# Dirty paws- mud all over the place



## Rex (Mar 30, 2009)

What do you guys do to keep the dirt/mud out off your house?? 

Josie and Rex like spending time outside and they both like to dig- so their paws are super dirty every time they come back inside. I tried to wipe their paws but that really doesn't help at all! There's too much dirt on their paws...
I mop and vacuum 3-4 times/day. After every time they went outside. It's getting frustrating


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## StarryNite (Jun 2, 2009)

This has been a HUGE issue here for awhile now. Not so bad when the ground is frozen but there is a lot of dirt (the muddy sort) in Lou's run so before summer we are going to put about 4" of pea gravel out there to try to help the situation. I steam clean at least 2 times a week and many times as soon as I get it put away and breath that contented sigh of the carpets looking and smelling wonderful Lou runs in from the yard and even the neighbors can probably hear my mournful "NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" when I seen the fresh black paw prints all over the house! LOL 

Sorry, not much help, but I sure sympathize with you!


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

Took out the carpet. Replaced it with stained concrete and tile. Now I just wait for it to dry and sweep it up.


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

I have wood floors HOWEVER when Basu comes in and it's really muddy, snowy or salty (from the streets) I dip each of his paws in a large container with warm water and then wipe them off. Sometimes I have to dip them a couple of times but it does get the stuff off of his feet.


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

Tis the season! My yard is very sandy so I feel for ya. One of my prereqs when I was buying a house was a mud room!

Do you have tile in your kitchen? Make them stay in there until they're dry then you should be able to brush the mud off. Get some big bathmat size towels and teach the dogs to lay on them when they're muddy.

One thing I did last spring that REALLY cut down on the sandy mud was to tear out the lawn by the door where the dogs come in. They have to go across 20 feet of hard surface before they get to the back door so some of it comes off.


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## EmilyK0429 (Dec 6, 2009)

I know how you feel. I am so glad that I do not have carpet where the dogs go. There is 1 rug but it is an indoor outdoor rug so I use the carpet cleaner on it and then we're good. Lots of vaccuming and mopping.


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## Rex (Mar 30, 2009)

We have tile downstairs where the dogs come in... by the time I turn around they are already upstairs where we have carpet. And it's military housing so it's not even our own house







I use carpet cleaner all the time to get the stains out immediately. 

Unfortunately we don't have a door downstairs so they can basically come in from outside and run straight upstairs... I used to put up a baby gate to keep them downstairs but they just knock it over









And even if I can keep them downstairs it's frustrating 'cause I mop and clean multiple times a day


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

Try this - get a big rag that's a totally different color than the tile. Put it on the floor right inside the door. Bring in one dog at a time. 

When there's 2 young dogs involved at the door things get a little loony. I noticed Josie hasn't been with you long - start with her since she's still learning what you expect of her.

Have treats and get the dog to stand on the towel. Wipe legs and under carriage with a different towel. The dog will fidget but whatever, wipes off the paws. Apply treats and calmly crate the dog until completely dry. Get the other one and repeat.

After a while, they'll learn if there's a rag on the floor in that spot, stand on the rag when they come in.

Might want to get a new gate too - I have metal pressure mount gates with a walk through door. The make a dogawful noise when they get knocked over so my dogs don't!


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## Tarheel (Sep 6, 2009)

I have several 2x3, absorbent rugs at the door where they come in. If they are really bad, downstairs to the basement shower for a rinse, towel dry, and a biscuit. Also I have hardwood floors.


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## khurley (Sep 25, 2004)

> Originally Posted By: SunCzarinaTry this - get a big rag that's a totally different color than the tile. Put it on the floor right inside the door. Bring in one dog at a time.
> 
> When there's 2 young dogs involved at the door things get a little loony. I noticed Josie hasn't been with you long - start with her since she's still learning what you expect of her.
> 
> ...


This is similar to what we do. During mud season (it's still snow season where I live







), we keep a towel in the tiled dining room where the dogs first come in from the backyard. 

Our dining leads directly into our carpeted living room, so as soon as they come in I wipe their feet down before they're allowed to leave the kitchen. If they're really muddy, I do the bowl of water thing as well. 

My dogs are old enough now that they're trained to stay there in the kitchen until I tell them they can go (although they do it with sad ears). Until your dogs are at that point, I second the doggie door suggestion.


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## SouthernThistle (Nov 16, 2005)

> Originally Posted By: RexWhat do you guys do to keep the dirt/mud out off your house??


We generally put Grimm and Gidget in a large plastic bubble when they are in the house









(Sometimes...I wish we could - lol.)


