10 Tips for Having a Clean House AND a Dog!

You know that old saying: cleaning a house with children living in it is like brushing your teeth while eating a cookie?? Well, some could argue that living with a doggy is much the same! It seems that no matter how often you clean, if you have furry pets, it never feels often enough. Having three kids and a rather large dog, I feel this struggle everyday. I clean a room, turn around and then it’s messy again! Have no fear though, because it is possible to have both! These 10 tips for having a clean house and a dog will help you keep your home tidy while still allowing your furry best friend (and kids) to live in it.

Years ago we redid all of our flooring in our home. When we had bought our house the floors were a combination of an outdated tile and an even more outdated (and dirty) carpet. One of the first projects we did was to remove all of this and replace it with a gorgeous dark hardwood. After the major renovation was done and we started living normally again I noticed something right away. My beautiful dark hardwood floors showed every single little crumb my kids left and dog hair my dog dropped. I mean every single one. Kids ate a sandwich? Crumbs everywhere. Dog went outside and back in? Dog hair and dirt. Every day. This was maddening at first but then after some research, I learned some tips for keeping the dog messes at bay so that my home looked and felt cleaner everyday- WITHOUT me scrubbing everything!

These 10 tips for keeping your home clean WITH a doggy living inside are simple to do and will really make your life easier. Whether you are in the Thinking Stage of deciding to get a pet or not, the Plunging Stage of finally picking out your perfect new bestie, or the Loving Stage (like us), where you have had a doggy for years- these tips will help you make clean-up easier and help keep new messes at bay, so you can spend less time cleaning, and more time living!

Invest in some good quality door mats

Dogs need to go out and back inside again- which means dirt from the outside can come in. Invest in some quality (and cute!) door mats that will really help with cleaning up your doggie’s paws, even if you can’t train them to wipe their feet! Place them by the door your pet goes in and out of most frequently, one inside and out, and they can help catch a ton of dirt and debris simply from your dog walking across them.

Give your doggy frequent baths

Dogs go outside a lot, and like to roll in and play in the dirt and grass. By scheduling frequent baths for your pet this will help to keep them clean thus tracking in less dirt inside your home. Once a week or twice a month are a good place to start depending on the needs of the breed, and the more frequently you give your doggy a tubby, the easier it’ll get too.

Keep stain remover near by

Even the most perfectly housebroken dog can have an issue when they have a stomach bug or ate something they should not have eaten. Keeping a good quality carpet stain cleaner on hand that is designed to tackle pet stains is a good idea. Use it on stains as soon as you can to help tackle it asap.

Sweep and Mop with ease

It’s no secret that I am absolutely in love with my Swiffer® Sweep + Vac. Rechargeable & cordless, this sweeping system combines a powerful vacuum with a sweeping cloth that digs deep to pick up big and small messes, even from textured grout lines and crevices. I use mine so often I sometimes don’t even put it away! It picked up crumbs, dirt, and dog debris in seconds and makes cleaning up after our furry friend a breeze. In addition, the Swiffer Sweeper is a super versatile 2-in-1 hard surface sweeping and mopping tool. The dry cloth has deep ridges and grooves that conform to the surface of your floor to trap and lock dirt, dust, and hair, while the wet cloth dissolves dirt and grime and traps it away giving you an amazing clean.

After you are done sweeping, pull out that Swiffer WetJet to get rid of the final dirt. This all-in-one system cleans floors thoroughly using cleaning solutions specially formulated to break up and dissolve tough messes and is safe for pets. These Swiffer tools make my life SO much easier when it comes to cleaning and safes me a ton of time.

If you have Carpet- Invest in a good quality vacuum

Unless your home is totally hard wood or tile, you need to invest in a good pet appropriate vacuum cleaner to pick up pesky hairs and help banish odors. Make sure it has extra strong suction, a quality filter and a good brush action to pull hair out rather than glide over the surface. If you’ve got yourself a shedder, you may need to vacuum daily to keep on top of things. Be sure to regularly clean out the filter too as a hair and dirt clogged filter will spread the smell of pet hair wherever you vacuum.

Making Dusting a daily routine

Dusting is a necessary home evil as it is, but with pets- it’s even more important. Dogs bring in more dirt and dust than you can imagine, especially in the warm months when everything is in bloom. Help tackle this problem with my second favorite cleaning tool, my Swiffer Duster! This duster works so quickly to clean all of your dog hair and dust on hard surfaces, you’ll be amazed. With Dust Lock Adhesive and 50% more fibers than regular dusters, this amazing all-around design cleans deep into grooves to trap and lock up to 3X more dust than a feather duster. Best of all, you can just throw all of that dirt away! Making dusting apart of your cleaning routine with pets is essential to having a clean house. If you have kids, this can be a great job for them to help with!!

Keep Food Messes At Bay

One spot that is almost always a mess in a pet lover’s home is around their food bowls. Between bits of food and spilt water, it can really get dirty- very quickly. Try placing a rimmed tray under the food dishes to help catch some of the mess and this also allows for easy clean-up. In addition, place an older small throw rug under this mat to help make additional messes contained- be sure to pick one that can be thrown in the wash too!

Keep Dog’s nails trimmed and tidy

By making sure you are keeping your canine’s nails trimmed is a great preventative measure for limiting nail damage on furniture or hard wood floors. Shorter nails also track in less dirt and grass from the outside, thus helping to keep your home cleaner inside!

Get your pet a nice pet bed

If your pet has a nice bed for them, they are less likely to want to sleep on the sofa or human beds. The less your dogs jump up on the furniture, the less dog hair and dirt can end up on them. Even if your dog sleeps on their bed half the time, then that’s half the potential fur on them! My dog loves to sleep on the couch, but she does have a nice bed in our room for the night- it’s nice to be able to have the option to fully wash that when needed.

Deal with pet odors simply

The truth is, no matter how much you clean, if you have pets you can still have that pet odor linger in your house and on your furniture. One simple way to help combat this to use the powerful Febreze Pet Odor Eliminator line of products! Febreze AIR Heavy Duty Pet Odor Eliminator is great for general odors. With pet odor defense up to 2X more odor eliminating power, the Air Heavy Duty Pet Odor Eliminator can be used throughout the entire house to clean away odors from everyday pet smells. Febreze Fabric Pet Odor Eliminator is absolutely “Paw-fect” for hard-to-wash fabrics such as clothing, upholstery, carpets and blankets. A little spritz can go a long way – the odor removal works once slightly damp. I use this on my couch all.the.time.

Best of all, some Swiffer Dusters Heavy Duty Pet Refills or Sweeper Dry and Wet Pet Refills now come with Febreze Odor Defense all-in-one! These products will help you to Trap + Lock the dirt and make your home smell better in one cleaning session. Pick up your favorite Swiffer and Febreze cleaning products now available at Petco!

Loyal, cuddly, loveable…it’s no surprise that pets are considered man’s best friend. Sometimes the seemingly never-ending messes and odors can take the joy of pet ownership and can even prevent potential owners from adopting a fur-ever friend. No matter how big or small the pet-related mess, Swiffer + Febreze are a pet owner’s best friend, taking care of the biggest Pet Peeves in fur-baby ownership (mess + odor) so you Don’t Sweat Your Pet.