To ask how dog owners deal with muddy carpets?

[DontTouchTheMoustache]

I have recently moved house with my DS and dog to a nice house with an enclosed garden which is fantastic as last garden wasn't enclosed. Unfortunately it's on a bit of a hill and I have a boggy, muddy bit near the back door. Dog is a very excitable labrador who loves nothing more than to pelt down the garden, through the bog and into the house.
I've put runners in the kitchen to protect wooden floors and don't mind them getting muddy as easy to replace but all the other carpets are getting filthy. I wait for it to dry and try and hoover it but it doesn't all come out and DS gets muddy clothes from crawling on it. I try and mop his paws but it's not making much difference. Can anyone recommend a decent carpet cleaning products? They seem expensive so I don't want to buy one unless I know it's going to work as I'm very much on a budget since being made redundant.

[shrunkenhead]

Can you wash the dog down and dry him before he comes back into the house?

[DonttouchthatLarry]

I keep my 3 dogs confined to the hall and kitchen until they're dry, to keep them off the cream lounge carpet. If it's very wet and muddy I put old duvet covers on the floors and towel dry the dogs, or at least put towels on the floor for them to walk on. Is your house open plan? If not I'd just keep the dog in the kitchen until he's dry rather than clean the carpets.

[DontTouchTheMoustache]

It's not open plan but he can open the doors (jumps up at the door handle, pulls it down and walks backwards with it to open it) so if I am dealing with DS he just let's himself in anyway and gets mud all over the handle, door and wall in the meantime. I think it's more annoying me at the moment because I've been really ill with a chest infection and haven't been able to take him for a walk for a few days (which I feel dreadful about) so I've had to let him out in the garden more than usual. I might just have to try and make more effort to restrict him to the kitchen until he is dry!

[Mamia15]

I keep a towel at each door so that I can wipe paws before dogs are allowed back in. I also have those turtle washable mats.

I think taking him for a quick pavement walk is less effort than constantly cleaning up the mud...

[GinAndOnIt]

We ripped up the carpets

I know what you mean though, it's so tiresome. If GinDog has been out on the farm all day and I've been home cleaning, it drives me up the wall when he runs through the house excitedly on return and traipses mud everywhere.

DP is actually in the process of making a dog gate, which is taller than a baby gate and will have gaps in the gate so GinDog can still see us if he's confined to a certain area. We are going to put it between the kitchen and utility, so he can come in through back door, have access to his water/food/bed/us whilst keeping the mud in one area. I hate having doors closed (and he would whine or scratch the door if we did it all the time) so this seems the best solution for us.

[trevortrevorslattery]

Gin so did we!
All hard floors on the ground floor now.

[GinAndOnIt]

I should say though, we are in a working farmhouse so mud is just part of our every day lives, so I suspect our cleanliness standards are lower than most...

[GinAndOnIt]

trevor great minds

It just saved my sanity levels. Although I appreciate lots of people prefer carpets.

[xStefx]

I always wipe my dogs paws with a towel before they come in, takes 1 minute and now they hold their paws up for me to help me :-)

also I had only laminate downstairs after a while, so much cleaner and easier

[Eolian]

Got rid of carpets here too. I'm not that keen on them anyway. Not that ddog isn't capable of making any surface muddy. Or slobbery. And he seems to think towels are a game.

[hungryhippo90]

Haha, sorry, I've got to laugh as I'm currently going through a similar situation with the dog I care for.
I've started to get him to try off before he has chance to leave the kitchen.
I've a towel for his paws and he lazes on his carpet off cut that the landlord kindly left for us until his paws are mud free. Or almost!

So much less to hoover!

[Holdbacktheriver]

Another one here with a towel at the back door for wiping dog down with before she's allowed into the main part of the house with all its cream carpet. We did invest in a carpet cleaner so we shampoo every so often and I have a steam mop for the kitchen.

[DavenotChas]

We have one of these dog gates and keep the dog in the kitchen until he's been toweled off enough to come into the living room.

[DontTouchTheMoustache]

Thanks for replies everyone. Sadly it's a rented house so can't take up floors but the dog gate idea could work really well actually! I can put that between kitchen and living room so I can at least contain him.
I do attempt to wipe his paws but he thinks it's just a great game which results in the mud being transferred from him to me (though still preferable to the carpet )
holdbacktheriver do you have a particular carpet cleaner that you think worked well?

[DontTouchTheMoustache]

I had laminate all through downstairs in last house so I never had this issue before. Thank God the carpet here are dark grey at least!

[tornandhurt]

I had exactly this issue - think a couple of newfoundlands each weighing 14 stone who love water and mud!! - To be honest a gate didn't work for me (dogs were too heavy and could push it over. As a very quick and cheap replacement, which you could put right when you leave (as its rented) change the door handle on the back of the kitchen door to a round knob!! - Neither of mine have sussed that yet, fingers crossed!!

[Eolian]

at people with dogs and cream carpets. I couldn't cope with a cream carpet even without a dog.

[todayitstarts]

My dog is hosed down with outside hose or at park before going back in house/car. Towel for paws, But yes, don't really have carpets, wooden floors and a few rugs

[WaitrosePigeon]

We have carpets by the back door. Annoying. I've got a good mat to wipe paws/feet. I keep a big towel by the back door and wipe his paws before he comes in.

[WaitrosePigeon]

Ps I would also lock the door so he can't open it

[Daisiesandgerberas]

My back garden has a sunken sink in. It came with it, we didn't put it in.

Before that, we'd prepare (& leave by the back door) a bucketful of warm water with a sponge and towel so we could sort out the mess before entering.

Our new place isn't quite as nice as our old one so the dog uses the carpet to clean his feet on & I hoover the mud when it's dry In my defence though I do have mobility problems so can't get down to actually clean the dogs legs.

[TrustySnail]

There was an almost new cream carpet when I moved into my house, so I have left it down. It's impossible to keep it perfectly clean, but I find Rug Doctor products quite good - the spot and stain remover spray seems to have some effect, as does the 'heavy traffic' solution.

I do, however, end up wet-vacuuming about once a fortnight on average.

[tornandhurt]

Anyone else thinking there's a market here for "dog shoes" - you know like the shower cap looking things surgeons put on their clogs when going into theatre!!!