Can you teach a dog to wipe its paws?

up for anything

I have a lab/collie cross coming up to three years old. I'm exhausted clearing up his shed hairs. I'd say I could stuff a single mattress every week if I accumulated it but the thing that is driving me mad is wiping his paws. He is a house dog and when I leave him into the garden for a while I have to sit him on a mat and using a bath sheet (especially if it's wet out there) wipe each of his paws and up his legs and his undercarriage.

Is there an easier way that anyone has come up with?

ISDW

up for anything wrote: »

I have a lab/collie cross coming up to three years old. I'm exhausted clearing up his shed hairs. I'd say I could stuff a single mattress every week if I accumulated it but the thing that is driving me mad is wiping his paws. He is a house dog and when I leave him into the garden for a while I have to sit him on a mat and using a bath sheet (especially if it's wet out there) wipe each of his paws and up his legs and his undercarriage.

Is there an easier way that anyone has come up with?

You could try this, it is only for the paws though, you'd still have to dry him underneath.

http://www.pawplunger.co.uk/

ppink

Our dogs have more towels than we do for the same reason! I have not seen anything but would love something like a drive through car wash for them and dryer:D. We have threatened to turn them all into chinese crested lookalikes:P
All I can say is think yourself lucky, I have 20 paws to wipe after every trip out:eek: by the time I get in I am exhausted

kildareash

I feel your pain. I felt so bad for my poor little dogs having to go out in the rain last sat to go toilet!
We've no back porch so they're just straight into the kitchen and it's an absolute nightmare. I end up having to wash the Walls and everything!

I had my OH meet me at the door with towels after our walk another day, we were all soaked.

I posted over the wkend to see if anyone had seen these dry bags for dogs anywhere.

tribalwings

Well I usually leave a bath sheet folded in half inside the back door. The dogs come in and walk round on it and lie down for a few mins to dry themselves off before they jump around anywhere

suziwalsh

Get yourself a furminator and some furnminator shampoo to reduce the shedding....also a good idea will reduce shedding

You can also clicker train a dog to wipe his paws depending on how patient you are

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAspFdvS8pU

NoDice

We'd be in the same situation where our dogs are indoor dogs and only go out into the garden to go to the toilet or play time. Straight in the door again is our dining room. :rolleyes:

We have a waterproof runner mat at this door and lie a towel over it. We've the dogs trained so that they come in one at a time, they sit and lift each paw so they get dried individually. I find that placing my hand on top of their head (open palm) in between their ears stops them from shaking all the water off whilst we're doing this- tip from my groomer.

Even though this is a routine though, the smaller one, Leela, likes to attempt to make a run for the sitting room before getting her paws dried now and again though. Little chancer! :rolleyes:

Suzi that youtube clip is genius! I'm defo going to start trying that!

liah

I suppose you could consider those little dog booties they're selling, I'm not sure how cruel or not they are but they're certainly amusing while watching the dog try to figure out what to do :pac:

Only problem with the boots is you'd still have to dry off their underside. I've never tried them though. Always just dealt with the muck, we had a 'mud room' or back room so it worked out.

gossipgal08

Would be great if we could get the cat to do it. She comes in the upstairs window and walks all over the quilt covers. Not sure what she has on her paws but its not washing off

The Sweeper

I've got the first step to my guy wiping his paws. He sit's before he comes through the door, and stops the minute he's through and sits again. Then I can get him to stand and follow a treat around in a circle, simultaneously wiping his paws on the mat. It's not perfect but it helps. The consistency element helps too - every time he comes in we do the same thing, even on a dry day, so he expects it and does it without protest.

kopfan77

up for anything wrote: »

I have a lab/collie cross coming up to three years old. I'm exhausted clearing up his shed hairs. I'd say I could stuff a single mattress every week if I accumulated it but the thing that is driving me mad is wiping his paws. He is a house dog and when I leave him into the garden for a while I have to sit him on a mat and using a bath sheet (especially if it's wet out there) wipe each of his paws and up his legs and his undercarriage.

Is there an easier way that anyone has come up with?

God if anyone finds a cheap easy solution to this pleeeeasee let me know....2 german shepherds here and it can look like WWE wrestling when we come in with me on the floor wrestling with em trying to dry their paws with a towel

liah

An idea would be something like a 'dirt bed,' have a bed (separate from their real bed if they have a designated one) beside the door that you make them lay on for awhile to dry off-- laying on it would take most of the wet from their paws and undersides provided it's sized correctly and your dog can actually sit still long enough :pac: Just make sure it's machine washable and the dog knows they have to go to it as soon as they come in.

I've never seen anyone do it or anything, it's just an idea, but I think it would be better than nothing? You'd still have to do a bit of toweling I'd imagine though.. doubt it'd be as much.

Whispered

liah wrote: »

An idea would be something like a 'dirt bed,' have a bed (separate from their real bed if they have a designated one) beside the door that you make them lay on for awhile to dry off-- laying on it would take most of the wet from their paws and undersides provided it's sized correctly and your dog can actually sit still long enough :pac: Just make sure it's machine washable and the dog knows they have to go to it as soon as they come in.

