Your furry best friend is likely great at giving you love and affection every day — you play, go on walks and cuddle together. But one thing dogs aren’t famous for giving you is a clean and organized home. You put plenty of work into maintaining a beautiful home, so you deserve to keep it that way without sacrificing a happy pet.
Here are some easy tips and tricks for keeping a tidy house with a four-legged friend bounding around!
- Keep everything you need for outside-time near the door. Leashes, pick-up bags, booties, and your buddy’s favorite toy can all live by the door and never track in mud.
- Once you are on a walk, make picking up dog mess much easier with an extender arm. Especially if you have a disability and register a service dog, this can be much faster and safer than bending down on the street.
- If you have pick-up bags in your home garbage making a stink, try tossing in some of your cat’s litter to neutralize the smell. Even if you don’t have a cat, keeping a small bag in the house for this purpose is a good idea!
- Try out a constantly-refilling water bowl to cut down on running to the sink every hour. If your dog likes drinking running water you can even get a fountain water bowl.
- Your dog deserves a duvet too! Instead of lint rolling your doggy bed, try a removable duvet cover. Just toss it in with your clothes and keep a slobber-free doggy bed — at least for a few minutes!
- Does your dog love to play in the mud? If you can get a hose in the front yard of your house, this will save plenty of trouble. Hosing down your dog before they even take one step inside will make sure any footprints are just damp, not caked in dirt.
- Get a plastic food mat for your dog. If you have an eager eater, this will keep the bowl stuck in place and keep the food centralized for a quick cleanup. If you expect a lot of slobber, maybe stick a mat on the wall as well!
- Invest in a nice bin for all those toys that are scattered around the floor right now. Instead of an old broken plastic tub you found in your garage, a nice woven basket can make a calming atmosphere in the midst of your dog’s chaos.
- Divide up your dog food. Instead of trying to portion out dinner from that 50-pound sack of food, food prep for your dog too! Smaller, ready-to-go portions avoid the potential for large spills all over your kitchen, speaking of which…
- Don’t serve your dog dinner in the kitchen. Putting dinner in a utility room or basement will keep the mess out of your kitchen, and you won’t have to dance around your dog while you make your own food.
- Get a vacuum specifically for dog hair. If you haven’t completely given up on carpets from all that dog hair, then a strong vacuum will make a huge difference. You might even remember that carpet was white when you bought it.
The Bottom Line
You can love your dog without letting them take over your whole house. Straightening out your home and having a system to clean up after your dog will relax you right away. Take care of your best friend and the beautiful home you’ve made for them!
