This post is sponsored by Swiffer. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.
Hello! I’m so excited to announce that I am a new aunty! He’s an 8 week old Golden Retriever pup and is as sweet as can be! Meet my cute little nephew, Jackson…
Pet Adoption
Welcoming a new little puppy into your home is always an exciting time but they definitely involve a lot of work and commitment too. This holiday season, Swiffer is partnering with Bark Box to make the barriers of adoption {like clean up!} less of a challenge by providing 10,000 welcome home kits to shelters across the United States. There are millions of pets in need of finding their fur-ever home, so if you are thinking of adopting a pet this Christmas, don’t let concerns over the mess that they can create prevent you from welcoming a new fur baby into your family!
The campaign timing couldn’t have been better for me, and Matthew and I were able to deliver one of those famous green Swiffer boxes along with a box full of goodies from Bark Box to Jackson and his parents {my brother Brian and his wife Caroline}.
Jackson wasted no time checking out the goodies…
How to Keep Your Home Clean with Pets
Although your cleaning challenges may vary depending on the breed {and personality!} of your dog, all pet owners still deal with hair, mud, slober, and paw prints to a certain extent. With a few simple preventative measures and some easy clean up tricks you can still have a clean home and enjoy your pet at the same time! Here are my top tips on how to keep your house clean with dogs…
Groom your pet regularly.
Proper grooming can go a long way in reducing shedding. Try brushing your dog at least a few times per week – not only does it help to get rid of all of that fur, but most dogs love to be brushed and it can be some great bonding time. If weather permits, it is best to brush your dog outside to limit the furry mess and to airborne skin particles that can attribute to allergies. Start brushing those puppies early so they get used to being brushed and associate it with pleasant activity.
Stock up on basic cleaning supplies and keep them handy.
If you have hardwood floors, the Swiffer Sweepers {or Swiffer Sweep and Vac} are pretty much a lifesaver when it comes to getting rid of all of that hair. The swiffer cloths attract, and most importantly trap, all of that dust, dirt, and hair, and work much more efficiently on hard floor surfaces than a typical vacuum as they don’t blow the hair around. Keep your Swiffer handy in the areas that you need to use it the most so it is easy to pull out for those quick tidy ups. Just 5 minutes per day in those high traffic areas can really make a big difference! Apparently they also work great for puppy rides too. 🙂
Stop dirt and mud at the door.
Keep a towel and a shallow container of room temperature water by the door to wipe down any muddy paws before your dog comes into the house. Place mats at the inside and outside of doors and train your dog to wait on the mat {which you can cover with a towel if really muddy!} by the door to have their paws wiped down after going for walks. For those bits of mud that you miss, you can use the Swiffer Wet Jet or simply add some wet mopping cloths to your Swiffer Sweeper to quickly get those muddy prints up before it is spread around the house.
Give your pet sufficient exercise.
Exercising your dog is great for his health {and yours too!} and is a great way to spend quality time together. A tired dog will be much less likely to get into mischief than a dog that is bored and needing some stimulation. Remember that a dog can’t gnaw on your table leg or chew up your carpet if he is asleep! Keep chew toys {our dog loves his squeeky toys!} around and easily accessible to your dog to play with while you are not home.
Don’t forget about the dusting.
When we think about pet messes, we usually think about the messes on the floor, but our furry pets also increase the amount of dust in our homes as well. Dusting is one of my least favorite cleaning tasks so I usually just dust on an “as needed” basis rather than doing a big clean at one time. The Swiffer 360 dusters work great to pull out for those quick touch ups and they really go a long way to trapping all that dust and other fine particles. Even when they look really dirty, they still keep on trucking, so don’t throw them out until you notice that they are no longer picking up any more dust. Brian had fun learning how to fluff it up…
…and Jackson was quite happy that he was able to have his own!
Bathe your dog regularly.
How frequently you should bathe your dog will vary depending on a variety of different conditions including what activities your dog has been up to, how smelly they get, and if you have any family members with pet allergies. Generally speaking, you should really only bathe your dog if he needs it – washing them too often can strip their natural oils in their skin and lead to increased dryness. We usually only bathe our dog about once per month unless he has found a particularly good mud puddle to lie in. Castille soap in a peppermint or lavender scent has worked great for us as a pet shampoo and may even be helpful in the prevention of fleas.
