Unintentional lakeside living
- Laura Moore: Housebroken
- June 22, 2019
- 1055
My Taller Half and I have dreamed for years about buying a house beside a lake. We’d add a deck, a dock and a sandy beach. Heaven!
Well, our current house is not on a lake, but it is on water, lots of water. With the almost constant rain we have had, we are now surrounded by standing water with no place to go, so it just sits there and where possible makes mud.
Our dogs think it is neat; they get to splash around getting wet and muddy every time they have to go outside. Then they come back into the house and act put-out when we try to wipe off the mud clinging to their feet and coats. Of course we can’t get all the mud off of them, so our rugs are beginning to take on a brownish hue.
Needless to say, we and our house are not happy with all the mud. But what can we do? My Taller Half has towels strewn over all the rugs and piled up at the front door. It helps, but mud is insidious and soon finds its way onto our grey rugs and floors. We have spent a fortune on rug and floor cleaners to no avail; it is a losing battle.
We have friends who restrict their pets to the rear door, which opens off the mud room. Their pets have been trained to stay quietly in that room until our friends determine all traces of mud have disappeared. What wonderful training! And their house is immaculate.
Our house and my Taller Half have spoiled our dogs rotten. They use the front door and only have their paws wiped when they come inside. Should we try to restrict their movements until their paws are dry, they will pitch a hissy fit, which upsets my Taller Half and our house. Needless to say, though our dog training is unsuccessful and our floors and rugs look awful, our dogs, our house and my Taller Half are happy.