6 Tips for Keeping Your Living Room Clean, but Dog-Friendly

A common challenge that dog owners face is how to reconcile having a clean and orderly home with keeping a pet. Dogs require a lot of upkeep when it comes to eating and potty training, and even dogs with thin coats can shed hair quite often. One place that you can usually expect a mess of some kind if you live with a dog is your living room. 

However, you don’t have to resign yourself to having a disorderly home just because you’re a dog parent. There are several things you can do to improve the cleanliness and orderliness of the space without necessarily cordoning it off to your dog. Here are some tips from PrideBites to help keep your home not only clean, but dog-friendly as well: 

1) Consider Using Indoor-Outdoor Rugs in Your Home

A dog going in and out of your home can easily track in mud, dirt, water, and other small debris. This makes it harder to keep everything clean, especially if it isn’t long until they jump on your furniture or laze around on the floor right after coming from outdoors. To help with this, make rugs a staple all over your home. Indoor-outdoor rugs can be particularly ideal for this purpose.

An indoor-outdoor rug will be much easier to clean because its material is resistant to moisture compared to indoor-only rugs that can soak in liquid. Putting one in front of your door will help catch mud or water that your dog got from outdoors, preventing them from bringing the worst of it inside your home. Then later on, a quick wipe from a damp rag should be enough to clean the rug. You may also place one under your dog food bowls to make cleaning up food crumbs or water splashes much easier.

2) Use Blankets or Sheets to Cover Up Furniture

If your dog loves climbing up your couch, chances are you’ll always end up finding hair all over it. To minimize the hassle of cleaning it all up, so why not try keeping some personalized dog blankets or other similar pet merchandise products on hand to throw over the couch before your dog clambers onto it? This layer can catch any shed hair and can even protect your couch from some of the wear and tear your dog’s constant lounging on it may cause.

When it’s time to clean up, you can simply take the cover off and throw it into the wash instead of having to check every nook and cranny of the couch for stray hairs. Choose cotton sheets, a cotton-acrylic blend, or other dog-friendly materials for this to make sure your dog is comfortable lying down on it as well.

3) Always Have a Stain Remover Spray Nearby

Emergencies can happen anytime, even with dogs who are potty trained. For such cases, always keep a stain remover spray along with wet wipes or rags handy so that you can quickly clean up the mess. This can also come in handy in cases of spilled food, mud, and other kinds of dirt. A quick spray and wipe on your leather couch, for example, can quickly get rid of the stain before it solidifies. It even has the added benefit of keeping your home smelling fresh.

Although you don’t exactly have to get store-bought stain removers for this purpose. Mixing water, vinegar, and some dish soap can already work wonders. Set it somewhere that your dog can’t reach as well, though close enough to get whenever you have to do a quick cleanup.

4) Have a Storage Box for Easy Toy Cleanup

Playing with your dog indoors can be a fun bonding activity while also letting them get some exercise without always needing to leave your home. When they get overenthusiastic, however, it’s easy to get toys scattered all over the place. Having a dog toy box nearby can be a lifesaver when it comes to cleaning the place up, as you can just throw all their toys in there and still keep your living room organized. 

5) Regularly Groom Your Dog

Grooming not only maintains good hygiene for your dog, but also helps them shed less in areas like your living room. As such, don’t forget to give your dog a bath as often as needed and to brush their coat regularly to get rid of loose hair. Likewise, trim their nails to lessen scratches on your floor and furniture as they play around your home. You can either do this on your own or take your dog to a pet grooming service.

6) Get a Quality Vacuum

You may already have your own vacuum at home, but consider investing in one that has extra strong suction and a good brush to thoroughly pick up dog hair and debris. Be sure to clean up your vacuum filter regularly as well so the smell of the clumped pet hair in it won’t spread as you use your vacuum in other parts of the house.