Gooseproofing Your Home

Baby Gate for Gooseproofing your home

Just like when you bring a new human baby or a puppy into your home you will need to gooseproof any areas that your goose will be welcome in. And you will need to set up gate in the doorways of areas that the goose is not welcome into. The difference with a goose, from a human baby or puppy, these will be permanent settings/changes. Your goose will not outgrow eating your plants, digging in your potting soil, pulling on electrical cords, taking items off your coffee table. It will continue throughout the goose's lifetime.

When you set up your Goose Baby Gates, make sure they are very secure in the spot you set them. Make sure that the goose can not get it's head caught in the bars. Make sure it is high enough the goose can not get under it and low enough that the goose can not jump over it.

Poisneous Plants

Your days of owning plants that could be poisonous, should be over. Why take a chance on your goose's life? Geese are active birds that are always busy and sleep far less then a dog or cat will. If your goose has the chance, it will get into your plants and eat them and dig in the soil. Please know if any plants or small trees you own have any tenancy to be poisonous to your Housegoose.

When company comes you might not always want your goose in the middle of all the goings on. Your goose might get into women's purses, be sure to set those up in areas the goose can not reach them. Then too, some geese will bother visitors but trying to bite them. Some visitors might not want to be near the goose. Geese are big and can be intimidating birds. This is a time that the goose might need to go to it's crate/pen/cage. Your goose might feel safer there anyway. Your goose will be safer in it's crate/pen/cage if the visitors brought children. And be sure to let the children know, make sure their parents understand, the goose is not to be disturbed or teased. The children should not be around the crate/pen/cage without you there with them.

If you or your company wants the goose out during the visit, it is only fair to let the visitors know about geese. I am sure, that the topic will be geese, since there is one in the room wearing diapers, not an everyday site. But still you will want to warn your guest about any behavior they should be aware of from the goose. Like biting. Like wing flapping. Like stealing from her purse. Like taking items off a plate held too low. Like that the goose my put it's beak into the drink left too low. Anything that will make your guest more comfortable and safe around your pet the better.

Be sure everyone watches where they are walking. Geese and especially goslings like to be near "their" people and will be at your feet. The goslings are fast and can change directions on a dime. Please watch where you are waling so that you do not step on, kick or trip over your gosling or goose.

Darlene Healy says "Sharing is Caring"

GEESE LOVE WATER! Never leave a glass of liquids low enough (think coffee table) that a goose can get near it. I promise you that a goose, almost every single goose (or house duck) will Will WILL, stick their beaks/heads into the glass. What happens next.....mess, perhaps broken glass. And please! Do not blame the water fowl! Ducks and Geese love water, love it. They are drawn to it. They seek it at all times.

Some housegoose owners, like Darlene Healy, say "Sharing is Caring". That is the title of her photo seen here.

Your goose needs to get into your bathtub and take a bath at least a few times each week. Be sure that the sides of the bathtub are clear. No bars of soap, or shampoos and absolutely no flowers or plants or such.

KEEP YOUR GOOSE AWAY FROM THESE!

Ashtrays and cigarette butts can look like fun toys to a HouseGoose. If you smoke, keep the ashtrays high and away from your goose. Remember that their faces, and beaks, are at about the level your relaxed hand would be holding a lit cigarette. You bet they would go after that. Remind smoking guests to keep their habits higher then the goose can reach. And it is not funny to smoke wacky tobacky around your HouseGoose and blow smoke at it.

One mans trash might be a Housegoose's paradise. Your goose has no idea that those items in that barrel thing, that looks like a big bowl to a goose, is stuff to be thrown away. To a goose, this looks like a big toy with food. The deeper it digs the more it finds. Every trash can in your home needs to have a lid or better yet be out of reach for a HouseGoose.

Keep your Floors and Furniture Clean when out and about your home, put your gosling/goose in a diaper holder with some sort of absorbent liner to keep the mess inside of it. This will not only keep your home cleaner, it will make it less slick! <grin> It is true. Goose poop is slick and to step in in with your bare feet, well......make sure your bird is diapered.

more to come

Holidays!

Darlene Healy's Christmas Geese

The first and most obvious Holiday adjustment you will have with your HouseGoose is a Christmas Tree and other Christmas Decorations. You will need a fence around your tree to keep your house goose away from all (in the goose's eyes) great toys hanging on that tree! The tree itself may be a great thing of interest to the housegoose even before you open one box of ornaments. I hope I will not need to even tell you that you should not hang any glass ornaments at the bottom of the tree. Keep in mind, that if you do not want to fence the tree, your house goose will see and want to get the worms on your Christmas Tree....light cords and tinsel. Gees necks are long, so the fencing will not only need to be tall enough that goose can not reach over it, but also far enough away from the tree that the goose can not reach through the fence and pull the tree over.

Look at your home the way your goose will. Bows on a gift would look like a great toy and once pulled, as it comes free, even more fun for them. The problem is multifold. Not only will it destroy the look of your gifts, that ribbon is not only not color fast, when wet will stain and stain bad, the goose, the carpet, your flooring and anything else it comes in contact with. Also, once stripped can chock the goose playing/eating it. Yes. If you come home and see a mess like that you might even think "I hope you choke!" but you will not mean that at all. Move the gifts. And it may not stop at the ribbon. The package or a whole lot of packages may be opened and ruined before can say "Oh No! Don't play with those!"

Many people that normally don't use candles do use them at Christmas. Be sure all candles, lit and not, are up high enough the housegoose can not be near them. Many are in glass containers. Once lit and a goose pulling on the candle or the table cloth the candle is sitting on, at least you will have a mess, at the other end of extreme you could loose your home, goose and own life in a fire.

Darlene Healy's Geese

Many homes have more people visiting them at Christmas time then any other time of year. Be sure, if you leave your goose out to visit with them, the PEOPLE know what the goose can eat and not eat. People are stupid and might feed your goose anything. On that. Make sure all food and trash is out of the reach of your housegoose.

Many Christmas plants are poisonous. Keep all plants, flowers and decor thereof, out of the goose's reach.

If you are going to be gone to Christmas parties and such, have a place your goose can be so that it does not have to spend endless hours in a crate alone. If you take your goose with you....not really a good idea unless you spend every minute with your goose, remember all of the above and know your goose, and those folks around it.

Do I even need to tell you that an alcoholic drink is NOT intended for a goose? And it is not just you. Stupid people around you will think it is so funny that your goose is drinking their alcoholic drink from their glasses.

Valentine's Day has chocolate, St. Pat's has beer. Easter has big meals and hidden eggs. Your goose should not have any of this. Watch that plastic grass in Easter baskets your goose will probably want to eat it too.

Fourth of July can be overwhelming for your pet geese. The Bar-B-Ques with all the strangers, the hot weather, and of course the Fireworks. You will want to leave your goose at home in it's bed with music on for it while you go to the Fireworks Displays.

And why is it, they think it is funny, family members that is, to ask if you will be serving your goose for Thanksgiving as the meat? Speaking of family members, sometimes they are the most hazardous to pet HouseGeese. Keep an eye on them as well as your goose.

Just remember, each Holiday has hazards for your HouseGoose. Prepare, and set up accordingly.

These beautiful and festive Sebastopol Geese, as well as the photos of them, belong to Darlene Healy. Darlene has graciously let us use them with permission on this site.





The contents of this page for Gooseproofing Your Home is still under construction. Please check back.

-- The House Goose Team
Fri, 09 Dec 2011 11:10:02 -0500

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