Quote: kristel smart

... Still, if possible, I agree with Connie and Natalya about avoiding carpet because it's so much easier, but even with it, it can be done.

Oh, yes, I have carpet throughout (except bath and kitchen). I just don't have pale colors.

I deliberately chose a brown/tan/charcoal tweed, totally without style , when I re-did floors and walls in 2004. Someone on TV called that "life-colored," and it is.

Resolve is great for spills, etc. I keep a stack of old towels handy for the Resolve dance.* Little wipes or paper towels are just silly. JMHO.

And I know that I would manage even if I did have pale colors.

For me, the trick is to accept up-front that I am not going to live in fear of carpet problems. It can be spot-cleaned, and it can occasionally be steam-cleaned. Meanwhile, life happens right on it and that's fine.




*Spray the Resolve. Wait a second for some penetration. Stand on the clean towel that you have placed over the dampened stain. Move to a clean towel part and stand on it again.

A carpet company owner taught me this. He advised against rubbing, etc., and suggested just repeated (if necessary) applications and another clean old towel. It's amazing. You pick up the towel and the spot is on it instead of on the carpet.

Starbuck in inside most of the time. Other than a couple accidents, I'd have to say that our daughter is more messy than the dog (except for the shedding).

I don't allow super messy stuff like a raw bone on the carpet (Alyssa)

Starbuck did tear a small section of carpet at the edge when she was a pup (less than 6 months old). I just paid $30 to have the carpet stretched and you can't even tell there was a problem.

I have the 2 gallon size of Nature's Miracle, and I think I've only used it 2 times since she was house broken. The last time was totally my fault. We got back from a long hike, she drank a bunch of water, then I accidently closed her up in the house for 5 hours

 Quote: Keith Larson

I don't allow super messy stuff like a raw bone on the carpet (Alyssa)

Oscar used to come to work with me every day (no carpets in the office) and I taught him to chew/lick on his kongs and marrow bones ONLY on the bath mat I had spread out under my desk for him. He was very good about it and if he slowly nudged the bone off the edge he'd pick it up and drop it back on the rug. The rug got a regular wash (yes, it got icky sometimes, and HE got icky laying on it) but my bosses never felt like Oscar was making a mess on THEIR floors. Now, since I work from home, the rare occasions where he gets a messy treat warrant a designated towel to be spread out and I just have to remind him that THAT'S the new bath mat.

~Natalya

I do the same thing with bath mats, and use them as dog beds for the living room as well. They can be washed and dried with no problem, many times

We have hardwood floors and I get rugs from garden ridge that are under 50 bucks for an 8x10, that way I can replace them once a year or so when they look sad and nasty.

The Swiffer vacuum is my friend it gets the hair up like a Swiffer but also gets little bits of grit and dirt like a lightweight vaccuum.

Slipcovers are my friend as well, when they look dingy I can just throw them in the wash.

I don't have a huge backyard and I have light beige carpeting in the living room where the sliding door leading to the backyard is. Hence the main in & out for my guy. the nice thing is that there is about a foot of slate tile right at the door there (if you don't have that and if your main in & out door for your dog is where the carpeting is, i would suggest you invest in a runner for the area at the door.
This is what I have done to assure there are no "doggie mud footprints" on the carpet.

Tucker ALWAYS sits upon entering the house. Back or front door.
I keep a bunch of "dog towels" (old towels that I would normally throw out due to holes) at the backdoor. I keep them out of sight in a cabinet.
As soon as he comes in and sits I grab a towel and thoroughly wipe off his paws and underbelly. I don't care if it's as dry as dust outside. You just never know what he might have stepped in outside or if he found a nice pile of old wet leaves in a corner of the yard to jump around in. I learned that the hard way when my BF didn't apply the wiping technique because it wasn't wet outside and Tucker had stepped in something that DEFINATELY didn't belong on my nice new carpet. Lesson learned. Look at the paws, even if it's not wet or muddy out.
Tucker is black and the carpet is beige so I generally vacuum everyday. I will sometimes do it every second day, but usually everyday. I also invested in a small little carpet cleaner. Picked one up for about $100 and it has been a god send. Trust me! It never fails, if Tucker has the runs, and I haven't noticed it (if i do, i generally will put him in one of the rooms with hardwood floors while im at work until I get him sorted out) he will always manage to get the carpet. So that steam cleaner has come in handy a couple times!

so thats how i deal with the whole carpet issue.
If you are more asking how do you keep a large dog with a small backyard, it shouldn't make a difference how small the backyard is, in my opinion backyards are mostly for getting some air and relieving himself if they are small. His main form of exercise is and always will be walks to the park for fetch or walks to the hiking trails.