Considering getting a dog but I'm a clean freak - will the two mix!?

[digestiveandacupoftea]

I'm starting to get broody about getting a dog and dc would love one (yes I know not just for Christmas etc!)

BUT I'm a bit of a clean freak and I get that dogs bring in mess, mud etc. Just how much of an impact do they have?

This is very early stage and I am being very naive and clueless so this isn't a decision I'd ever make lightly and I will do lots of thinking. I just want to get views on how much mess they are...if it's a lot then it won't be for us.

[laptopcomputer]

Your house will never be properly clean again (or at least in the bits the dog goes into). Unless, of course, you spend your whole time cleaning around it everytime it goes outside...

[Primrose123]

Well there is bound to be some mess, but you could minimise this by having a small dog (easy to bath or wash paws) and one that doesn't moult, such as a poodle. There are lots of others that don't moult too.

Do not go to the rescue centre looking for one small dog, and come home with two huge (but gorgeous) dogs.

[thenightsky]

I lived in blissful ignorance of my muckiness whilst i lived with dog. dog now gone 8 years and I wouldnt have another now I know the true meaning of clean house.

[Floralnomad]

I have one smallish dog and keep his hair cut but he makes an almighty mess on a daily basis! On the plus side he's not allowed upstairs so that's really clean.

[Scuttlebutter]

In a word, NO. If you genuinely are a clean freak who is incredibly houseproud or has a love of beautiful interior decor, then a dog is not for you. Every rescue has dogs returned to it regularly by people who can't bear the mess or get frustrated after the dog has had one accident. There is nothing wrong with valuing your decor, but I genuinely think that doesn't go with dog ownership.

Even if you take on an adult dog who is short haired and already housetrained, I'd like you to think about the weather we've been having lately. With the best will in hte world, your dog will bring mud into the house. Even a housetrained dog will have accidents, both solid and liquid. Sometimes the solid accidents will be liquid if they are poorly. They will be ill, and will vomit. Sometimes they will then try to eat this, sometimes it will be bright yellow bile that will stain anything it comes into contact with like some horrible liquid from the Alien films. An unspayed female will have seasons - they will bleed all over the place. They get cuts and scrapes and can leave blood around. Many dogs like nothing better than rolling in dead seagulls and fox poo. Not familiar with teh amazing aroma of fox poo? If you get a dog you will be. Damp dogs smell doggy. Your car will smell doggy and will have doggy nose art on the back/boot window. Your house will smell doggy. We have greyhounds - they have the thinnest, lightest fur you can imagine, yet after two days the house is mysteriously full of fur tumbleweeds.

Some dogs will like nothing better than to nest on your favourite Laura Ashley cushions, rip the tassels off then take the cushion out the garden. Another favourite hobby is to munch a favourite bone on the living room rug, leaving bloody, greasy bone fragments liberally scattered everywhere. Ours eat raw, and the kitchen can look rather like a crime scene after their breakfast. It's not unknown for lumps of tripe to be carried upstairs for a later occasion. Once, memorably, a pig's ear had been buried in the garden, dug up and then carefully stashed under my pillow.

Am I trying to put you off? Yes. If you've read all that above, and still think a dog is for you, then that's great. If you are running screaming away and wanting to douse yourself in bleach, then a dog is not for you.

Oh and I haven't mentioned fleas. Or worms. Or poo very much.

[Signet2012]

Don't assume a dog only moults twice a year. My dog moults like no other! I have hard flooring but if I don't Hoover at least daily (twice if I can) then you would think I had carpet. It's terrible.

Mucky marks on walls from dog rubbing up against them/shaking after a walk/ jumping up with muddy paws.

Dog hair gets everywhere. In everything and on everyone.

Dogs often vomit and can have dicky tummies which can result in spectacular mess. They may roll in other animals poo fondly remembers time dog rolled in horse shit then sprayed it up every wall in my kitchen by shaking when he got in

It depends on your make up. I'm not bothered I just Hoover a lot. Use dettol on floors. It drives me to despair in the winter but not do bad in the summer.

[GrimmaTheNome]

I have a short-haired dachsund, he creates less mess than my DD. He doesn't shed much, doesn't really smell (I've been told by someone that mine is the ony dog-owning house she's ever been in that doesn't smell doggy -and I'm not a clean freak always vacuuming). He avoids mud if possible, but if he does get muddy mostly it towels off easily. Large turtle mats at doors help but if his feet are muddy I intercept him as he comes in and wipe his paws.

If you get a hairy spaniel or lab etc it'd be a different story.

[Scuttlebutter]

Two sayings most dog owners live by. Think of dog hair as a condiment. Also - no outfit is complete without dog hair.

[GrimmaTheNome]

sometimes it will be bright yellow bile that will stain anything it comes into contact

oh yes... I'd forgotten that. My current dog doesn't do that (hardly ever sick) - the last one was a puker.

[TeaDr1nker]

Scuttle you had me laughing out loud, so true.

My dog does not molt, but now that she is old I do think she is becoming a little incontinent, it doesn't bother me - I don't really see the difference between the dog and nappy off time with the toddler! I just have dettol at the ready :0)

It really does depend on how much of a clean freak you are. I vac the downstairs most days, dog is too old to climb the stairs now so the upstairs is clean and tidy.

I admit I am really concious of the house smelling of dog so I vac often and use bicarb on the carpet. So far so good.

