Dog Paw Prints and Other Muddy Tales

By Oscar H. Will Iii and Editor
Published on April 30, 2008
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Cute dog leaving muddy paw prints on carpet

Modern cleaning technology gets the dirt out from all those muddy dog paw prints.

Last winter’s weather was wacky enough that we had at least a half-dozen freeze-snow-thaw cycles and mud seasons to go with them. I don’t mind dealing with the sticky gumbo once or twice in a fairly narrow time frame, but with anywhere from three to five dogs in the household, it was quite a chore to clean their dirty feet each time they wanted inside.

Our first approach was an attempt to preempt the mess in most of the house. We put wood chips down on favorite dog trails leading to the back door. We layered the mudroom floor with old towels and newspaper, converting the space into a passive decontamination chamber. We thought that if our canine companions spent 10 or 15 minutes there on the way inside, the temporary flooring would absorb the worst of the mess. Some days it worked well, other days not so well. Most days, I found a few more inches of lacing missing from the assorted footwear in the mudroom boot rack.

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