Keeping a golden retriever (or similar) clean

[RoundLid]

How do you do this?

Thinking of getting a GR pup but I know from experience of the breed that they can get very muddy, love swimming in the grubbiest water etc. How do other people manage? I have a friend who has an outdoor dog shower but there must be other ways- let the mud dry and brush it out? What works for you?

Thank you!

The mud on golden retrievers will drop out if left to dry.

Hair is a bigger problem than mud. Don't underestimate the shedding.

I just tend to towel mine down and use an outdoor shower if they are really bad.

They do love rolling in mud and water.

I lost my GR last year, the third one I'd owned. Keeping her clean was a challenge. We had a downstairs shower for after muddy walks which helped. Sometimes it was just her legs that needed a quick rinse but other times it was a full shampoo. It depended on where we'd been and how much dirt was in her fur. Letting them dry off dirty is an option, but they can get a bit smelly from river water, and you have to have somewhere to contain them while they dry off. You'll also need a lot of towels for dog like a GR.

We used to take our girl to a groomer regularly. They would trim her belly, legs, backside and neck short and we'd keep her back fur longer. It's easier to dry them off if there's less trailing fur to rub (and tangle!)

As a pp said, be prepared for the shedding on a long haired dog. We were forever running round with the vacuum cleaner, but in moult season (which sometimes seemed like always) it could be like having tumbleweed blowing across the floor!

Thanks both, that's really helpful.

Ours are bigger but similar coats.

We bring in onto patio, hose if required and then dry with a blaster drier. I never let them dry naturally because they stink and coat every surface in wet and mud. Any mud left on the dog does just drop off and get hoovered up. We hoover twice a day though!

We also have fences between patio and garden to minimise the amount of mud and mess dragged in.

Get a blaster. A very powerful hairdryer.
It’ll get excess water mud and loose hair off.
You have to use them outside or you’ll have mud and hair everywhere, but they make life with a hairy mud magnet so much easier!

With a pup you need to start off on low power with no heat till they get used to it, my dog loves his and comes running when I turn it on.

You don’t.

Honestly, you can’t. Because if it’s not mud or dirt or anything else it’s the fur, which even after it’s dropped off manages to reattach to them and you can literally pull enough fur out of them to create a new one (although why anyone would do that…). Or the fur finds itself in your bed or your food or your own hair.

Even if you managed to find the cure to the mud, the fur will slowly smother you to death.

We've never really managed! We have a box of dog towels outside and rub him down when we get back from a walk to get the worst of everything off, then the rest does dry and fall off - we just hoover frequently. And strongly agree that the hair is if anything more of a problem than the dirt, if there was money in golden retriever hair rugs or jumpers I'd be a millionaire. (Saying that, I'd not have another breed, they're just wonderful!).

We're planning to get a mud daddy, but now we mostly use a bowl of warm water, flannel and a towel. Pop paw in water, swish up with the flannel, dry with the towel and repeat for each paw, then rub down belly with the damp flannel. However the muddy parts of our walks are a good 20 min walk from the house, so her feathers are usually fairly dry by the time we get home, which helps with the clean up. If she's very muddy/stinky we hose her down or pop her into the bath, using a path of towels to walk her to the bathroom on (bungalow, so everything downstairs).

I agree that the hairs are a huge issue, so we have leather sofas, hoover at least daily and have lots of blankets on beds etc that we wash weekly. They're light, thin hairs so they don't cling too badly, but they fly around so can end up in food if you're not scrupulous about hoovering and cleaning soft furnishings frequently. I still wouldn't have any other breed though.

I fenced our patio, originally temporarily when my dog was a puppy as she was constantly picking up stuff she shouldn't. She's 18 months now and eventually I'll replace the cheap fencing with a permanent one as it's been a godsend. Especially since my son is a goalkeeper so we have more mud than grass currently 🙄🙈

I have a large poodle retriever cross. She's much hairier than a pure golden though and I keep her long. I fill a large collapsible plastic laundry basket with boiling water before our walk and leave it inside by the back door and when we're home it's the perfect temperature and no need to mess about removing boots to go in the house to fill it. I wash and dry her paws/legs and use the then wet towel to clean her undercarriage. I gave up using any kind of dryer on her as she treats it like a hoover and bounces round excitedly and attacks it 🙄

I am on GR number 4 and while he can get a bit smelly if not groomed for a bit I never need to clean him. The mud just drops off onto the floor
I DO have to hoover every day, sometimes twice and wash the floors daily but we have no carpets so its not too difficult

I recommend Equafleece. My doodle is a mud magnet, at least if he's wearing a coat I only have to wash his feet!

I give mine a brisk rub down with a damp microfibre cloth and a towel dry to get the worst of it off. The mud dries and falls off, then you can sweep/vacuum up. My GR is only a year old but she hates baths and paw cleaners. I'm just praying for some less muddy weather! As PPs say, the fur is far more of a nuisance! The mud daddy has been recommended to me, but my GR hates it.

My Labrador gets filthy, so I wipe him down with a damp microfibre cloth then wrap him in a Ruff and Tumble drying coat for his body then rub his legs dry. The coats have been a game changer. My spaniel is hosed down before following same procedure.

We mostly attempt to stay away from muddy walks during the winter months when the ground is soaked and take her to the beach instead - she loves a good swim, I love that she comes home clean (albeit soggy..!). We go to a dog park most weeks where she gets absolutely filthy, thankfully the owners have brought in a dog wash so she gets a good hot shampoo and rinse before we go home. Bizarrely, she loves getting blow-dried and will perch on the sofa waiting for me to do it🤣

I find the constant shedding of ‘golden glitter’ the worst part - no matter how much I vacuum the house or brush her the house is still absolutely covered in hair!