A lot of people have questioned how we can have 2 huge pooches and a home filled with white decor. I don't think having dogs should limit our decorating decisions. Instead, we've taken some preventative measures to cut down on cleaning time and have a home we can all enjoy.
One thing that has made a huge difference is that our pooches wipe their feet at the door. The streets of Chicago have an inordinate amount of dirt and grime; just walking around the city in flip-flops will turn your feet entirely black. Besides walking through dirty Chicago streets, in the past month alone Miss M has stepped in other dogs' poo (twice!) and gum. Knowing the potential for tracking something awful through our home, we gladly spend the few extra minutes giving their paws a quick swipe.We use antibacterial kid's Wet Wipes, and the dogs have actually become accustomed to the routine. They patiently wait their turn at the door; Miss M even assists us by giving us each of her paws.
Our pooches absolutely love laying around on these
Ikea Rens Sheepskin, but we know white rugs can be a huge risk
We use
these Earthbath grooming cloths between baths to keep their fur dust and dirt-free. Miss M absolutely loves the green tea scent and
rolls around like she's at the spa. This system has kept their rugs looking white and fluffy even after a year of use from our pooches and
their guests:
We actually don't let our pooches on the sofa or bed as a way of setting limits. Miss M is a huge bully, we know if she were given this privilege she would still push the limits and feel entitled to boss us around. They still like to lean and rub against the bed, but luckily our white bedding is easy enough to just toss in the washer:
And our white curtains can either be washed or vacuumed with the Dyson.
To eliminate time spent sweeping and vacuuming fur, we started giving the pooches
fish oil with their meals to prevent shedding. It's just a quick squirt on top, and wiping Miss M's chin when she's done, to keep their skin healthy and decrease the amount of fur shed.
Just spending a bit of time doing these things has helped us save time trying to remove deeply embedded dirt. Does anyone else have any good time-saving cleaning tips?
32 comments:
I purchased the shark steam mop which is a dream since all I have is wood floors, its safe, fast and easy. Not to mention it gets the dried dog slobber off in a breeze :)
All the slobber in our house is slowly taking over!! I need to get back to using the fish oil again. It'd probably help with Ollie's crazy shedding.
Fish oil is one of the best investments I've ever made. It definitely helps Shiva's coat in many areas - though I haven't noticed a difference in the amount of shedding. I'm hoping with winter that will change.
Thanks for the great tips! The paw cleaning ritual at the door is something I never really thought of and I don't know why.
We let our dogs on the furniture (but they know "off" very well!) and I like to make sure everything is machine washable. Our current sofa is microfiber, which is amazing for stains and dog hair, but I'd like our next sofa to have slipcovers (probably from Ikea) so I can throw it in the laundry on occasion.
Mom is loving those tips! She says she needs all the help she can get - Thanks!
I don't have any tips, but I absolutely adore your decorating! I've been checking around for floor pillows for myself and guests to sit on when the floor is a good option, and with washable covers so that even when I do get another pup it can be cleaned with relative ease. I definitely see a trip to Ikea in my future!
Great tips! Mom always wipes my feet before I come in the house, but usually just uses a towel, wipes are a GREAT idea!
-Corbin
Those are some very helpful tips, I may consider buying wipes for my dogs toes. We don't let Koda on the couch or beds because he sheds so much and when we had carpet in some of the rooms he wasn't allowed in there. Sophie since she is little and a yorkie is allowed everywhere which tends to bug Koda sometimes. We try to make sure he gets lots of attention where he is allowed to go too. We also find vaccuming is a daily issue with our new wood floors, Koda's hair shows up on them soo well.
i out the hounds in the kennel when i clean cause the little brother likes to "help". especially when i sweep, which is about everyday cause we dont have carpet (thank god). we feed a raw diet to cut down on shedding and odor.
we live in seattle and i am thinking of adopting your feet wiping routine as well as your wipe down between baths. great ideas! and an excellent blog! thanks so much for the tips. im a fan of white decor too!
Mom uses wipes on me in between baths but never thought of them for my feet! She is right on it! And she said she was intrigued by the fish oil idea cuz of my shedding. She has to get some of that too :) She loves getting ideas from you guys!!
Fish oil- I think I've read you recommending that before. I need to start giving my dogs that...
Great tips!!! Thank you for sharing!
~The Mama Monster
I bought couches and chairs that have removable covers that can be machined washed. Daisy is not allowed on the couch, although I have caught her when I am not looking. But is allowed on one chair. Roscoe gets on everything. I too try and wipe feet when there is weather.
Our mom's solution is all the furniture/floors in our house are ridgeback color! :-)
Wags!
Mr. Nubbin'
Great tips!
