How to keep your house clean when you own a dog

How to keep your house clean when you own a dog

   by Lyndsay 

So, I’ve been talking a lot about our house at the moment haven’t I? Did you see our Living Room Tour? Our house truly is our pride and joy at the moment but I bet you’ve been wondering how we keep it clean with a naughty black labrador running around? Especially seeing as he moults all year round and like all other dogs, he occasionally treats himself to a doggy spa treatment – the “Fox Poo Roll”. Sigh.

However, it isn’t all bad –  having a dog doesn’t mean your house is dirty, it just means you need to take a few extra steps to keep on top of everything.  But, don’t worry, after being a doggy parent for the last few years and a huge amount of trial and error, I’ve worked out all the best techniques keep things spick and span, promise.

• Rubber Gloves – This is the cheapest and most effective way of removing hairs from fabrics and carpets. Just pop on rubber gloves, lightly dampen under the tap, then rub over the fabric/carpet. You’ll be amazed at how many hairs you’ll gather up!
• Pet Blankets – I have put pet blankets on all of Robbie’s favourite places to relax and it’s made my life so much easier! They are all made from a super lightweight fleece material so they wash and dry really quickly. I wash them once a week to eliminate any lingering dog smells and keep them fresh during the week by shaking them outside in the garden to get rid of any excess hairs and using products like Febreze for a freshen up.
• Clean Pet Bowls and Toys – Robbie licks his bowl clean every morning so you’d think it would be alright for his next meal – however even though his bowl looks fresh and clean, under the surface pet bowls are the perfect breeding ground for nasty bacteria. I’m sure you wouldn’t eat from the same plate every day without cleaning it, so why should your pet! I wash his bowl using our normal washing up liquid, but for added protection I always buy the anti-bacterial version.   
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• Groom your dog – If you regularly brush your dog, this will help slow down the shedding within the house. We tend to take Robbie’s brush with us on dog walks as then all the loose hairs will blow away in the wind (trust me, even doing this in our garden ended up with the hairs back in the house!) We also brush Robbie’s teeth and bathe him now and again, usually when he’s rolled in Fox Poo or has been jumping in puddles – just ensure you use special dog shampoo (Robbie uses Pet Head, which comes in the cutest bottle!) and it’ll keep your pooch smelling perfect!
• Keep an old towel by the front door – Dogs have a habit of finding the dirtiest spots to roll, don’t be caught out by having to walk your muddy wet dog through the house. Leave an old towel by the front door so you can give your dog a rub down before their paws hit the carpet.
• Fox Poo Scent Spray / Tomato Ketchup –  Fox Poo is the worst smell in the world but dogs absolutely LOVE it. Even after a bath the smell can still linger so we use a Fox Poo Scent Spray, or if you don’t have any at home you can rub tomato ketchup into your dogs fur whilst they are in the bath, leave for a minute or so (however long you can keep them from trying to lick it off or shaking and it going everywhere) and rinse. This will remove that nasty odour, who knew!

So, I hope these tips help you out – cleaning up after a dog really isn’t too difficult and for the amount of love they give in return, it’s totally worth it!