There’s nothing worse than keeping up with dirt and dog odors from invading your home, especially when preparing for guests to visit. If you have pets and this is a problem for you, the following will provide you with some tips that will help reduce these ongoing problems and help you keep your home much cleaner and things more under control.
Think Outside Your Home
Before your dogs have a chance to track dirt into your home, consider how you can reduce or eliminate the dirt that they pick up and then bring with them onto your floors and furniture. Some tips to try include the following:
- Make sure you replace grass in any bare areas in your lawn to eliminate open patches of dirt that your pet will gravitate to and dig in
- Fill in holes where water collects and pools
- If you have areas where grass doesn’t grow, keep them well covered with mulch
- Use stones, gravel, or rocks in areas where mulch may wash away. This will be a more lasting solution and more environmentally friendly in the long run.
Set Up a Dog Paw Cleaning Station
Before your doggies have a chance to prance into the house with their dirty paws, stop this from happening by placing a sturdy absorbent mat inside your door. If possible, have some towels handy and wipe their paws before they enter your living areas, or place a washable mat which you can wipe their feet on. You might even want to keep some wet wipes handy or some water to quickly clean and then dry their paws after a long walk.
Train Your Dogs Good Behavior
Dogs look to please their owners and if given proper instruction and some patience can be trained to follow your rules. Take the time to work with and guide them so you can prevent them from tracking dirt into your home.
- Teach them to wait at the door instead of racing into the house so you have time to check their paws.
- Train your puppies to stand on a cleaning mat as soon as entering the house so they get used to you wiping their paws clean.
- Believe it or not, in time you may be able to train your dogs to wipe their own paws on their special door mats. Check out some online instructional videos in which professional dog trainers show how this can be done.
- Make sure to keep your dogs well groomed which will make it easier to keep them clean and odor free.
Some dogs require more grooming than others. Some breeds with curly or long hair should visit the groomer on a regular basis to have their hair cut or shaved to prevent their hair from collecting dirt, leaves, twigs and other yard debris. Not only will this reduce dirt in your home, it will help prevent insects and pests from an opportunity to invade your place. Also, periodic bathing and brushing will help reduce unpleasant odors from collecting on your carpeting and furniture.
Contain Your Pets
Many pet owners allow their furry friends to have the run of their homes, but it’s a good idea to consider limiting access to certain areas for a couple of reasons. First, if you set up a buffer zone which allows time for you to clean them before entering, you can reduce the number of areas and time to clean up after them. You can set up baby gates to contain your dogs in a mud room or kitchen until they’re good to go. Or, you might want to use gates to prevent them from being in rooms with carpeting or better furniture altogether. Also, it is recommended that you have them consistently enter your home from the same entrance which will help with their training and limit the dirty traffic path throughout your home.
If it all seems a bit overwhelming, consider contacting a reputable cleaning service in your area. A professional house cleaning company can take on some or all of your more challenging cleaning issues so you have more free time to enjoy your guests and other activities, and to enjoy your furry best friend even more.
Maid Spotless Cleaning Services offers a full suite of professional house cleaning services in Albany and the Greater Capital Region.
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