The mud. Please help me with the mud!!

[Rockbird]

Got a rescue pup back at Halloween. All good. But one of us has to leave this house and I'm the one who pays for it 😉

The issue is mud. Everywhere. We don't have a neat little utility room or nice area for muddy boots/paws. Back door straight into the kitchen, front door straight up the stairs. So please for the love of all that's holy, tell me how you deal with muddy paws. Yes we wipe them, yes we clean them (although DH sucks at washing anything throughly) and I'm on the verge of painting the house brown just to disguise it.

Are those paw scrubby brush or cup things any good?

I love winter, detest the spring and summer but for the first time ever this year I'm looking forward to it!

I colour matched the kitchen lino to dried mud. I'm really really not joking. It used to be cream and is now a dark brown/grey, and everything is better.

Bucket of hot water by the door when you leave for walks, dip paws in and towel dry underside.... my next house will have a boot room!

I changed the entrance door to Lino.
Stack of towels and a towelling coat. Coat goes on the instance he is through the door to prevent shaking or rubbing mud everywhere, then towel dry the feet.

I got a shaggy absorbent mat for the back door and it was a game changer. I could have written your post and now it’s much much better. It’s ugly as hell mind you but it’s better than the mud.

You need an equafleece suit for the dog. Expensive but worth every penny. That way you only get 3 inches of mud on the feet/ankles.
Could you get a crate or playpen for him to dry off in after walks? If not warm soapy water and a towel and straight into dog bed covered in towels.

We have a vet bed at the back door and he lies on that and gets dried with a towel and has to stay there to dry off until we allow him off it.

Accept it and have the carpets cleaned every May.

We pick out girl up and hose off in shower

Doggy dry bag , leave it by the door , open door put dog in the bag and get it out when dry .

Wait for summer and redecorate 🙈.

Friend has a paddling pool that the dog has to walk through.

Fortunately our DDog hates mud 🤷🏽‍♀️

We have microfibre runners from both front and back doors. They came from Lakeland and were pricy, £60 ish, but suck the mud off feet of all species.

Definitely something like an equafleece if your dog is an appropriate size and shape - doesn’t stop the feet getting muddy but stops it getting everywhere else. Then a mud daddy if you don’t have an outside tap and hose near the back door. Finally something like a hug rug or pet rebellion mat near the back door and train him to stand or sit on it until you say he can get off.

Scabby towels! Your old, old scabby towels. Go buy yourself some lovely fresh ones and use your old ones when walks are done for the kitchen - dry off properly and towels on the floor. We have 3 big huskies and 3 cats and they are god honestly bringing in sticks, sticky Willy’s, mud, everything. The dogs and cats are chased about with a towel - especially if it rains and they love it! 😂

My pup wipes her own feet on the doormat on command 😂

Ooh lots of ideas, thank you. We do have an outside tap by the back door. At the moment it's scabby towels (although my good towels seem to make an appearance on the kitchen floor 😡).

Do they make wellies for dogs?

Honestly, we ended up getting rid of the lawn as we just couldn't keep on top of the mud our mud-lover brought in.

They do indeed make boots for dogs, though.

I was thinking of getting a mixer tap fitted outside kitchen door - so I can hose down with warm water and not cold.

I use one of those pressurised sprayers that you would usually use for weed killer, filled with a mix of shampoo and warm water. Then on with a towel coat and onto a bed covered in towels.

Was going to suggest this.

My parents had a hot water outside tap plumbed in. Game changer

Mud Daddy for the first pass. Then I actually bought a baby bath (£12, Argos) to stand doggy in and properly wash his paws and legs. Loads of old towels, doggy coat so you minimise splatter. Waiting till he is fully grown to get an equafleece.

Yep we had a hot tap fitted, add on a mixer shower head. Paws washed after every walk, game changer! Also lovely for hand washing from the garden and dirty kids feet!

I share your pain. Try having a totally White House and a Leonberger 😂

Mine waits to be invited in as he knows his feet need to be wiped down before entry is granted. Towels in the porch and a family rule that whoever doesn’t wipe him down properly before entry has to then steam mop the floor where he just walked the mud through (they all have learned to wipe him down carefully!).

I don’t have carpet though which is a blessing. These months are the worst as the ground softens and the mudfest begins. Roll on summer….

You can get special warm water showerhead taps that build into the outside wall for dogs etc. Alternatively we had a shower cubicle in the downstairs toilet, three feet from the back door. I also taught my dogs the "shake" command, to be used when they were not standing next to me. Saved myself a lot of soakings! 🤣