Relax.
While dogs can definitely be messy at times, the joys and benefits that you and your family will experience from adopting a pet will far surpass the negatives. Dogs are wonderful for teaching your kids compassion and responsibility and they will likely become one of your child’s most loyal buddies throughout the years. With the above tips and some help from Swiffer, you will be able to tackle those messes quickly and easily and still have time left over for a good walk or a fun game of fetch. #ShedHappens, but we’ve got you covered!
We are all looking forward to seeing this little one grow and join in the family.
For more Swiffer tricks and tips, check out this post HERE. And visit Swiffer.com to get some great tips for welcoming home your new dog!
Oh Jackson is precious! I have a 4 year old golden retriever and I know how messy a house can get with them! I actually do use a Swiffer in between vacuumings to keep up with all those tumbleweeds of fur around my house. Have fun with your new nephew and remember to take tons of pictures!
Shelley
I like that “relax” made it to your list! Pets shed, they make a mess (mine little man likes to eat the leaves or helicopter pod things from trees that somehow end up in the house) and, well, they’re animals and have no concept of clean or not clean! And no matter what you do, there will be pet hair. It’s just a way of life – a lovable one, though!
I also would add about keeping a towel handy for wet dog (my little guy is short and walks quickly, so he ends up quite wet) is awesome because you can give them a rub down to dry them off and it’s fun attention for the dog, and a way to get warmed back up after being out in the cold! Win/Win! 🙂
Love that you did this post! As the mother of a 5 month-old Australian Shepherd puppy I can totally relate and appreciate this info! Great blog too!
Those are such beautiful dogs! Enjoy!
I use many of the Swiffer products to keep things tidy around the house with our dogs. However, I don’t recommend using the Wet Jet on the floors since the product can be toxic for pets who lick floors. My friend’s dog became ill and when the vet questioned her, she was asked if she used Wet Jet as a floor cleaner. She was told to stop and only use approved pet cleaners for her floors.
I had heard that too and asked Proctor and Gamble about that directly. According to them, there is no evidence of toxicity to animals and the pads actually absorb most of the product back up so there is very little residue on the floor. Of course, you always need to do what you are comfortable with and reducing the amount of chemicals used in your home is never a bad thing. Since I use ours for quick cleanups, it is primarily just used in our hallways and entry ways.
That’s one adorable puppy 🙂
I love the tips for cleaning with pets. I own a cleaning service and 98% of our customers have dogs or cats and most are shedding breeds. I would LOVE if they read your tips too 😉
Just wanted to make you aware that the wet jet has antifreeze in it. Not so sure if they changed their ingredients back when that was discovered when it was either a dog or a child that got sick from it. It’s been so long ago but that has always stuck out in mind since. Just helping a pet parent keep their pet babies safe.
Hi Haley! Thanks for your concern. I had heard this rumor before too but it is totally false and there is NO anti-freeze or any compounds that are similar to anti-freeze inthe Swiffer wet-jet. I would never use this in my home {and definitely not promote it!} if I believed it to be unsafe. I asked P&G about this directly and was told that there are absolutely no ingredients that have been shown to be harmful to pets (or humans!). The product is mostly water (well over 90%) with a small percentage of propylene glycol n-propyl {which is a mineral oil that is used in food} and isopropyl alcohol. The anti-freeze rumor probably started as an industrial version of propyene glycol is added to anti-freeze to replace ethlyne glycol {to make it safer in case animals accidentally ingested it}. I am not an expert in this area by any means but I did do some research and it is my belief that it is safe. I use a very limited amount of chemicals in my home and find that this is so helpful for quick clean-ups. When used with the Swiffer pads almost all of the product is absorbed back into the pad as well. There is also more info about this on Snopes.com. Hope that helps!
Jenn,
Thank you for doing actual fact based research and posting that. I don’t understand the recent trend of online scaremongering. We all should be aware of ingredients in products we use. If we do have questions or concerns looking to scientific explanations and answers serves all better than internet based rumors and hearsay.
