DoggyStyle: Easy Carpet Cleaning with Dogs

My apartment was actually much dirtier when I didn't own dogs or have rugs. E is only confessing to me now that he dreaded coming over to my place where things seemed a little extra dusty and the hardwood floor had an extra film. Having the pooches has given me an extra awareness of cleaning, and I think our home is even cleaner because of our two extra furry family members.
My biggest cleaning push has been considering how to keep our rugs clean with the pups. We love having rugs as a place for the pups to lay, and as extra consideration for our neighbors, and after many discussions and trial and error, these are some easy things we've learned to about having rugs with dogs:

Let the Machine Do the Cleaning:

For spot cleaning, I still love my Natures Miracle which actually uses enzymes to break down dirt and odors. Though sometimes it is just more cumbersome to sit with a roll of paper towels and blot and spray for an hour. We ended up buying the Bissell SpotBot Pet Deep Cleaner.  You put it over the stain and just let it run and scrub on its own. The only problem is it does leave circular, super-clean, spots in the middle of your rug. Eventually you are able to vacuum them out.

The 'Disposable' Rug:

It was actually on a search for a square-shaped rug that we discovered  FLOR tiles. We love that you can use the individual tiles to configure your own rug shape and create your own pattern. The best part is they are super durable, but something does happen all you have to do is replace an individual tile instead of the entire rug. We like FLOR's toy poodle which we use under our table and in Mr. B's tepee.


Buy a Vacuum You Love to Use

I know this might sound impossible, but if vacuuming is something you already dread it will be even worse if you're trying to vacuum with something heavy and hard to use. Our vacuum is lightweight, maneuverable, and it has easy to use attachments. Plus it has extra strong suction for any pet hair that rolls into crevices. We are lucky enough to have bought the Dyson DC15 Animal (which we bought as a prior model, though I think you can get substantial savings using the 20% off Bed Bath and Beyond coupon) though we rationalize that so many people spend a lot of money on home-cleaning services that we actually save money by buying quality products and doing the cleaning on our own. It has made any stray hair clean up much easier.


What has everyone else found to make cleaning easier? And I've always wanted to hear thoughts on the Rooma...does anyone have one?

PS.This is what we figured out about our couch/upholstery cleaning
And, Eliminating shedding