I often joke that you can have nice things, or you can have dogs… but you can’t have both. I’m not entirely changing my stance on that matter… but we have found a happy medium. Here’s how we keep our pups happy, and our home clean…

Obligatory Wall-o-Text Disclaimer: The Stair Barrier product featured in this post was provided to us for review purposes. Rest assured that my love cannot be bought, and all opinions (and gleeful declarations of adoration) are genuine and my own. This post also contains affiliate links, which you can read more about here!

If you’ve stumbled upon our recent post on how to build DIY dog beds, then you probably already have a pretty good idea of who runs the show at the Accidental Suburbanites household: a pair of princess pooches named Atlas and Scout.

These goofy girls are our world (word of advice: avoid mentioning them in conversation at all costs, unless you want to spend the next 45 minutes listening to obnoxious dog-mom stories). These two have us wrapped around their little (white mitten) paws, and our house wouldn’t really feel like a home without them.

Unfortunately, all the puppy snuggles and pampering in the world doesn’t change the fact that at the end of the day, they’re still dogs. Dirt-rolling, butt-licking, bug-eating dogs.

And you know what reaaaalllyyyyy doesn’t jive with a pair of 50+ lb dogs with a proclivity for recreational mud wrestling and digging up tree roots?

Answer: literally our entire house.

Decorating our home around two outdoor-loving dogs has been difficult and occasionally fraught with heartache (flashback to the day Scout found the planter tray of tender little seedlings I had been growing and decided to turn them into a lunchtime salad…), BUT we’ve figured out a lot along the way.

Most importantly, we’ve learned that where there’s a will, there’s a way… (which is basically a poetic way of saying “you can have white pillows, but you’re gonna have to stay on top of that shit…”)

Here’s how we’re making it work…

1. Prevent Messes BEFORE They Happen

Living with Dogs 101: it’s a lot easier to deal with dirty paws before they find their way into your house (and on your carpet, bed sheets, pillows, sofa, etc.)

When we first moved in, we were practitioners of the ‘ol dirty towel on the doorknob method of paw cleaning. Rookie move. When winter came, I realized we needed to step up our paw patrol game. So, I put together a little basket full of washcloths that we now keep near the door. Muddy paws get a clean washcloth every time, and we never again have to grapple with the moment of sheer panic when we realize (while simultaneously trying to restrain a snow-encrusted dog on a 24″ wide floor mat) that the designated paw towel has gone missing.

Random basket of washcloths by the door not quite your speed? Try the paw plunger.

Another way I nip chaos in the bud? Instead of trying to keep the pups off the couch (an impossible task), I just use a cheap fleece blanket to protect my fabric cushions. Fleece is great because it’s easy to clean, and it’s like a magnet for dog hair… meaning when the time comes to strip off the blanket and have a clean couch again, all the mess and fur will strip away with the blanket!

2. Contain the Crazy

The single most effective method for keeping our luscious upstairs carpet clean, is preventing the dogs from hanging out upstairs in the first place. Instead of giving the pups free reign of the house during daytime hours, we contain their craziness to the downstairs.

At first we would block our staircase with whatever obstructive objects we had on hand (anything from flattened out boxes, to stacked dining room chairs, to rickety baby gates…) While our unconventional barrier methods were certainly effective for keeping the pups in their place, our entryway decor was definitely suffering.

Then Stair Barrier came along to answer our prayers. They’re changing the gate game with these super stylish (and super sturdy) reinforced fabric gates that clip onto banisters (or attach to a wall) to keep fur babies (or human babies) at bay.

The fellow dog-lovers over at Stair Barrier very graciously hooked us up with one of their gorgeous grey gates, and we’re smitten! Besides looking fab in our foyer, I love how easy it is to open and close the gate when I need to run upstairs (something I never was able to master with adjustable baby gates…)

You can shop their full line-up here, and as a bonus Stair Barrier is spreadin’ the love and offering our readers 15% off with promo code: ASBlog

3. Keep Cleaning Convenient

Prevention is key, but some catastrophes can’t be averted. (The above photo pretty accurately depicts the mean mug Scout gave me when I suggested that our household adapt a “no dogs on the couch” policy.) Try as we might, it’s not really possible to get every flake of dirt off of the pups before they sprawl out on the sofa or snuggle up on our white bed sheets.

When prevention isn’t possible (or successful), shift your focus to managing the mess.

Can you spot the muddy paw prints that managed to find their way upstairs? I’m convinced that carpet and dogs are fundamentally incompatible. But since we have (and love) both, we’ve had to figure out a way to make it work…

…and that’s exactly how we went through THREE carpet cleaners in three years before finally finding a machine that could keep up with our high-maintenance household.

Behold: the Miracle Worker.