I haven’t looked into the specifics of this particular claim but I really wish people making them would take the time to understand molecules and compounds can be used in many capacities. Just because something can also be found in something like antifreeze does not preclude it from being used innocuously in a Swiffer.
Thanks! There is always so much information circulating it can be hard to know what’s true!
This is what I can tell you. I have a friend who is a nurse and years ago her dog nearly died and was very ill for a long time. She used the Wet Jet and her dog would walk on it and then lick its feet. She investigated the Wet Jet solution and she told me it was one molecule away from being antifreeze and she quit using it. Because of her experience I never used the Wet Jet. There are several other spray mops on the market that you can use your own solution in so you can keep it natural if you want to, or use whatever cleaner you like. Personally, my pets are too important to me to take any chances with, they are my furry children, and I’d rather err on the side of caution.
I’m sorry about your friend’s dog. 🙁 I had heard the anti-freeze rumor as well, but did my own research and talked directly with P&G and there is not anything that is used in the cleaner that resembles anti-freeze. I definitely respect your decision to use other cleaners though and make your own choices. I love my fur babies too. 🙂
We have always had Rough Coat Collies and cats who shed like the dickens! Several members of my family have asthma and most of us have allergies – including one of the collies – so I do not like to have avoidable chemicals around the house, and using Swiffer made several of them ill. Save up and get a Dyson Pet Vacuum – best investment ever if you have family members who shed on a regular basis. We also have our dogs groomed every 2 months, and we brush them and our cats weekly. It’s work, it’s expensive and it’s worth every penny. Goldies are wonderful! One of my nursing instructors in college had Goldies and they were such loving, intelligent dogs. Enjoy your new little one!
Sorry, but I did not get a single cleaning tip out of this as I was way too smitten with your adorable Jackson! What a cutie 🙂
OK, your tips are great too…
lol! I can’t really blame you. 🙂
I have 2 dogs very active dogs. One is 60 lbs the other is 50 lbs. Let’s put it this way I have no grass in the front yard because of how much they play. So that means lots of mud. I use a big cup to dip the days paws in when really muddy. When really bad I’ll take them into the bathroom to the tub and rinse off just the legs.
Yea I keep towels by the door. Mats in and out. Covered porch so they also have a place when waiting for me. My long haired is brushed regularly.
Now if I can just get the guys in the house to listen better then the dogs and clean them up before coming in.
Our backyard sounds like your front yard! lol! I hear you about getting the rest of the people in the house to get on board with cleaning off the paws – just got to keep on em! 🙂
Sorry – not sold on this product – too much debate over the safety of the ingredients and no one has commented on what they do to nice wood flooring. Pets are hard enough on the floor – I don’t think mineral oil and alcohol are going to help the finish on the hardwood finish either!
It’s not for everyone and just one of the tips. Hopefully you found the others more helpful!
Adorable. I happen to have 7 puppies that are 3 weeks of. Shredding like anything. The mother is a boarder-collie/Sheppard. Allot of hair and happiness in our house right now. Jackson will grow to be a beautiful dog. Xxoo
Oh how cute!!! I didn’t realize that puppies shed so much! I thought that was more when they were older but I guess that makes sense with that breed. Enjoy the puppies while you have them – I’m sure they are a lot of work but so fun!
awww!! jackson is so cute. we have a 4 month old cocker spaniel and 3 cats. this is a good tip. someone commented about having hardwood flooring. We also have hard wood flooring and it doesn’t harm our floor at all. everyones has their own opinon. I love the swifter products . I use them to clean my house as i also have 4 children ages from 11-4 years old.
I love cocker spaniels. My son’s friend has a black cocker spaniel puppy about the same age as yours and he is beautiful! Thanks for your input and enjoy your puppy time!
Hi,
Thank you for the tips. I live in Australia, are there any Swiffer type products available here? If it’s “P&G” does that mean the company is Proctor & Gamble?
Be interested to find out if possible.
Many thanks
Min
I did a little quick search and it looks like they might have them at Costco down there. I will talk to P&G and see if I can get any more info.
