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.

This thread has shocked me. Wonder what the shoes off brigade would make of this.

Haha torn that's genius, I might have to start up a business for this (that would solve my redundancy issue as well )

In bad weather I used to put old sheets down on the carpets. Not a great look though

Ha ha Babycham. Pearl clutching indeed

If I see someone presenting this on Dragons Den I expect a cut !!!

When it's wet we let the dog in and out through the kitchen door. I have child stair gates on the kitchen doorways so he just stays in there until he's dry. Although he is taller than the child gate (rottie) he knows he has to stay in when it's up. I then mop the kitchen floor when I can (though in this weather it's a losing battle)

torn

trusty I've just been looking at rug doctor, thanks for the suggestion. Do you use the rug doctor machine thing or just the products?

Look up surfdog coats. We also have a bucket and old towel for washing paws. I have a choc labrador and they're a nightmare for mud, water and assuming they must share it all with us.

My top priority for any new house is all wood / tile downstairs due to two big dogs and three active kids. Unfortunately in our last rented house and in our new rented house there is cream carpet in the lounge. We ended up paying for a new carpet when we moved out of the old house - ouch!! Basically in my house dogs and clean carpets don't/can't coexist. I'm definitely not house proud enough and too doggy mad!!

Just the products. I've got a George wet and dry cleaner that will take any brand of carpet shampoo so I use it with Rug Doctor solution (and the sprays on an ad hoc basis). I've never tried the rug doctor machine - I think it's about £20 to hire one overnight round here, though, so not prohibitively expensive.

I've got a Bissell, works really well.

Although we took up the carpets downstairs in favour of wood flooring, ddog is still good and sits on the (washable) rug by the back door waiting to have his paws wiped when he comes in.

Suggestions about hosing down are fine for a once or twice a day walk - but this is about the dog using the back garden. I have the same issue, and have come to the conclusion that hard flooring is the only answer - but, not an answer for the OP who is renting.

A lot of the responses also assume that a back door leads into a kitchen where it's ok to store a towel - ours is into our living room, and Dog thinks towels are the devil!!

You could try a dirt wicking mat (not perfect but better than nothing), or micro fiber towel and train him to turn circles on it, or try this paw wiping technique

I gave up and got wood floors!

Maybe a carpet cleaner if there's one that actually works?

You could buy Lino to place over the carpet and then remove when you plan on leaving to protect the carpets. You will still have a wet muddy floor but much easier to clean and you won't get the Landlord coming after you for a replacement carpet.

I have to say, I won't be replacing it with another cream carpet! There are proper floorboards underneath, but I do prefer the warmth of a carpet so a dilemma will face me in the future.

I have given up and replaced carpets with laminate downstairs because try as i might i could not keep carpets clean.

I have a downstairs bathroom and wash paws, legs and tummies after our walks, i'm constantly amazed by the amount of mud they can secrete in their coats!

My problem came more from the general in and out they do all day going to the toilet in the garden, having a play and a mooch etc out there etc.

I wash the floors at least every other day (don't be impressed, very small house and mostly a hovel) and the amount of filth in the bucket when I've finished makes me very glad I don't have carpets!

We have a baby gate between the kitchen and living room so Spuddog cannot charge straight in with his mucky paws. He hasn't figured out that he could probably jump it!

The state of the kitchen floor is driving me bonkers though. Roll on spring, I am sick of mud!

sorry, just realised you can't change flooring. When i was in that position i used to hire a rug doctor before inspections and put old sheets on floor to keep the worst off. I had a house with gorgeous pale blue carpet throughout, rug doctor always brought it up a treat and it i loved pouring all the filthy water away!

I love my power washer too. I'm easily pleased.

I've just cleaned my kitchen floor! Going to do the extension in a minute! In 30 minutes I will be having a fag and a glass of wine (it's my day off don't judge people!!) Because it is utterly pointless, between my donkey sized beast and hairy grab every bit of mud going sponge I have pretty much given up. I will endevour to fight the good fight.....................

Stairgates and a paw washer. They're bloody brilliant! www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B000FVXSL2/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484668858&sr=8-1&keywords=dog+paw+washer&dpPl=1&dpID=41FKpc2-xIL&ref=plSrch

I'm definitely going to attempt to teach him the "wipe your paws" command sweet that's a really good tip.
I might try hiring a rug doctor every so often when it builds up. I have some guests coming for DS's first birthday in a few weeks so that would be a good chance to try it out and then just use it as and when. If I stick a safety gate up as well it should hopefully help me keep on top of it better than I am doing. I swear that labradors are part sponge!

i do think hiring a rug doctor is worth every penny, and i am difficult to please as i detest wasting money.

Definitely use their products and spray the worst bits with the traffic lane spray or whatever it's called. Get a big bottle of the shampoo as that will last a while but don't be surprised if you use a whole bottle of spray.

The machines are heavy and quite large so you need to ensure your boot/back of car is big enough. When i hired them from Homebase they would always send someone out to the car park who would put it in the boot.

Also be prepared to move all your furniture and find hidden treasures lurking beneath the sofa! You also need to hoover first to get rid of loose dirt and grime, just makes it more efficient.

i always do the worst bit first so that when i have finished the rest of the carpets i can go back over that bit if necessary.

You do need a lot of hot water, and it is very hot work but satisfying. Carpets should dry quickly this time of year due to heating being on.

I used to do it every three months or so and inbetween just tried to keep the worst at bay without getting upset and annoyed as it gradually changed colour'.

It's not cheap but maybe you could think about going halves with a friend on cost if you rent it for 24 hours and both do your carpets? I have done that in the past.

Thank you neurotic that's a really helpful post with loads of information. I think I might start doing the same.as you and just renting every so often to keep on top of it.