I personally have decided to just cover my eyes and ignore all the hair and drool. Just kiddin!
I use a magic eraser to get the dried slobber off the floors and the walls, I give the boys a supplement for their coats, which helps with the shedding a bit and I painted my front room brown with a matching couch cover to hide the hair:)
I say in general matching furniture to the dog is a good idea. Since your dogs are part white, you got it!
Great ideas, especially the wipes at the door!
Your pal, Pip
Those are some great ideas. We use the same wipes! We don't care for baths but we love getting rubbed down with those wipes. We still couldn't do all that white, though. Just the humans alone are too messy for white.
lotsa licks, Lola
Haha.. Lola is right - my two-leggers are too messy for white too! We agree about the Shark steam mop and the fish oil. Mom gives it to us every day. The fish oil - not a steam.
Wags,
Zona
PeeS: sorry for my long absence for some reason some blogs dropped off by Google Reader! Grr!
We love the steam mop for the kitchen and God bless, Mr. Dyson! I love that Dyson! lol
I've got a good one! I taught Charlie how to "wipe his feet" and when he's really gross I ask him to do it on the welcome mat. I posted about this sponge thing that's meant to get hair off furniture but works insanely well to de-shed my Pittie. And they both get 5 fish oil pills a day - eat 'em like candy! (It helps to have a non-shedding dog in the mix!) Other than that, I make sure to dust my feet off before getting into bed!
You have some good preventive measures set it place. we are not allowed on our sofas either. But move over in bed. BOL
Benny & Lily
Gotta wipe the feet when they come in! Love the pic of them laying back to back :)
we use a steamer when needed since there are less chemicals.
Kari
http://dogisgodinreverse.com/
Hmm, I wash all of our bedding and the couch slipcover weekly! I like to think that by the time Levi has climbed three flights of carpeted stairs to our unit, his feet are clean:) But I do think I will start wiping them once we move. I know Ive said this before, but I have more of a problem with Lola dander than with dog hair. Lola is Pig Pen. I am grateful to have a short-haired dog because I can't imagine how much hair a dog with an undercoat sheds.
Dogs are truly our best friend. We protect them, give them food, clothing, shelter and we treat them like our own kids too. That's why we just let them play around inside the house although they bring mess sometimes.
My dog Greggy loves playing around in our home. Because he's too playful, he brought a lot of damage into our carpeted floor that's why my husband and I decided to go to some Lakeland flooring stores and replaced our carpeted floors with laminate flooring (Tampa) so that it will be easier for me to clean Greggy's mess and he will not bring any damage into our floors anymore.
I am curious where you got your awesome white sofa? And do the cushion covers come off so you can toss them in the washer? Just curious, love the sofa with all the tufting!
Our sofa is the Petrie sofa from Crate and Barrel. We were actually lucky enough to get it for a deal on Craigslist buying it from a traveling consultant who was never home--so it was like new. We have gotten some stains on it that we were able to clean with Nature's Miracle--it works for normal stains too! For some reason the dogs never try to sit on it, and only sneak onto our brown couch.
Kinda late in posting a comment on this, but.... ;-)
I have two pitties as well, and they tend to track in a bit of everything from the back yard. I have wipes at the back door, but have worked with the dogs on a ritual that gets THEM to do part of the work. There is a mat at the back door, one at the bottom of the basement steps, and one at the step into the kitchen, off the back door. When the dogs come in, they cross the first mat, run down into the basement, do a "dance" at the rug down there, then then come back up, crossing the door mat, and the one into the kitchen. Then I if they're particularly dirty, I wipe their paws. But, for the most part, their paws tend to be pretty good after the Dirty Paw Dance. ;-)
I use a lot of throw blankets on my furniture - I used to keep it covered with sheets but then realized I never got to see it! Now I buy coordinating throws and toss them over the well-liked part of the furniture that the pets flock to, like the back of the couch and arms for the cats and the far corner of the couch for the dog. Then on cleaning day I either take them outside and shake them off or toss them in the washing machine! I also wipe the dogs feet and underbelly when we walk in the rain or the road is wet. I keep a towel in a basket near the front door with my other dog walking accessories.
I use a lot of throw blankets on my furniture - I used to keep it covered with sheets but then realized I never got to see it! Now I buy coordinating throws and toss them over the well-liked part of the furniture that the pets flock to, like the back of the couch and arms for the cats and the far corner of the couch for the dog. Then on cleaning day I either take them outside and shake them off or toss them in the washing machine! I also wipe the dogs feet and underbelly when we walk in the rain or the road is wet. I keep a towel in a basket near the front door with my other dog walking accessories.
the field and my son picked me flowers. He is the sweetest thing ever. It totally made my day!residential cleaning
Post a Comment