Dirty dirty dogs

Joe10000

Hi everyone, we have two dogs that go out of their way to find and bring dirt into the house at every opportunity. We hose them clean a couple of times a day and dry them but it is getting too much.

Every bed sheet and towel in the house is destroyed at this stage and washing them in the machine just puts hair on everything washed after, even after a long empty cycle. I don't want to get a second washing machine and I would really like a disposable solution.

I am going out tomorrow to restock the hot press and I don't want to do it again !

Any ideas ? What does everyone else do ?

Thanks

Dirk Gently

An old towel and brush at the back door. My two stop and give me each of their paws to rub down before proceeding into the house, they know the drill now. A brush down usually clears of any dirt in their coat.

Ultimately though I'm going to have to concrete a large area of the back. When it rains, toilet breaks are an ordeal as they come back covered in mud.

As for the washing machine, get yourself a couple of those dog hair remover things. brush down the material before putting it into the washing machine. It will save your filter getting clogged up too.

Joe10000

Thanks Dirk, I do pretty much all of those things but as you say when they get near the muck it's a different story.

Our two know the routine too but occasionally they break the checkpoint and when they have a good shake the kitchen needs to be repainted

Dirk Gently

yeah I know, im glad we've had surprisingly little rain the past month or so. I've hardly a blade of grass left out the back anymore with the dogs running around so they get destroyed with mud in the wet. concrete is my (expensive) answer, least it prevents the mud when they go out. As you say, cleaning muddy dogs every day is just too much hassle.

Joe10000

Yeah I've big plans for the garden this summer that will hopefully help, maybe you should look at synthetic grass though instead of concrete.

Dirk Gently

The lab would look at synthetic grass and think "dinner".

CrowdedHouse

The synthetic grass in our house cut the doggie mud by at least 90%
(Lucy still has the odd root in the flower beds !!)

Sigma Force

Do you have a tumble dryer? They work great at removing the dog hair or just hang things out on the line on a windy day for a day or two before washing.
Keep a wee press with old towels in it to use with the dogs.
Close bedroom doors, put up baby gates.
When we re-painted the kitchen we switched to the washable stuff it's more durable as well if you hit off the wall and very easy to wipe down.

My tumble dryer is on the blink atm and I really miss it for getting rid of dog hairs esp. on the vet bed. After you've washed hairy stuff in the washing machine, stick the machine on empty on a rinse cycle before putting clothes in.
If you've old towels or bedding a local rescue would be delighted with them.

Patio slabs could work out cheaper than concrete, keep a small area of grass maybe to encourage them to pee or fence it off a bit so they have some grass to chew on. A lot of people have started using the astro turf I can see how a smaller garden would get destroyed easily. If you are keeping an area with a bit of grass there's some grass seeds you can get now in the hardware shop that is a lot tougher than regular grass think it's specifically aimed at dog owners, can't remember the name of it.

Joe10000

Thanks Sigma, I've never heard of that dryer trick, will try it.