Another thing to consider is do you go away often, who would look after said dog if you go away, some kennels cost a lot.

Do you work? Would the dog be alone for long periods of time?

Just a few thoughts for you

[aJumpedUpChristmasElf]

Scuttlebutter, those made me laugh

OP, I have two dogs (and some cats as well) and if you are terribly houseproud you will find it hard going.

I'm not houseproud. In fact, when my beloved GSD died a few years ago and we temporirly only had one small dog I wept to my husband saying 'for the first time ever there are no tumbleweeds of dog hair on our floor'

[TheHoneyDragonsDrunkInTheIvy]

My sofa is held together with duct tape.

My garden is full of chewed up ill gotten gains.

I have paw prints on my windows.

And mud splatters up my fridge.

I Hoover. A LOT.

[Signet2012]

Oh yes and you may say no dog upstairs, on the settee etc. you may stick to it. Or you may end up sharing your bed with two men, one hairier and slightly smellier than the other.

Do not under estimate how much you will likely fall in love with a dog. Mine only has to look at me and I'm butter probably the most useless dog owner on the planet

Seriously though mess is a part of it but not the most taxing part of owning a dog. It's very rewarding but also very tying. You need to consider your lifestyle will match a dog. In all honesty mine didn't. I was lucky I got a lazy dog who is quite happy to be left alone for up to 6 hours as long as he has the sofa. Most dogs don't like it.

[PartridgeInASpicyPearTree]

Big impact. I am quite house proud so have a cleaner on top of doing stuff myself, like mopping floors, every day. But even if you are hot on cleaning them after walks, you need to be able to accept messes, some quite disgusting, will occur. To name a few we've had: wee, poo, vomit, blood, slobber on carpet, various food stuffs illicitly taken to carpeted areas and rubbed in, food from bowls splatted up the walls, hairs. The worst it's probably anal glands emptied on a spare bed, that went through to the duvet (google if you're not familiar).

Also, depending on your lifestyle at the moment, you might be bringing more muck in yourself. I wasn't one for stomping around in wet and mud before dogs, but now I do it every day and walk my own fair share in.

[littlewhitebag]

I am a bit of a clean freak and i have a labrador pup and it is fair to say my house is a LOT less clean than it used to be! Our dog spends most of its time in our large kitchen/utility area and i have accepted that i have to hoover and mop floors daily (especially now it's winter).
However, the rest of the house has remained largely intact! I have mats in each of the other rooms she goes into and she has learned to lie on them to chew her bones etc.
She isn't supposed to go upstairs but sometimes escapes and gets up. I keep the bedroom doors shut so she can only reach the landing. So far i would say things are going okay.
Have a good think about how you can contain a dog in your house to have minimal impact overall. It can be done!

[LtXmasEve]

I have a friend with four dogs and she is a clean freak. She has:

Tiled the whole of the downstairs
Bought leather sofas
Has no ornaments and a TV on the wall
Has 'shiny' kitchen cupboard doors
Had a gate on the kitchen door.
Steam cleans her down stairs floors daily
Cleans her upstairs carpets weekly
Mops her sofa weekly
Changes her bedding every other day
Walks her dogs for an hour at a time at 6am, 1pm and 6pm.
Oh and purposely buys the 'best' (and most expensive) dried food to make poo picking easier and less smelly!

She has the cleanest, least smelly house I have ever been in.

It can be done - but bloody hell what a faff!

(I have one dog now and have had to suppress my neat freak tendancies)

[poachedeggs]

I love my dogs but how I'd love to be able to have guests round without a half-day of cleaning prior to their arrival.

I have a light coloured dog with stiff shiny hairs and a dark coloured dog with fine wispy black hairs. No outfit goes unscathed.

We ban them from upstairs so the clothes escape the worst of it (until they're being worn, of course), but then there's the paw prints, nose prints, drool, general lingering niff of hound.

I can't deny that I lust after a clean home. My big old girl must be telepathic because she's just wandered over and given me a gentle prod with her long, cold, slimy nose. Wouldn't be without them :)

[paddythepooch]

Look at it as a form of liberation from the tyranny of housework. Cleaning v walk in the woods with pooch on a windy day. No competition.

Mind you, if you have a counter surfer your kitchen tops will never be cleaner

[TheReturnOfBridezilla]

My dh had two large dogs when I moved in with him and the cleaning really is something else, particularly as he gives them free reign of the house and never picks up after them himself .

I could clean the whole house from top to bottom every day and it'd still never be clean. You can't undersestinate the hair and the dirt.

[ijustwant8hours]

I have one puppy, short haired and small / medium breed. He has eaten a hole in a wall, dug a hole in a carpet, put footprints up a wall etc etc. I hoover and mop more than I have ever done and my hands are falling to bits from cleaning up accidents. BUT there are no toys on the living room floor anymore (the dog eats them) so hoovering is easier.

I hate housework though so I love the fact that I have to take him for walks rather than do it, so I'm with paddy really.

The clean thing is not the biggest issue though.....

[WTFwasthat]

there is more mess, hair, muddy paw prints etc. But not so much that i am leaning any more often! I have an18 week lab x puppy. i also have 3 cats. I hoover every 2-3 days and he kitchen floor gets muddier but it is really not that bad! I have a porch so wipe pup down in there if needs must. He is not allowed upstairs so that's no different. His bed is in kitchen abd we have wood floors downstairs so nothing is too dirty

[WTFwasthat]

cleaning, not learning