Muddy paws and dirty doodles. How to manage daily dirt?

[jenn D]

We have moved and the PB&J and Big Mac Gang are loving their 2/3 of a fenced acre. However, they come in constantly with muddle paws and they are dirty. How do I keep things clean inside? How do you keep your doodles clean if you live in a rural area. I really need some help. I'm so glad the dogs are happy but I don't want our house turning into a dust pile or looking like pig pen on Charlie brown.

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

By the door we have a dog gone smart mat, basically it's microfiber strands to catch the dirt. I haven't taught them to wipe their feet, but I hear you can.

Depending on how bad it is outside we do a few things. If it's just a little wipe their feet off with a microfiber cloth. I have taught them to give me their paws one at a time.
If it's a little bit muddier than that, then we wipe with the microfiber cloth and then some wipes made for dogs.
If it's really muddy, then we have a container that I can add water to and they can step in it one paw at a time. Then wipe them off. They don't really like this option, but I also have to use it in the fall for wiping off allergens that affect Gracie.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

Microfibre towel and an awful lot of vacuuming. I wish there was an easy solution. 

[Joyce (Casey & Cody's mom)]

In addition to having a huge fenced backyard, we also have a doggie door so our guys can come and go at will. They love to run, fight and play hard in the yard then come inside to cool off and sleep. Naturally, when it rains our yard can stay wet for days in some spots and Casey will find every muddy spot. I can guarantee a totally muddy floor, so we have turned our sunroom into their room. That is where crates are, big doggie beds, and toys. We have gates up to prevent them from coming into the rest of the house until we are sure they are clean and dry. I sweep and mop the floor in the sunroom twice a day - while they are in their crate for mealtime.

[DonMarie and Picco]

Ha ha!   I just expect to see those adorable dog prints all over my floors!  Gives me an excuse not to clean so often.  The only way to keep clean is to not have a dog :-(

[Joani, Skadi & Elli]

We installed a doggie door in our garage that leads to our fenced in back yard.  Also invested in a wash tub and installed that in the garage also with hot and cold running water...I absolutely love this...has made my life so much "cleaner".  We also just replaced our garage floor that was texturized to prevent slipping, but was hard on the pooches feet.  We replaced the floor with a polished concrete floor and the girls now use it as a playroom when it's too muddy or rainy.  Plus we installed a retractable see thru gate between the mud room and kitchen so they can still observe us humans as we putter around the kitchen waiting for them to dry off.

So everyone is exactly right, the only other way is no pets or maybe some of those little things you put in a tank and watch swim around...I hear those are pretty maintenance free ;)

[Wendy and Myla]

This time of year is definitely the time I dread most.  I agree with the previous posts, and what I also do is place a dark brown 8' x 8' shag carpet on the floor by the back door - we put that down as soon as the snow flies and it stays there until probably May.  Myla knows that she has to stay on that piece of carpet until we tell her she can get off.  This way the snowballs melt off or the mud dries off and she doesn't track it throughout the rest of the house. I know that this can be difficult with more than one doodle, but it works for us! 

[Kate Hughes]

We keep it simple we keep towel by door and baby wipes - I use these on muzzle- pee pee area daily and paws I'd messy

Also just throw paws in bath quickly paws only if muddy from dog park etc

Kate

[Marie and Hoka]

We are installing a small paw-wash tub in our mud room. It will be a smaller bathtub with a hand shower, raised off the ground a foot or so and with a step. We will tile a couple feet above the tub. I actually just had a contractor out for a quote yesterday.  

When the snow melted here in the last few weeks I was having to carry Hoka upstairs to wash his paws every day. Towels just cannot get the really sandy Colorado soil off. Nothing but a spray down will do.