I need some help. When we moved into our house 1 1/2 years ago, I got carpet that is nearly white for our downstairs. Whenever our dog comes in after it's been raining, he tracks mud all over the carpet. It vaccuums up, but it is a pain in the butt. We wipe his feet with a towel at the door. DH says the only thing we can do is build a pation near the back door so he doesn't have mud to run through. We spent lots of $$ on grass, but it won't stay. Does anyone have any ideas on what I can buy/do to keep him from tracking in mud???
Thanks!

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I have a dog mat on the inside and the outside of the door for double the protection. I also get the carpet steam cleaned using one of those rental machines a few times a year.

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This is probably a lot of work (and I have done this), but you could bring a pan of warm water to the door for the dog to step in and you can wash his feet completely before he's allowed on the carpet. Building a patio is good, but costly, and also he will still get dirt/grass all over his feet when he runs around on the grass and it won't all come off before he comes into the house. Your dog looks much bigger than mine, but what we do is pick them up and carry them to the place we have them sitting when they're in the house. We don't let them run around the house.

Kelly~ Do you have stain resistant carpet? If not, scotch guard it and get it stain resistant. All of the mud or messes will be so much easier to keep clean after that. Make sure your carpet is completely clean and dry before treating it first though. Also, you can lay down a runner in the main walk area.

P.S. We also have a Bissell carpet cleaner.

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We are experiencing this problem at the moment.We've just had new carpets put down so we don't want our german shepherd walking mud in.We are going to get a large dog pen to put inside by the back door that we can put him in until he is dried off.
At the moment he's bed is by the door,he's supposed to stay on it until he's dry but if we turn our back on him he'll sneak off it and go walkabout
When he gets really wet and muddy we have to get the soapy water out to clean he's paws and under carriage.
Hope that this helps you.We do love our furbabies but sometimes they can be a real pain in the a£$*

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We have this exact same problem with our dog. We have a patio slab right outside the door, but it doesn't help much if any. And we have a large mat just inside the door for him to step on & that doesn't help either. What works for us is what you are doing which is wiping off his paws @the door-and as you know that is a huge pain in the butt! But it works
If only they made doggie shoes

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Kelly- Good luck. I agree with the other girls.. scotch guard works great. We have hardwood floors so we don't have to deal with that but I bet it's a big ole pain.

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Kelly - My carpet used to be a cream color. Bailey, Tehva and DH have all done a number on it. I have a bissel spot scrubber that works great and like Tracy, I get the rental steam cleaner a couple times a year. Putting a runner in front of the door has helped, though.

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Thanks for all your advice.
I think getting a runner for the first part that he always gets dirty will be a good idea. I am planning to use the steam cleaner tomorrow, so I guess I better go look for a runner before I let him back in.

Wendy - He weighs almost 100lbs, so I can't pick him up. If he's really muddy, DH carries him to the bathtub. He does't know how to sit still.

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Kelly - Yeah, he looks like a big one! I just didn't realize how big. Your Dh must be pretty strong to be able to carry him like that. My dogs are only like 15-20 pounds each. They think they're 100 pound dogs, though .

Kelly, we used a great (cheaper) alternative to a patio in a 10 foot x 10 foot area around our backyard gate because our dogs made a muddy spot from standing there so much and would track it in. We bought the 1 foot x 1 foot brick-like stepping stones from lowe's for about $1.50 each and a bag of sand. We first leveled the area out with a rake, then spread some sand, then laid the stones like a patio, we then "grouted" it with the rest of the sand and swept it off. It looks great and is a terracota (spell?) color. This eliminates pretty much all of the mud, because they stand there before they come in, drying their feet off. Hope you find a way to keep your carpet clean too!

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we used to do the pot of water to clean them off but my dogs got bigger (a black lab and a yellow lab) so it got harder, we went to walmart and bought a carpet cleaner for like 150. we do that once a month and just wipe them off before they come in with a towel. its a pain though. i'll tell you thats the one thing good about snow. once it snows and the ground freezes they dont get muddy

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Kelly, I dont know if this is an option but we let the dog into the garage before she can come in the house if she gets really muddy. We have a side door to the garage so it is really easy

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Yeah I either do a pan of water at the door or I have kept baby wipes by the door too it washes the feet of nicely. Goodluck I know how you feel. I have 2 weimeraners.
Ang