Muddy Pups - What you do?!?!?

 Do you have somewhere you can put a kiddie pool or a shallow tub for them to walk in before you wipe their feet?  We don't have much mud but lots of grass clippings, mulch and of course he digs for moles daily so if it's dry wiping his feet works but when it's wet he has to stand in his pool then get wiped before he comes in.

I don't have any real experience with this but...

what about a brush mit, the type with rubber nubs or little soft spikes, to brush the dogs down quickly before wiping feet and coming in?  That might remove a lot of the debris that would otherwise end up in the house.  I use one for Monroe since he loves rolling in just about anything.

Hunterwayit

...I have a blankets on the couches & bed but even with the wiping they put mud on them, I have to change my beds sheet/covers at least twice a week...

mud is one of the reasons why dogs aren't allowed in human beds here. And why the couches are easily wiped leather. And why there is a hose next to the door and a mud room at the entrance.

i used to live on a farm (bigger than what i have now) and had three dogs, two of them with long coats and these hair brained mutts thought they could go wade in pools of horse crap.. yes POOLS .. and then come inside.. no. sir.

i used to just keep the hose by the door and rinse them off and then towel them dry before allowing them inside.

I also made them stay in the kitchen area until they dried off. living at home then my dogs werent allowed on furniture so that helped keep mud and crud off that area. they rarely slept in the bed with me... was only room for one dog and me and that particular dog would only stay up there for twenty minutes before getting back on the floor with the other two.

its not the easiest solution, to hose them off every time you come back in.. especially if its cold outside, but those were the consequences of getting muddy.... if you wanted to come inside you had to get rinsed first!  

what about some doggy boots? that would only work for the paws.... I don't know how much mud we're talking about there.

Thanks guys all great tips, furniture for them is really a must as my place is pretty tiny just a one bedroom unit with a small kitchen & at the mo I don't even have room for two dog beds hehe. But I am having a big organise soon & will make room for their beds cause once summer hits I will not be allowing them to sleep with me. Plus I will never get a BF if I have two dogs & two cats sleeping with me hardly enough room for me let alone another hehe.

Mud we have a lot, the hose option doesn't really work as they have to go thru a pretty muddy bit to get to my front door from there, so I think a paddling pool or something similar will be perfect. And blocking off the kitchen till they dry etc.

We have all wood floors and I just say "OFF" until they dry.  Then I have to sweep/vacuum the mess off the floors, but I do that anyway with the two kids and all the hair.  When my fourteen-year-old king sized comforter was retired, it became a dog covering for the bed.  They know that normally they are allowed on the bed when it's on there, and when it's not I'll be a little less receptive to their being there.

For bad mud there's both a kiddie pool by the back door, and the hose.

When we didn't have concrete by the back door (and I think I will have concrete forever, no matter where we live from now on!), we had large stretches of gravel.  These were potty areas as well as convenient places to de-dirt both dogs and people.  Can you do something like that?

what about putting hay down where they frequent?

brookcove

When we didn't have concrete by the back door (and I think I will have concrete forever, no matter where we live from now on!), we had large stretches of gravel.  These were potty areas as well as convenient places to de-dirt both dogs and people.  Can you do something like that?

Yeah at some point I will be laying gravel down, not my property so concrete not gonna happen. But also gravel is a bit of a tough one too as the entrance to my place & where the gravel needs to go is very wet (drainage the landlord is taking his time fixing *sigh*) so once that is fixed & everything is a bit dryer I want gravel down cause at the mo not only do I have to deal with muddy dogs & house, my truck is filthy all the time too.

Bring on summer!!!

Where I used to live had a lot of clay in the soil, and the path worn next to the fenceline plus moisture meant clay packed into their feet that wouldn't come out with a towel. We'd have to wash every foot. So we started using dog boots when it was muddy. Much easier for me, (not so easy for my husband who could not seem to grasp the idea that the straps had to be SNUG.)

Another thing that helps with long haired dogs, is to keep all the hair on the bottom of the foot, between the pads, and around the toes trimmed very short. Less hair means less mud and it's easier to wipe off.