Mud - Does anyone else feel my pain????

[Sandy]

Here in Southern Ontario we have literally lost all of our snow (which was significant) in a couple of days. Guess what? The resulting water had nowhere to go, so has created huge amounts of mud in the yard. Toby, of course, likes to play outside. In and out, in and out....and he's only six months old, so I don't like to say no, in case he actually has to pee. We have gone through so many towels in the last two days - I spread out a big one for him to stand on when he comes in, and wipe him with another. Sometimes it requires a basin of soapy water as well for his big old paws to get washed in. All in all, he's tolerating it well, and generally not fighting me on it, but it's getting old, fast. My son let him in last night without wiping him......this son will be cleaning the carpet for me today.

"sigh" I remember the days where I had clean floors. It was nice. And also, the way Toby indicates that he has to go in or out is to stand on his hind legs at the glass patio door. So the high water mark left by dirty paws is about 4 1/2 feet off the ground. It's impossible, currently, to keep that door clean. I'm constantly apologizing for it when people see it.

Does anyone out there have similar stuff going on right now? Is it muddy where you are? It is incredibly windy here today - up to 90 km/h, so maybe some of the water will dry up. We'll see.....

[Leslie, Dexter & Kirby]

I totally feel your pain. The same thing happened here in NJ (we had 4-5 inches of snow and it all melted - quickly). Now it's going to rain again today. Our yard is a huge mudpit - only Kirby has been off leash for the past several days. I have had to wash Dexter's legs the past 4 days from just a walk around the neighborhood on leash!

Oh yeah - it's also terribly windy here...it was 65 yesterday and it feels like we're getting a thunderstorm...in February!

[Sandy]

4-5 inches - hah!! The snow piles at the end of our driveway you couldn't even see over. There had to be 10 inches in my back yard. So - you have me beat by having two dogs to bring in dirt, but I have you beat in sheer moisture and mud. :)

[Sandy]

How do you entertain them in the house? We play catch with Toby up and down the hall, he has his Kong, and I try to keep a bone or two hidden away in case he's bored, but boy, he was a challenge last night!

[Debbie and Thomas]

We live in Toronto and the yard is full of mud and doggy waste. I prayed for spring and warmer weather-well like they say, be careful what you wish for. We have hardwood-and I have yet again pulled up my nice wool area carpet until the weather dries up a bit. Re entertainment-our DG, Thomas goes into the "witching hour" almost every evening. He has a million toys, a couple of Kongs, bullies, bones etc etc. He doesn't want them- he just wants to annoy us during the hors from 5-10. Unbelievably he loves a plain old margerine container. (without the lid) He flops this around the floor and chases it on his own. This will last for about 10 min-then he gets bored and has a little nap. Then he is raring to go again-again- he likes the simple things-so we give him his "paint roller"(just the roller-not the handle part) Then after that we give him a lacrosse ball and roll this around. Its is constantly"let me entertain you Thomas", but at least he leaves our hands, feet and clothing alone.(He is 19 weeks and still likes to bite but only in the evening)

[Sandy]

Toby is the same, and he's six months. So I guess I'd say not to expect it to change in the near future! I know he'll be a great dog.....I just hope I can last that long!

We're almost neighbours - I'm in Cambridge. :)

We have beige carpet that soon will be begging me to rent a steam cleaner.....

[theresa wood]

we have no snow, but got a little rain last night. i do have the same problem too. (maybe not as bad) it is windy here today, but it has warmed up a lot. i love it!!!

[Janie]

I have no snow but lots of mud. I am going through the same thing trying to keep everything clean. My two are very good at standing still and letting me clean them off....thank goodness. Looking forward to the drier season.

[Gail & Max]

We also live in southern Ontario, Windsor to be exact, and not only do we have mud but wet poop piles that were under the snow..eeewww grosss!!! All I can say is thank goodness for swiffer! Every time Max comes in from the backyard its like a game wiping off his paws as he tries to bite the towel! But mostly I just hope it either freezes again or all of the wind dries up the mud....

[Sandy]

Actually, I looked this up on Snopes, and apparently it's a false rumour. Good thing - I use my Swiffer a lot.
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/swiffer.asp

[Adina P]

that's the part that grosses me out during muddy times... the POOOO of three dogs!

[Cam & Oski]

Yup. The pacific NW here is a mud pit from fall to spring. Oski's feet are black after playing at the park (He's blond--this man actually asked me if he was wearing boots once. I said no, but they'll be thigh-highs soon!) AND he is a wrestler & roller. He will plop himself down on the ground & roll around on his back as an ice breaker which pretty much turns him into a brown dog once we're ready to leave. I basically leave a towel at the front door & he's really good about standing there on his little rug while I crawl around & wipe of his feet & belly.

I've been reading about this Paw Plunger that's basically a plastic mug with soft brushes inside it that you fill with warm water & then "plunge" their feet in to clean the mud off. You still have to dry the feet but people really seem to like it. Has anyone used this?

http://www.pawplunger.com/about.php

[Sandy]

Never seen that. I have used a basin and soapy water, but it's usually a bit of a wrestling match. I keep two towels at the back door - one for Toby so sit/lay on, the other to dry him with. I have a rotation of several towels going, as I have to dry them often between uses.