I've never seen anyone do it or anything, it's just an idea, but I think it would be better than nothing? You'd still have to do a bit of toweling I'd imagine though.. doubt it'd be as much.

I have seen people do this with those magic mat things you can get. In the door and straight to the mat for a rest and usually a treat. It doesn't solve the problem 100% but it helps.

I have vet beds for my 2, and they get their bedding washed very regularly, one has his changed twice daily due to a skin condition, the other has a day blanket and a night blanket (ok truth time, day blanket and the couch). So I just send them to bed when they come in and let the dry off in their crates.

tk123

suziwalsh wrote: »

You can also clicker train a dog to wipe his paws depending on how patient you are

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAspFdvS8pU

My dog learnt this trick in class - but he started "digging up" all the mats in the house lol so we had to stop telling him to do it :pac::pac::pac::rolleyes:

anniehoo

Do you know what would be brilliant. A big zip up onesie type thing for dogs. Something with a towelling liner that the dog could be zipped into before coming into the house so all the mud and wet gets absorbed into and then they could be zipped out of it when theyre a bit cleaner.

*off to the patents office*:D

tk123

anniehoo wrote: »

Do you know what would be brilliant. A big zip up onesie type thing for dogs. Something with a towelling liner that the dog could be zipped into before coming into the house so all the mud and wet gets absorbed into and then they could be zipped out of it when theyre a bit cleaner.

*off to the patents office*:D

I think you've been beaten to it lol : http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dog_collars_dog_leads/clothing/207480

anniehoo

tk123 wrote: »

I think you've been beaten to it lol : http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dog_collars_dog_leads/clothing/207480

Daaamn

If i still had a dog id definitely get one of those, i used to hate the towelling off part coming in from walks. CLean off the paws and stick them in that for an hour...sorted.

up for anything

Thanks everybody for sharing your experiences and for the tips. I had begun to think I was the only one in the world. I keep thinking it's me. My boys go out to play with other kids and they come in manky and the other children come in clean. I brought the neighbour's dog over today to play with mine out in our garden. After an hour mine comes in looking like a yeti that's fallen in slurry and the neighbour's dog, a golden lab, comes in with slightly, muddy paws. What's with that!! :mad:

I like the zip up bag idea, Anniehoo but next dog's allowance day might invest in the paw plunger yoke although I suppose a saucepan of water would do just as well.

kildareash

tk123 wrote: »

I think you've been beaten to it lol : http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dog_collars_dog_leads/clothing/207480

This is the kinds thing I posted about last wkend. I searched zooplus so many tines and never seen that.
It would be absolutely perfect if it had some sort of cover for the tail, coz that wagging wet tail can do some much damage!

leopardus

My dog had the very annoying habit of shaking a spray of dirty, muddy water all over the hall walls and floor after coming in from a run. I have now trained him to "shake" on command before he comes in, a wipe of the paws with a towel kept by the door prevents the rest of the mess.

I have also, unintentionally, trained him to make a paw-wiping action on command too, but it's a bit too vigorous for a mat! I take him for a game of fetch and tug every morning: bring him to the pitch, let him off lead and then wait for him to defecate before I throw his toy for him. He would defecate and do a little scrape of the ground and then his toy would be thrown. I realised that he had associated this scratching of the earth with persuading me to throw his toy. This 'superstitious' scratching got longer and more elaborate. I put the behaviour on command ("do your thing"), basically because I think it's hilarious to have a belgian shepherd staring intently at me, scratching the ground with his four feet in anticipation! I'll have to catch it on video!

pitbull_fanatic

haha i had to laugh when i saw this tittle! sorry for not reading the whole thread, but i hear ya! we have to mop the floor every time they come in after goin toilet. they come in and run round the kitchen and then shake so skidmarks everywhere! i'v tries to train them to wipe their feet coming in by standing over them with them between my legs and i hold their fornt paws (one dog at a time obv!) and wipe it on mat left right left right saying wipe. den do the back legs, then next dog. i thought that after 4 r 5 weeks they would have picked up on it even a small bit but no...they still look at me with a look that looks like they sympathise with me for bein dumb enough to even try!

goat2

i use microfibre towelling squeezed out in shampoo to clean and wipe dogs after walkies, these towles are great for grabbing the dirt and have 5 times more drying power that ordinary towels, and the biggest beauty is when you wash the towles they dry in 4 the time cotton towels do, i would not use any other towels since i started using these

Ponder013

I've seen those zip up towelling bags on ebay, was tempted to get them for the car - you zip it up around the dog so only thier head pokes through - sounds just the thing after a trip to the beach.

THB I don't think there's a complete answer - mine will stop on the mat on the way in, but there's still a lot of rubbing with a towel, and a lot of moping as well. You can be house proud and have house dogs, but not simultaneously:D

Lee1982

my dog wipes his paws..hes part collie!hes soo clever!