Baby/pet Gate Suggestions

We bought gates through Costco and have been very happy with them. You will want to put something underneath them, though, as they are metal and could scratch the floor. If installed correctly, they are practically self-closing, and definitely dog proof if wall-mounted (we have 2 dogs).

I would encourage you to cage your dog, if you do not time/energy to pay strict attention to it. A puppy is a lot like a baby that crawls--its unsafe, and inappropriate to leave a baby alone in room of "off limits stuff," knowing the baby can crawl around and put things in his/her mouth. Puppies do the same thing (but have a stronger jaw/more damaging teeth, LOL), and it can be equally dangerous for them, and distressing for the family. Potty training for the puppy will also go a whole lot faster with an appropriately sized cage. If you haven't already signed up for obedience classes, definitely do that. It's great socialization for the dog, and helps the dog learn manners and bond with you. Take 5 or 10 minutes, once or twice per day, to practice the various cues with the dog (sit, dog, stay, come), and pretty soon, he/she will be a well mannered member of the family. (And I apologize if you know all this--it's just in case you're new to dog ownership).

Check One Step Ahead website, they have configurable gates that can be made into huge systems. Very neat. I just searched baby gates on google and chose images and there are also some neat room gates that are retractable on childproofmyhome.com.

Lots of options but the bigger they are the pricier...

I just ordered 2 "retract-a-gates" (the other similar brands have gotten bad reviews due to how noisy they are...so I went with this brand) from their website and they should be here tomorrow. They are approved for top of stair use, so they must be sturdy, but yet, you can roll them away if you want (and if you buy extra brackets, you can click it off and move it to a new place in minutes). I will let you know how it goes! We'll have to teach our 3 year old...but I bet she'll catch on sooner than Dh!

I can't advise you about dogs, but I never care about looking trashy safety. Our gate in our living room (to the stairs) is covered in duct tape and parts of Huggies boxes because the kids were grabbing things through the rungs, and broke one out (I was not about to buy a new gate, so we modified it) and it is very sturdy and looks like something that could rescue someone off of a desserted island. The dogs will be trained (eventually) as will the kids, so just do whatever is going to make life safer and easier, even if it means more gates. :)

We have a split level with a huge living room, so we have 3 gates - one at the top of the stairs that go down to the front door, one at the bottom of the stairs going up to the bedrooms and one between the livingroom and the kitchen. We petsit a dog a lot and it works well to keep him off the carpets if he's muddy and away from the kids & their toys if we're not there to supervise.
The first 2 are evenflo gates (my parents bought them from Kmart) that are wooden with slats and slide open for very large openings - they are difficult to open for some adults though, so maybe not a good choice for a 3 year old. The third gate is an adjustable size too - it is a plastic Safety 1st gate. It's MUCH easier to open. They are all "decent" looking enough for us. I like things simple and clean, but we're by no means fancy.
None of them are self-closing either, so might not be very helpful.

I just want to comment that i'm sure it would never look "trashy" to be taking care of your childrens' (and pet's) safety! You have to do what you have to do! Hope you find something that works :)

I have two gates. The one I love is a hands free gate where you step on the pedal. I'm not sure if a 3 year old would be able to open it though - my heavy 2.5 year old can't. I also have one that has a smaller door in it to let the cats through, but you definitely have to manually latch it each time. You may want to look into getting something like the free standing gate pens for the dogs and get a proper gate for the stairs.