Spring time dirty puppy!

Ok! How the heck are you supposed to keep a puppy clean during the spring?! Seriously?! Do you guys bathe your dog everytime they come in from being outside? I took Indy outside today and she came back absolutely filthy! With the melting snow, my backyard is a swamp and all the streets are dirty too! She's a golden and her belly was absolutely black! I can't really clean her off outside as I don't think it's warm enough yet...and I don't either want nor have the time to bathe her everyday...so what do you do? Just live with dirt all in your house??

so what do you do? Just live with dirt all in your house??

Pretty much:D Seriously though, I just came back from the dog park and now my entire place smells like dirty wet dog! Last Spring I got used to keeping a towel and bucket of water by the door for when we returned. Also right before I came back I would make her run through the huge pond-like puddle in the corner of the field to at least get the grit off, then walk her home on the cleanest path possible. She'd still come home wet but at least not completely filthy! I also bathed her much much more than usual;)

i use baby wipes, on all 4 of my min pins good luck.

At least it was nice today so I did try to have the bucket ready and wipe her down outside but it made ZERO difference! We don't have sidewalks where we live so we are walking on the street which is just as bad! Even though we "bathed" her...she's still dirty!! We've always had a towel by the door and she is used to walking in and sitting to have her paws wiped but holy cow! I needed a wal-mart full of towels today!!

I just use dog towels and give them a good rub down before they come in.. It doesn't get rid of all the dirt, but most. Then again, my doggies are smooth coated for the most part, so the dirt is easy to rub off.

It's the long hair under her belly that's soaking up all the crap! Especially since she's a puppy and wants to "investigate" everything! We go through every puddle and found out today that splashing in the mud puddles is fun! I am really looking forward to everything drying out!!

[F]Hi there. Did we forget to tell you about this?

My neighbors all think it is funny because starting about now until it is no longer necessary my hose is hooked up in the garage and we make a pit stop for paws and bellies before going in the house, where there is a big bath towel at the front door to dry off the excess.

This is not ideal but it does work. Ginger LOVES it but poor Hobo always skulks away hoping I will forget about him.

Also, about the groomer/grooming you were asking about...WAIT!!!!

Also, I am a HUGE fan of the Swiffer Vac. Picks up all that grimy stuff.

This, too, shall pass ;) [/FONT]

Have you tried to doggie wipes?

I have your same problem x2. I always have a towel at the back door to get MOST of the crud off. I also have a mop and bucket of water (changed umpteens times a day) to clean up the dirty paw marks. I just absolutely HATE this time of year !!!

yeah with two akitas (one of them a puppy, ergo low to the ground), this is one of our pet peeves! springtime in the city with grimy greasy sidewalks, melting parks full of sticky dog poop, dirt and mud and skank everywhere! :yuck: We use a spray-bottle of vinegar & water mix to get the worst off first (& lotsa hand towels), then finish with a spray-bottle of dry shampoo - the dollar store has great all-purpose spray bottles btw - and so far so good. they're used to waiting before coming in the house, and give the paw so cleanup is never a fight. but OH! so many hand-towels to wash! i can't wait for dryer weather!!! :cool:

Gomez is small, so we fill up the tub before we go out, and when we get back he has a good swim, just water, no soap, then a good rubdown and the zoomies...

Tracie;I have 3 goldens so I know what you are talking about.I started yesterday to drive them to a ski doo path near my house,it was a little bit less muddy than in the fields around my place.But,they did get dirty!I just wipe their belly with a towell,and brush and brush and brush when they're dry.Good luck,couple of more dirty weeks and then it's spring,wooohooo!

Thanks DiandPat for the good idea! I think I'll change our "entry point" and start using the garage for the next couple of weeks. Technodoll, I can relate to your "puppy" issue because that's Indy! She is low to the ground (she's 'short" for a golden) and walks with her nose to the ground. Coupled with, "Hey! It's fun to run through puddles" and I have a blissfully happy but incredibly dirty puppy on my hands!
Thanks for the help everyone! Nice to know it's not only me! I just don't seem to see my neighbours with a filthy dog and kept thinking, "What's their trick?!?"

We have a shower downstairs, that has an extra spout about knee height. Everytime my pup comes in filthy, I scoop her up quickly, and she gets a rinse in there, towel dried and off she goes again. If we didn't have this shower, I think we would be rinsing her in the bath everytime. Just the belly and legs.