We use our trusty Hoover carpet cleaner more than I’d like to admit, and this guy has encountered so much black fur and dog secretions / bodily fluids that he’s basically an honorary third pet at this point.

For particularly nasty messes, I might pre-treat the carpet by hand with Resolve and pat dry first. Otherwise, I’ll blot up any mess or excess moisture, then let the Hoover do the dirty work (the pet detergent works wonders).

Besides keeping our carpets clean and stain-free, this particular carpet cleaner has an awesome set of attachments that can be used to scrub the sin (and dog stains) out of upholstery (ya know, like the light grey sectional our dogs have claimed as their own.)

Investing in a quality carpet cleaner is essential if you want to give your carpet and upholstery a fighting chance against your family pets. This beast is hands-down the best carpet cleaner we’ve owned (and you know we’ve owned a few…).

Another lesson we learned the hard way: dark hardwood floors are a lifestyle. They’re beautiful, they’re elegant, they’re classic… but they’re also a lot of freakin’ work.

Dark hardwood floors don’t keep secrets.. especially when those secrets involve dirt, dust, or dog hair (even dirt, dust, and dog hair that is so close in color to your brown hardwood floor, that theoretically it should be invisible…) Forget muddy paws… even wet paws leave their mark on these floors!

To keep them looking clean, we’ve had to accept that mopping is a much more frequent chore than it was in our linoleum-floored apartment. And unfortunately, there’s no cleaning hack or cheat code to change that. So how do we deal with the added burden of more chores? By making them as convenient as humanly possible (that way, you’re actually more inclined to do them).

Ditch the traditional mop and bucket show and pick up a Swiffer Wet Jet. This reduces the time and effort of mopping by approximately 99% (that’s not scientific data, so don’t quote me on that). The Swiffer is also a very pleasant shade of purple, which never fails to resonate with my aesthetic inclinations every time I spritz and swoosh around my kitchen. To really increase the probability of using our Swiffer, I’ll keep it tucked nearby for easy access (like stowed behind my couch, or just inside the pantry).

4. Feed Their Appetite for Destruction

Dogs (especially high-energy breeds) need a job, and if you fail to give them one, well… they’ll find work themselves. In lieu of herding livestock, for example, our border collie mix Scout will put herself to work chewing the top off of an Ikea nightstand (thanks for that, Scout).

Instead of giving your dog the opportunity to seek out tasks that they can occupy themselves with, give them work: find toys that keep them busy and entertained, and keep them nearby. We keep a basket in their “bedroom” so if (when) Atlas gets a second wind in the middle of the night, she has plenty of options on hand (options that are infinitely better than nibbling the sequins off of a pair of ballet flats…)

Keep wayward pups distracted with toys designed to challenge them. The most common (and durable) puzzle toy for pups is the Kong, but there are plenty of other options (like this, or this) that will keep your pup occupied while they try to free the treat trapped inside.

Our girls love stuffed toys.. particularly, they love removing the stuffing from their stuffed toys. For a lot of pups, destruction is the name of the game. You can prolong that game by picking tough, chew-resistant toys. (Let’s be real, there’s no such thing as “indestructible.” Just “harder to destruct.”)

These stuffed animals are among the best, made with tougher materials and multiple squeakers. For pups that like the softness of clothing or shoes, see if this threaded dog toy will satisfy their cravings.

We discovered these awesome rubber balls while living in our apartment, and they were great for indoors or outdoors. These dog bowls arrange kibble in a puzzle… forcing your pup to slow their roll by turning dinner time into a challenging game.

5. Believe in Miracles (ya know, like the song by the Ramones…)

The biggest challenge of all in our pup-inhabited home is without a doubt the struggle to keep white things white. Nothing illustrates this better than the cream colored chenille throw pillows we picked for the couch in our family room. My instincts told me we were playing a losing game… but my eyes told me “yes, gorgeous, do it, yes.”

My instincts weren’t wrong. I debated heavily on whether or not I should show you what this pillow looked like before I threw it in the wash, but ultimately I had too much pride to admit how far gone this guy had gotten (suffice it to say the color looked a lot less “cream,” and a lot more “Tuscan Sunset“).

Luckily we discovered the restorative powers of OxiClean (or as I like to call it, Miracle in a Bottle). This stuff works wonders on all of our ill-advised white purchases (bed sheets, pillows, blankets…). The picture you see above was taken after our newly rust-colored pillow took a spin in the washing machine with White Revive, and I swear this pillow looks more pristine than it was the day we bought it.

Now that I’ve shared some of OUR best tricks for keeping a clean house amidst the chaos of two pups, I’d love to hear YOURS! Best methods, favorite products, go-to cleaning gadgets… I want to hear it all! Share in the comments below! 🙂