And, yes, P&G is Proctor and Gamble. 🙂
Bleach – Common household bleach is a known caustic chemical and can be very dangerous to humans. Though animals generally will not ingest something that smells as bad as bleach does, your pet can and will get it on their paws and fur, and will eventually lick it off of themselves. Bleach can give an animal convulsions, nausea and vomiting and can cause death. So don’t use it in or on areas where it can come in contact with any part of your pet’s body. Also, do not use bleach in bedding, especially if your pet is a chewer.
Anti-freeze – This chemical has a sweet smell, which makes it attractive to some animals. This chemical is extra bad for dogs, because a fairly small amount can kill them. Anti-freeze breaks down in the body, attacking the internal organs. Pets ingesting anti-freeze will need immediate veterinary care and will require very close supervision.
Kerosene, Gasoline and other flammable liquids – Though it is very rare that an animal will ingest any of these substances because of their highly toxic smell, it is a regular occurrence that the chemicals will be spilled on floors and not cleaned up properly. Again, your pet can get them on their paws or fur and end up with the nasty stuff in their mouths. Always clean any spills of this nature very carefully to help your pet avoid being sick. Motor oil is another concern. If you have to let your pet into your garage, always make sure than all spills are kept clean.
Pesticides – Some bug killers, including some flea and tick treatments can be very bad for your pet if they are eaten. Flea and tick collars are toxic if eaten, so always make sure that, if your pet wears them, that they are put on properly and all excess material on the collar is trimmed off. Some flea and tick prevention medicines which include the chemical permethrin are highly toxic for cats, so always read the label on the treatment you are using to make sure it is safe for your pet. Some people use boric acid in their homes as a pest repellent. This is very toxic to animals and should never be used with a pet in the house.
Pine-Sol – Pine cleaners as well as some other floor cleaning products can contain ingredients which can give your pets seizures or worse. If you must use them, make sure that the surfaces you have treated with these solutions are completely dry before your pet is allowed access to them.
Laundry Detergent – Some laundry soaps can be very toxic to your pets. They contain chemicals, dyes and fragrances. Though, for the most part, clothing and fabrics washed in regular laundry detergent are safe as most of the detergent is washed away in the rinse cycle, if your pet chews your clothing or it’s bedding, you should opt for a more pet-friendly detergent.
Fertilizer – Some types of fertilizer can have disastrous consequences for your pet. Though they will likely not outright eat the stuff, this is another situation where the chemicals can be ingested because they are on the paws or the fur. If your pet can’t stay out of your garden, using an organic fertilizer or something without harmful chemicals that is obviously safer for your pet.
Carbolic Acid – This stuff is actually sometimes used as a remedy for mange, but if your pet gets it in their digestive system, they can become very sick. It can also be absorbed through the skin. Should your pet have an icky case of the mange, it’s best to see your vet for a less harmful alternative.
Alcohol – This may seem like an unusual addition to this list, but some pets will drink alcohol. It may be hilarious to watch your dog stumble around intoxicated, but this stuff is not good for pets. Even small amounts, when consumed by smaller animals, can be toxic. Some alcoholic beverages that don’t have much of a smell are especially dangerous. So don’t leave your adult beverage unattended, and don’t let your friends get your pet liquored up!
Xylitol – This stuff is an artificial sweetener that is often found in candy and gum. Dogs especially will eat anything that smells sweet, and this stuff is very bad in a dog’s digestive system. If your pet eats too much xylitol, it can cause seizures and lethargy.
Oddly, there has been an internet rumor for the last decade or so that tells us that there is an ingredient in Febreeze which can cause pet death. This is a myth. Febreeze has been proven safe for all pets.
There was a similar rumor about the Swiffer Wet Jet, that it contains a chemical called propylene glycol that is also found in anti-freeze. This chemical has been proven safe by the FDA and is, in fact, used as a substitute sweetener in some ‘people’ foods and beverages.
All of that info came from a site called pethelpful.
Wetjet will damage hardwood floors. I got a Bona instead, which is made for hardwood and has washable instead of disposable pads.
Reusable pads are definitely nice, but Swiffer does have a specific formula that is safe for hardwood floors.