You took your beloved pup out for a fantastic walk, but part of that walk involved your dog running through a mud puddle—and you’ve just cleaned your floors! This is just one of many scenarios that are part of being a dog owner. Still, what are the best ways to keep your floors spotless?

Here, we go over seven tips and tricks that can help you keep your floors clean. It’s not possible to keep your place spic and span at all times if you own pets, but we hope that this will make things a bit easier for you.

The 7 Tips on How to Keep Floors Clean With Dogs

1. Keep on Top of Grooming

The less hair flying off your dog, the less hair on your floor and everything else. Whether your dog is long-haired or short-haired, brushing your dog every day is an effective way to reduce shedding. Also, consider using a de-shedder.

Try to brush your dog outside to reduce the fur flying around during the grooming session. If this isn’t possible, use a porch or set up a small room for grooming purposes.

While most dogs should not be bathed too frequently (usually no more than once a month, depending on the breed), you can use plain water or things like dog wipes or waterless shampoo.

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2. Clean Up Your Dog Before Entering Your Home

If you have a mudroom, you’re probably already using it to literally clean the mud from your dog. If you have a laundry room, this is a good place to set up a little cleaning station, but otherwise, you can do a few things to set up your entranceway.

Make a point of keeping towels, a water spray bottle, and wipes there, so they’re easily accessible, along with treats.

Invest in a good sturdy doormat, and stand on it when starting the cleaning process. Use an old towel or dog wipes and spray bottles with water to get the worst of the mud and dirt off your dog’s paws and fur.

While your dog is wet, keep them in a room with floors that are easy to clean until your pup is dry enough to enter your home.

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3. Invest in a Pet Vacuum Cleaner

Make a point of purchasing a vacuum cleaner that is designed for pet owners. It should have strong suction for clearing up dog hair. Some models also have steam cleaning or mopping, which can help sanitize and reduce odors and stains. Some pet vacuums can also be used on furniture.

You should also make a point of doing a quick clean every day, so you don’t get a buildup of dog hair and dander. Just sweeping with an electrostatic broom should be quick and easy, and then do a more thorough vacuuming once a week—voilà, clean floors!

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4. Clean Accidents With an Enzymatic Cleaner

You should also invest in a good cleaner designed to reduce pet stains and odors. A good enzymatic cleaner is designed for all kinds of messes, such as poop, vomit, and urine.

These cleaners work well, usually on hard floors and carpets. You’ll first want to do a spot test on a hidden part of your carpet because there’s the possibility of discoloration.

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5. Use Indoor-Outdoor Rugs

You can find attractive indoor-outdoor rugs that you can use inside. You can place them in front of all doors to act as doormats or any other surface where your dog tends to hang out: in front of the sofa, under the dining room table, etc.

The benefit of these rugs is that messes will not soak in and can be quickly wiped up with a damp rag. You can also look into carpeting your space with carpet tiles. If there’s a stain that is too difficult to remove, you can replace one tile instead of the entire carpet.

• Related Read: How to Remove Dog Poop Stains and Smells Out of Carpet

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6. Have a Special Space for Your Dog

Set up a room or corner that’s specifically for your dog. Find a dog bed that isn’t too much of a hair magnet (in other words, it can be easily cleaned) but is super comfortable so your dog will gravitate toward it.

If your dog spends most of their time in this space, the majority of the dirt and hair will remain there. Just be sure to clean the dog bed about once a week.

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7. Clean the Food and Water Bowls

Put a waterproof mat under your pup’s food and water bowls. We know how messy dogs can be when eating and drinking! Clean their bowls every day, and wipe up any messes after they’ve happened.

About once a week, clean up the area around the food and water bowls, such as the walls, floor, and baseboards.

Conclusion

Most dogs are messy by nature. It is a never-ending battle to clean up after other people, let alone a slobbery dog. Of course, the bigger the dog, the bigger the mess. If you have it in your budget, another option is to hire a cleaner to clean your home from top to bottom every week. Then all you have to do is spot cleaning the rest of the time.

Basically, you can’t own a pet and expect to have immaculate floors, let alone a spotless home, most of the time. But with these tips and your own due diligence, you can at least stay on top of it. Isn’t having your amazing dog in your life worth a little mess, anyway?

• See also: 8 Best Flooring for Dogs & How to Choose

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Featured Image Credit: mamillaria, Shutterstock