1 dog + 1 dog = very dirty schoolroom

[Jean in Newcastle]

We keep the dog crates in the schoolroom. I have two mostly outside English springer spaniels. The dogs usually get baths every couple of months. I was working down there today and realized that there is a think layer of dirt over everything. We haven't actually done school in the schoolroom for a year so I'm not down there a lot. There was dirt covering the carpet, the crates themselves, the bookcases next to the dog crates. . . I will be cleaning all of these areas as I get a chance. But I'm wondering, are your dogs this dirty? How do you keep dog areas from getting so dirty?

[Denisemomof4]

I think what keeps the dirt down here is all the wood floors. I do struggle with cobwebs and dust, though. I'm vacuuming down cobwebs weekly! But I have a lot of animals.

 

Do you have beds for your dogs? Blankets, cheap sleeping bags, etc? I think if they had a bed to cuddle into, the dirt would be mainly confined to them. Then you could toss them in the laundry (or better yet, have the kids do it!). I like to wash dog beds weekly but biweekly is more like it, and I spritz them with Febreeze.

 

Do you have the kids brush the dogs? This will also help.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I think what keeps the dirt down here is all the wood floors. I do struggle with cobwebs and dust, though. I'm vacuuming down cobwebs weekly! But I have a lot of animals.

 

Do you have beds for your dogs? Blankets, cheap sleeping bags, etc? I think if they had a bed to cuddle into, the dirt would be mainly confined to them. Then you could toss them in the laundry (or better yet, have the kids do it!). I like to wash dog beds weekly but biweekly is more like it, and I spritz them with Febreeze.

 

Do you have the kids brush the dogs? This will also help.

 

I don't have beds in the crates because in the past they ate them. But I could try with a cheap something.

[hornblower]

My guys are indoors except for going to the yard when they feel like it & their 2-3x daily walks & excursions to parks or the beach.

I towel my guys off any time they're out in the rain.

They're brushed weekly or more. Bedding as needed - about once a month?

 

I think it's partly the coat - the malamute does not get dirty. It's like she's teflon. The setter is silkier & more likely to bring dirt in but a good towelling off takes care of the wet stuff & any dried on stuff comes off when I brush him. The foster has a wicked coat & I have to brush him more frequently because I'm constantly finding large chunks of foliage in him. This morning he had a fuzzy caterpillar wandering around on his butt.

[Amber in AUS]

You could try putting some old towels in there as makeshift bedding.

 

My dogs seem to confine most of their inside mess to their beds which we wash periodically. My dogs have very short hair so don't shed much and we bath every month before worming and flea treating.

[Denisemomof4]

I don't have beds in the crates because in the past they ate them. But I could try with a cheap something.

 

I'm sorry but....:lol:

 

My greyhound digs and digs and digs at his blankets and rips them all. I finally took a few crocheted blanks and I fasten them together in several places with yarn. I have to wash mine more often because my dachsund will go "mark" the greyhound's blankets to prove he's the alpha male (13 lb dachsund IS the alpha male. The 70 pound greyhound doesn't realize he's larger than the dachsund!) :001_huh: so I do wash the blankets more often.

 

I think with brushing and *something* to cuddle up to you'll probably see some results. At Petco I think they have bitter tasting stuff you can put on things to keep the dogs from chewing them.

[Laura Corin]

When our dog comes in from outside, she is confined to the kitchen for an hour or two. Most of the dirt shakes off onto the floor there, or she wipes it onto her bed, which is also there. By the time we let her into the rest of the house, she's fairly clean. I bath her once every three weeks and wash her bed and blanket at that time too. The kitchen gets swept daily and washed when I notice it's getting dirty, so it's not a big deal to keep clean.

 

Laura

[Jean in Newcastle]

Thanks, everyone. My first job will be to clean the crates and area around them. Then to clean the dogs. I will then try to have a better routine that's easier to keep up with so that we can maintain all of this.