Dogs, wet weather & suburban houses - tips please

[FoxandDuck]

First time dog owners and, whilst we’re a few weeks into it, it’s only been this week that it’s properly rained since we got DPup and I’m confused as to how best to deal with it. As a child, our dog had a outside kennel plus the back door opened into a sort of utility area so he’d be in one of those and then in by the aga with bedding & towels hung by the aga. On the other hand, I live in a 60s suburban house with a largely open plan downstairs and central heating which isn’t on at this time of year (although it’s been tempting this week!). Every time the dog goes out into the garden for a wee, we’ve then got wet paw prints throughout the house at least and, if it’s been raining, I then have a wet dog wandering around. Same with a walk although at least he then comes in through the front door into the porch. If we crate him, his bed then gets damp and, whilst it is machine washable and can go in the tumble dryer, it all takes a while.
Obviously I am giving him as much of a dry as possible when he comes in but he’s not very tolerant of that!
What does everyone else do? I feel as though I’m missing something really obvious but everyone I’ve spoken to in real life seems to have a utility or hall or similar that the dog goes into.

Hug rugs are absorbent mats that hugely reduce wet paw prints. Not infallible but better than the microfibre towel I used to put down for them.

depending on size, you can put a mat down and then they learn to get on it and you can dry paws individually quite quickly. Mine get a biscuit after so are quite up for it but I’ve had them mostly from puppies.

hug rugs or - there’s another brand that does the same thing called turtle mats I think, are machine washable and not very cheap but they come up on Vinted sometimes. I think they’re worth it.

Hug rugs in this house too; also look at dog robes/ drying coats .

And close doors to bedrooms, any areas you can, when it’s wet, or if your dog loves splashing about in water.

We have a dog door and a turtle mat that he walks on as he steps through the door - that gets rid of most of the issue

Turtle mat/towel by the door and a doggy drying robe for really soaking wet and muddy days. We shut him in the kitchen with a baby gate if he's really disgusting as the floors can just be mopped down quickly.

Turtle mat by the back door to catch most of the mud, an old towel for a quick rub-down (and to remove mud from paws and undercarriage), and a Ruff and Tumble drying coat.

Lower your standards 😂

I've had dogs for over 20 years now, and in the spring it's usually mud and rainwater, in the summer it's grass, winter it's mud and rainwater, autumn it's leaves, mud and rainwater! And it's not just the dogs - I find shoes are just as bad after walks.

I very quickly got bored of wiping paws after every trip to the garden, and swapped pale tiles for stone ones, or beige carpet!

TBH I can deal with the paw marks, it's the leaves and grass that drive me insane, the hoover may as well stay plugged in all the time.

I bought a batch of small black microfibre towels and use those after walks. Plus a mud daddy, which has been fab. When she was a very small pup, she was mainly only allowed in the kitchen / dining room. We also have had different configurations of puppy fences up - both in the garden and at different doors internally. Swapped our rug for a washable one, and downstairs is non-carpeted in any case. I couldn't cope with having carpets with a big dog!

You need to persevere whilst still at the puppy stage. Bribe!
Have an absorbent small rug or towel on the floor so the dog steps back into the house on this towel.
Have a spare towel at the ready to dry the paws one by one.
Then dry the rest of the dog in whichever order you like (head, back, tail, tummy etc).
Practice all the stages over and over again but do it in stages so that the dog doesn’t get bored whilst training it. Practice even if it’s not wet.
Your aim is to train the dog to be tolerant of the drying process. Maybe even grow to enjoy the routine!
Be calm, gentle, lots of praise and treats. Don’t turn it into an exciting game. You want a calm patient dog whilst you’re doing this.
You’ll be surprised how quickly it will all fall into place and you will be able to do a full drying session in one go reasonably efficiently with a calm dog.
Have a cue word maybe, as well?
The thing is you just have to accept there is a degree of change you need to adopt with a dog living in the house.
You won’t always manage to dry the dog fully. Some coats are quicker to dry, others not so. Also you won’t always have time to do it properly.
The dog will be half dry and hopefully dry quicker than all wet. On a dog bed or mat?
If you don’t have the option to add a utility room to your house, another idea, if possible, create some sort of area by the garden door on the outside with a croft and dry the dog there. If you have a power point, maybe have a blaster at the ready? This is a strong hairdryer for dogs, it dries the fur and pushes out the muddy bits. Messy job but at least it’s outside.

Hug rugs are great

How about a raincoat? I like Hurtta and Non Stop Dogwear coats.
If he's still growing, buy second hand and sell it on.

In the wetter months she gets a half wash in the bathtub after every walk. I just carry her up as soon as we are in and it's a hose down until the water runs clean. Only the legs and underbelly really. She just accepts it now and has a good zoomies after.

In the summer months I don't do anything but agree with PP that the wispy bits of grass are very annoying!

Old towels become dog towels, in the autumn/winter these get put on her bed to dry off on. Saves the whole bed being washed too often. Keep rotating towels through the wash to prevent damp dog smells. (Well as much as you can in the winter )

Absolutely agree with training (with treat bribes!) the puppy to tolerate being cleaned. It makes it so much more pleasant.

I’d always have a towel by the door on the floor on rainy days and an extra bed to cover with a couple of towels for drying off on. After particularly soggy walks after rubbing down they’d wear a dog drying robe.

It’s not easy if you don’t have anywhere to keep him in one place though. Is your kitchen big enough to have a penned off area for him to dry off, or a baby gate to keep him in one place or is it totally open plan?

This is all really helpful. Thank you! Now you’ve suggested it, something like towels over the bed, for example, is really simple but just hadn’t occurred to me!