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## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

Yep, got mud! 

I have a deck off my patio door. I have a cheap 8x10 indoor outdoor carpet piece outside at the door. ($18 from Home Depot) Inside by the patio door I have bath mats that are easy to throw into the washer. And, I've had to remove all my carpet in the living room after my dying dog was so drugged up he just peed inside. I'm going to get laminate or hardwood, but since a new puppy is coming this summer, I just painted the floor for now and will put something down in a year or two. 

My throw rugs are short napped, so I they are easy to clean if they get muddy. 

I pretty much vacuum once a week and if the floors are really muddy, they get mopped once a week. 

The floors below are very dirty in this photo. I mopped yesterday.


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

Gotta love the disposable rugs from Home Cheapo! I buy a new one every year for the area off my mudroom just incase one of the kids leaves the door open and there's an accident. Brown is really good color for a cheap area rug!


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## Ucdcrush (Mar 22, 2004)

My dogs have access to a doggy side yard during the day, which for the past couple months has been muddy. I put a cheap runner carpet running from the doggy door through the garage into the kitchen where they can be inside during the day. The runner does catch SOME mud as they come back inside, but I have just accepted the fact that my kitchen is going to have dirt on the floor.

At least it's natural, that's one positive aspect of it.


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## IllinoisNative (Feb 2, 2010)

I let my two dogs outside in the kitchen which is tiled. I wash their feet in a bowl of water IMMEDIATELY upon coming back inside. They know the drill. They even raise their paws for me. I dry them with a paper towel and then put them in their crates for 10/15 minutes to totally dry. Then I let them out. I do this every time I let them outside whether it's muddy or not because I allow them on the furniture. Because of that, you better believe their feet are clean when they come back inside.









I use my swifter sweeper for any debris that remains and then my swifter wet jet for the mud tracks. It takes seconds and it's dry by the time I let them out of their crate.


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## AngelJ (Aug 24, 2009)

Mud has always been a problem in our house. Luckily we love doing home improvement projects. Two years ago we built a mud/laundry room in what was part of the garage. I had to have this in there....



















I did all the tile work myself and I can't believe how much we have used this shower. It's worked so well, we even got new carpet this year.

Before the shower though, we used a lot of bath towels inside the kitchen door.


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## Bennett (Nov 17, 2009)

Wow, AngelJ!--That is impressive! I especially love the paw prints. Very nice tile work. And your baby looks so at home there.
Thanks for sharing.


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## StarryNite (Jun 2, 2009)

Wow, Angel, you did a FANTASTIC job! That is absolutely beautifully tiled! LOVE the paw prints and bones and the colors you used! Haha, what lucky doggies you have with their own private shower!!!


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## kelso (Jan 22, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: AngelJMud has always been a problem in our house. Luckily we love doing home improvement projects. Two years ago we built a mud/laundry room in what was part of the garage. I had to have this in there....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


WOW!!!!! Jealous Jealous!! This is my dream when we move/build a home. I never really knew what I wanted it to look like as I had never seen a mud room I really liked, but this is awesome! Send me some specs so I can keep them please









And we also ripped up all the carpets in the house except for 2 bedrooms once we had 2 1 yr old dogs







I was over it! Works ok now, but still have to mop alot.


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## thaliasmom (May 3, 2007)

We have a variety of responses, depending on the weather:
1. Pouring rain. I don't even try to wipe them off, just usher them directly to a crate that has 3-4 bath towels on the bottom. Dog in crate, release when (mostly) dry. They're curled up sleeping the mud off right now.









2. Just mud. We have a significant amount of mud here, it rains winter and summer, and we have clay soil.







If its warm enough, we hose the feet off by the door, then bring in and wipe. If cold, we've been wiping and hoping for the best. We vacuum every day, mop a couple of times a week, and the dogs are not allowed on the furniture.

Our bigger dog is a LH, so she has furry cankles that get mud dreadlocks.







I think we'll try the dip-in-bowl routine, although I'm not sure how we'll manage that with the puppy bouncing around in there, too.


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## brembo (Jun 30, 2009)

Get a big bucket and make a game of the dog putting legs in the bucket. I use a 5 gallon drywall mud bucket. Banjo goes front legs first, splashes a bit, then he dunks his rear legs in and waits for the treat. Grubby towel on his paws quickly and it cuts 99% of the mess easily. If he gets his underside muddy he gets **THE HOSE**, which is an even better game in his opinion. I ripped out all carpet and use area rugs where needed.


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