Muddy paw prints!!!

[MaggieMay23]

How do you cope with muddy paws? It's driving me mad.- any tips? I'm thought I'd seen a thread about it somewhere recently - so apologies if it's been done before.
We're having building work done on our house and our garden is a building site. Our black lab goes out there to do his business on what's left of the lawn morning and last thing at night, we try to keep it to a minimum as we have a cream coloured tiled kitchen - not our choice and we will be replacing it eventually with something dark and dog friendly - our carpet in the living room is oatmeal coloured. I've got towels and mats near the back door as well as the mop and bucket and I make him stand on the towels when he comes in from the garden and I follow him round mopping up his muddy paw prints in the kitchen and make stay on his bed til his feet are dry/clean. We've got towels and mats by the front too for when he comes after his walks too.

Short of keeping him outside which isn't what we want as he's part of our family, what can we do to try to minimise the muddy paw prints in the house

Could you take him out morning and night on a lead to do his thing? At least if he is on pavement or road he won't be getting muddy (unless you live in a v. rural area).
After years of muddy dog paws everywhere, we now have hard flooring everywhere downstairs, and I use a dirt trapper mat by the back door. I often used to resort to newspaper on the kitchen floor too as we had a dog that used to like digging and would come in with feet like muddy builders boots.
Cheer up, it will soon be summer.

Our neighbours had a built in wet room next to their back door. Other than that, dog wellies?

I spend a lot of time clipping the fur out on his feet - less fur between the toes means less surface area for mud to cling to.

The rest of my time I spend mopping and remopping the floor or swearing at what a dirty little bu**er he is and how filthy my house is since I got him

Is there a park nearby with 'clean' grass? If we're coming off a muddy walk I try to find some cleaner grass for him to run over, which cleans his feet quite effectively

Or - a tray of warm water just outside the back door that he'll stand in for a few minutes so the dirt will float off. I do it in the bath. but I do have a dog I can carry!

We trim his coat every 6 weeks which includes the fur between his pads. When we have been unable to do that I notice the floor is much dirtier. When it's really filthy I put him in the bath after a walk and hose his legs down but otherwise I have just accepted muddy paws in the areas such as the kitchen.

We've got tiled floors through the kitchen and part of the living room, which helps as they're easier to mop, plus one of those mops with the pads you can whip on and off and put in the washing machine so it's really quick to mop the floor.

Other than that we restrict their garden access on wetter days to only the patio areas where there is nothing they can dig, and wipe their feet with a towel when they come in, we keep one by the back door.

And to an extent, you learn to live with it, since even all that doesn't always keep the mud out.

Exactly the same problem here with my web footed black lab! It's driving me nuts as she's in and out all day as she pleases and because she plays ball all day she really churns up the mud. I also have a mop with a pad... well, several pads actually as I need a clean one every day! They get chucked in a bucket with dirty dog towels and I then have a wash load every 2/3 days. I have to get on my hands and knees and scrub the kitchen floor though as the pad sometimes just isn't enough and the dirt gets too much every few days.

Oh, and we're rural so there are NO clean areas to walk!!

Exactly the same problem with our hairy border collie - we have a baby gate between tge kitchen and dining room to limit spread of mud. He has a bed in there and has got used to spending a few hours there after walks to dry off so I only have to clean up the kitchen. We're also in the process of teaching him the names of each of his paws - eg 'right paw front' so he will lift each one up in turn, makes it much easier to clean his feet! I use baby wipes or a washing up bowl of warm water and baby shampoo when he's really bad.

• I mean when he's badly muddy, not bad as in naughty!!

Instead of doormats we have bath mats down, they're more absorbent and we can just sling them in the washing machine, I get the bobbly-style ones from Next. To make it a bit more fun we sometimes hide treats under the mats and towels so our dog is more eager to really wipe his paws.

Thanks for the good ideas. I'll have a re-think.
At least our lab doesn't roll in fox poo or go for daily mud baths like some I know but his belly gets covered in muddy water as he walks and he then smears it all over the floor tiles which are cream - not our choice of colour

We’ve just got rid of the grass and replaced with fake grass.

The chaps are just finishing it off now and our two pooches will be back tomorrow.

I have an expensive dirt trapping mat, and keep a dog towel by the door, and have a hose just outside I use if he’s really muddy (he’s not going in my bloody bath, thank you!) Hall and kitchen floor (both white tiles - not my choice) are still revolting. I have a paved cottage garden FFS. I’ve no idea how he does it.

We bought some camping showers that were good. Failing that - bucket of water and towel?

single what happens to dog poo in fake grass? Does the rain still drain properl

*properly!

I dip their paws in a bowl of water or jug of water. Lots of towels. Wet towels often better than dry. Pet shops do special packets of dog baby wipe things which I've never tried by might be useful? Other than that we have just got used to the fact that nothing ever looks totally clean with dogs.

I have a towel on the floor for them to stand on when they come in and I wipe their feet with another towel. They are not allowed inside ever (except for when it’s very dry outside/frosty) without having their paws wiped clean.
They are so used to it now they just stand and wait for it to be done.
The towels get washed every couple of days. Saves so much dirt from being walked through the house.

We've just got pup and my aunt got us a Pooch Onezee. It's ridiculously expensive but there seem to be cheaper versions about.
Basically it's a zipped towel that the dog goes in for 10 minutes or so to dry out.
Pup tolerates it and comes out all dry and lovely, I don't use after every garden trip (as in and out frequently atm while houseetraining) but if he is very wet I pop him in, or if he has been digging and is muddy I pop him in the sink (still small) to clean off the pop him in the bag.
Aunt says she hoses down her dog first if he is muddy.

Thanks for your tips. There's some good ideas. I'm currently pouting old towels down at the back and front as well doggy microfibres towels and a wet cloth to clean his paws and a mop.
I like the onesie @Chasingsquirrels but I can't see my Labrador wrestling all over the house to get out of 😂😂

Can, not can't

Yeah I think you probably have to use them from a pup.
The first couple of times pup thought he was in a sack race, but now he just mostly lies there looking resigned.

Mine waits on a mat by the back door until he's been wiped down with a microfibre towel. I have a stack and when one gets muddy, I just chuck it into the machine and use the next one.

Mine is a short-haired breed though - that might not work with a dense haired lab!