How on earth does one keep their dog clean in this mushy muddy weather?

I'm really struggling with it because I know that we should wash our dogs less so they keep their essential oils so to speak - but Fern is smelling disgusting - unfortunately I've had to bath him twice this week and that's just too much - grooming is not really helping even with the tea tree oil grooming spray.

Apart from wrapping him up in cling foil I'm at a loss - does it mean that I shouldn't take him to the park over the winter period and just keep his exercise on concrete?

EXHIBIT A



What do you all do over this period?

Thanks for your help.

Have a very dirty house i'm afraid!

With Teagan having a short coat, I can wait until the mud is dry, and then bruish it all out of her!

Then I freshen up with baby wipes!
Doing this a lot at the moment, as she can't have a bath/shower, but she smells because of all the anasthetics etc!

i use a moderatley damp towel on my 2, Florrie being thick and long coated she gets especially dirty, plus the fact she has an obbsession with anything watery puddles etc.
This usually works, then to just get a fresher smell i use a baby wipe or 2

We have the towel fight when we get home but if you can take them through long wet grass on the way home it tends to get a lot off. Unfortunately, it's unavoidable which is why I had muddy pawprints on my duvet yesterday

Like Hevvur mine have short coats, after a good romp apround in the muddy fields i walk them back through the streets(takes about 15mins). By the time we're home there dry and i just give them a brush and there clean
My sisters dog is a nightmare for getting muddy clumps matted in her hair

Can you imagine if he was white then Ingrid???!! I used to stop going up the top on my bike when it had been raining coz of all the mud, well it's grey chalky clay, not black mud, as Georgie would get plastered in it underneath and his legs, but I've now hit on a routine which works for me. Dave has fitted me a good hose on the patio area round the back where we pull up with the car. I have a lead attached to the patio table, so I get Georgie out first, I jet wash him underneath to get the worst off and his legs, then I shampoo him and rinse him. Give him a good towel rub and he's dry within a couple of hours. I never wet his back though as this is where the real thick coat is and it would take absolutely ages to dry and it's not good for them to have their backs washed too often either. Why don't you try just hosing him on his underneath bits and legs where he will obviously be plastered in mud? Cassie then gets the same treatment, but her coat is much finer and longer and dries quicker, but Fern is shortcoated so it'll be a piece of cake! There is no avoiding it I'm afraid at this time of the year is there? Even if I road walk in the wet he seems to get in a worse mess underneath than on our bike ride somehow!

If it's not a cold day then I will hose both dogs off in the back garden then only let them in the kitchen (we have a doggy door) with the baby gate closed so they cant get to the rest of the house. It's a cold day and they are muddy from being on the forest I always stop off at a stream on the way home and let them swim in that so I just have a wet but mud free dog .

I have towelling coats so that goes on both of them after they have been for a swim on a cold day so by the time we get home they are dry and the coat stays on for about another 10 mins after we get home but they stay in the kitchen, only when they are dry and the paws are dry are they allowed in the rest of the house. But thankfully dirt and mud just comes off them when they are dry and whilst the kitchen floor gets muddy, I'd rather mop that every time it's dirty to having to clean my carpets !

its a nightmare isnt it!

with Buster if he goes in the garden i have a towel lying by thack door and when he's ready to come in i wipe his feet, he he!

when i take him out i have a towel waiting at the front door and wipe his feet and any mud off when we get in.

i agree babywipes r very good 2!

Oh yes - having a small white dog I can understand how you are all feeling. Benji was absolutely thick with mud and dirt when I took him down to school so he had to have a bath the other night as soon as we got back from school. When I had Sabre though I used to just wait until the mud dried and then brushed it off and he used to look really clean again so he was only bathed about twice a year when we used to send him to the groomers for a bath and brush up.

It is impossible to keep them clean especially if they are white mine just get towelled down after a walk. If they are still dirty then it is into the bath