respect our stuff, but when all you are doing is removing them from chewing something they shouldn't etc...you aren't enjoying your pup and wasting energy that could be used elsewhere and I believe if all they ever hear is no no don't do that, no no don't chew that, no no get out of there...well how would you feel. But it's just My Opinion....I am finding as I add things back in if she goes after it I tell her no once and she doesn't go back...so much easier than driving myself nuts chasing her, scolding her, redirecting her etc etc etc...

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AS far as the stairs; it depends on how many there are and how steep they are. We held off on allowing Rose to go down the stairs in the basement until she was about 4 months old. I also walked in front of her so she will take her time and not jump them and injure herself. They are quite hard on their little joints; even now at 8 months I still limit the times she goes up and down by blocking the access at both ends.