Thursday, January 31, 2013

DoggyStyle: The Winter Home with Dogs

Living in Chicago we have developed many techniques to get us through the winter.
Lately, it's been denial. 
We like to pretend it's eternally summer in our front room; the flowers and bright colors seem to help. And we've also been doing some pup-related things around our home to keep the dreariness and slush from coming inside.

Boot Trays for Dog Boots:
Along with our wet boots we also have 8 mini-boots from the pooches. To find a way to avoid the melting snow puddles in our home, we set up a couple of boot drying trays. We learned to use black river rocks as a base; we picked up some packages from Dollar Tree. This lets the snow melt through to the bottom so our boots aren't standing in puddles of water. The water dries up on its own, and we periodically vacuum it out.

Covered Crates:
We noticed the "Dog Bedroom" area can get a little cold and drafty, so we make sure to cover Miss M's crate. We used to put a polar fleece over the top, but we love how our Molly Mutt Crate Cover does the double duty of looking nice and keeping her warm (we wrote more about it here). We still do put an extra polar fleece in the crate with her.

Lights on Mr. B's Tepee
We have learned to put up with the subzero temperatures, but I think the worst part of winter is that it's so dark. 
It's dark for our morning walk. It's dark for our evening walk.  It's just so dark all the time. 
So we've been really into lights. We've decided to make things a bit more sparkly by decorating the top of Mr. B's tepee in twinkle lights. Being a classy guy, Mr. B likes to think it's a bit more Eiffel Tower than dorm room. He even has more photos of his new decor, here.

What are some other things everyone does to keep your home snow and slush free and warm?

Also:

12 comments:

How Sam Sees It said...

BOL - it rains so rarely here that we have no plan. We just wait till it quits and then clean the carpets and floors. Not the best, but it works for us. :D

Sam

sonia a. mascaro said...

Love to know your blog! Your pooches looks lovely!

Two Kitties One Pittie said...

I love the rocks idea!!!! I am going to try that!!!!

We are also in denial. :)

Anonymous said...

Haha Love these ideas! Especially the twinkly lights. Gia has twinkly lights in her room, as she is afraid of the dark ;)

Anonymous said...

The river rocks idea is brilliant!! Thank you! No matter how much I dry them or their feet all I see are dog paw prints all over the hardwood floors. So I bought slippers (for me) that i slip on and 'buff' the floor clean just by walking behind them. Also, since I get home after dark and I don't want them sitting in the pitch black, I have a few of the house lights on timers. The lights come on before the sun sets and all is good!

Debra@Peaceabull said...

River rocks in the boot trays? Genius, I say. Thanks for the great idea.

Pocket Pittie in the City said...

I was wondering if our pooches get cold at night since we don't crank the heat (even in LA, it's chilly at night). We're a little nervous about a Molly Mutt cover for Nigel since he seems to be a chewer of anything in his crate and I know there are some straps that hang inside the crate. Hmmm...

Unknown said...

Please please please come & decorate our house & then teach the dogs & people how to keep it looking that good! I do love the lighting you have. Even in the summer, our house is dark & in the winter it is oh so depressing. I really had not given much thought to it before, but I should look into brightening the place up. I will without a doubt be getting some of the rocks for the boot tray. Why did we not think of that?

Unknown said...

Hello there i'm Milo!
I love how youse decorated your house! It's beautiful!!
Love Milo :)

Anonymous said...

I absolutely love the lights on the tepee! That's just so cute!

Unknown said...

Love the ideas, especially the lights. Unfortunately, we're still very much in the dark and "surviving" the blahs of winter!

My Two Pitties said...

Love the lights and the teepee and the light on the teepee, haha. I put up rope lights in the opening between my living room and kitchen, love it!

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