I have given up. We have a 23 month old 23 lb. very white when clean American Eskimo who unfortunately loves the rain, snow, MUD, every puddle etc. and also rolling in it. We had a big rain storm in Toronto on Thurs. and it was grooming day - can't win - rains every time either of us goes to the hairdresser. He looked so pretty though for a few minutes. I sure wish he had black feet and tummy fur - well I guess he kind of does. When we had our darling Dachshunds, they had the good sense to avoid the mud and puddles.

We have ceramic floor,so I just mop a lot and brush dried mud etc out of them.Anyone else notice how big shaggy dogs who take forever to dry/clean enjoy mud more then little guys who take two seconds to dry and brush out?I don't care I love spring! and besides the dogs don't look that bad I was just out in the horse field ,Jack our canadian who has about three inches of winter coat has been rolling in the mud,etc you think a dog can get you filthy try a big shaggy horse!

Having two Goldens myself, I can relate to your "dirty dog" problem! We come home from the beach and both are dirty and wet. One of mine, the youngest - Amber - is a water dog, Bobby is not. Before leaving the beach, I throw a couple of sticks in for Amber to go after - that gets much of the surface dirt off. When we get home I have 2 brushes outside the back door and both get brushed then towelled then they come inside - mind you, being Goldens, they are still pretty wet and dirty so they go onto the pet blankets (which are on the couch) and they drop most of the dirt there - plus they dry off somewhat there too. On a fine day, they stay outside. Every day, though, I have to sweep up the sand the hair. You are lucky if you only have this problem in the spring - here on the BC coast, it's all winter long!
Happy cleaning :)

Just wanted to say that I too can relate to your struggle. On the plus side both my guys are black so at least it hides the dirt on them :D

We live in a new neighborhood so I find the dirt, mude etc. to be quite bad. I have purchased Muttluks for both my guys which helps with the clean-up in terms of time. I just try to towel them off as best I can and have purchased some cheap fleece blakets from Walmart that I have started having them lay on.

It keeps the carpet cleaner until the warm weather dries everything out.

I wanna see a photo of them with muttluks on... pahleeeeeeseee:)

At our park people laugh at Tucker, he is normally the dirtiest dog there and one of the bigger ones. Tucker will found mud anywhere and if he can't find it he makes it. I towel out as much as I can, make him lie on a towel for awile and then I give him a good brushing. What can you do they have to have fun!!!!!

Towel dry to get off the excess water and mud and brush through the coat before and after she is dried.
You could also get a water-less shampoo. I would recommend the one made by best shot and you can order it at Rens or Pet Supply in Ontario.

We have all kinds of dirt problems. I find that keeping the dogs clean is a full time job. The Shih Tzus have close cuts to minimize the fur and therefor the dirt. When wet the dogs are confined to the kitchen. Doesn't do much for the kitchen floor but saves the rugs.

We have dirt issues all year long. First day of school we take pictures, one year the boys wanted Dad and the dogs in the picture. Dad had just blown the swather off (this is done between fields to minimize the chance of spreading weeds,etc. from field to field) so the boys decided to have the picture by the swather. After the picture they put Lacey down and she ran for the pile of swather dirt and rolled. I had to phone the groomer immediately for an emergency clip, the swather dirt was mainly burrs, the poor little dog could hardly move she had so many burrs in her fur.

Well tomorrow I am heading out to get a few bales of straw not hay otherwise you will have lots of weeds, I used the straw last spring and it worked like a charm in the yard, what I did was section off a part of the yard that lead to the door using plastic fencing to create a run approx 10' x 40' in that area put down straw so it was about 6" deep needed about 6 bales , this absorbs the water and mats down creating a sort of mat over top of the mud and also protects the grass roots from being ripped out when the dogs run around, as a bonus it also make dog poop clean up a lot easier. In the later spring when the lawn starts to dry out you take the mower to the straw so the grass can start coming up and it will become a mulch but still help to keep the muddiness down on those odd rainy days till the grass thickens up

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Ontariogreys what a great idea!! I don't know why I never thought of that. Thanks for the idea I think I'll go get some straw right away. We still have lots of snow, but when it starts to melt I'll definitely do that.