Dogs driving me crazy

[Aliciainwunderland]

More of a WWYD than AIBU

Just had a massive meltdown over our dogs. House constantly feels disgusting. Carpets filthy, mud and dog wee. Dogs are constantly let out but one is older and seems to just wee anywhere. I hate it, I hate the smell I hate the constant battle to try and keep everything clean.

I hate picking up dog poo in the garden. Especially as one of my terms for getting a second dog was that my husband would do and of course he doesn’t.

I don’t know how to take back control of my house.

YANBU.

I’m not a dog person, but my husband came with a dog so i empathise with you.

First off as older dog keeps weeing, have you taken him to vet to rule out any issues?

Second, not saying it would work for you, but weve put a baby gate up in the utility room and this keeps pooch restricted to this area while we are wfh/out/busy and cant keep an eye on him.

It also helps keep his mud/dirt/raw food slobber stains contained to one area rather than him running through house after eating/walks and getting stains on carpet or the walls. He used to have occasional accident too which tipped me over the edge tbh, had a similar meltdown to you 😅 but he hasn’t had one since he’s had this new area. (They wont poop near bed or food, and weve been extremely strict with keeping to his walk/poop/feed routine).

I feel much better, house is tidier, and pooch has a nice comfy area with toys/bed/blankets food etc. He obviously spends time with us in other areas in the house, but its helped reduce the mess we have to clean as a whole.

Your DH needs to step up immediately. He chose to get the second dog, he needs to care for it properly. It’s totally unfair for you and you need to have a serious chat with him.

Thank you - that was a very helpful response. Am currently sat in the hairdressers chair and calmed down and can think a bit more rationally.

we have a large kitchen/ dining area that can lock the dogs into - and maybe put a crate with bed for the older one. DH works from home so he is around a lot to let them out. Ideally when we have more money - would like to rip up all the carpets. We have a single story house so always feels like mud is getting tracked in.

I think this plus a potty training toddler sent me over the edge! Too much poo and wee to deal with all round!

lots you can do here to improve things. Wash dogs and dry them if they are dirty after a walk - I’ve got an outside hot and cold dog shower outside, not expensive to install and makes washing so much easier. Keep them in an area with hard floors and then hoover and mop that area every day. Keep them in a routine to reduce house training accidents.

Thank you - do you have a link for the dog wash. This sounds useful?

i think we will need to keep them in with thr hardfloors from now on and smaller one in a crate when we go out. They have a good routine but I have in the past let them out, gone out - realised I’ve forgotten my keys and realised in that one minute someone has weed!

I just got a plumber into fit a hot tap next to the existing cold water outside tap - it cost less than a £100. Then fitted a hozelock garden mixer shower head. Really useful - great for all kinds of cleaning but the dogs love it.

There are diapers for older dogs (but it's hard to get them to wear them), or you could train the one that wees at home to use puppy pads. I've used them when my last dog got old and wasn't always able to hold it anymore. He accepted them very quickly, and you can just fold them together and throw them away after.

Dogs prefer to poo outside of their territory, so maybe take them on longer/ more frequent walks if you don't want to have poo in the garden? And stop picking it up, it's your DHs job, why are you doing it?

Got no solution for the hair (apart from frequent brushing). As for the mud, we towel ours off after a muddy walk. You can also buy paw cleaners online (we've gotten one from Maggie & cooper), they're great.

How old are the dogs and what breed?

It may be possible to restart house training, medical issues aside of course.