Despite my user name here, I now have four dogs. Yes I have the tumbleweeds of hair and stopped vacuuming with my Dyson to comment.

My latest rescue, Ginger, loves to chew and the
other day, I found part of a black Sharpie marker on the living room Karastan
rug. I picked up all the pieces I could find then, and
scoped out the rug, but it IS heavily patterned and I didn’t see anything
then.

I was vacuuming a short time ago and just found the black Sharpie ink
in a trail across the rug. Don’t know why, but I went and got some cotton balls
and rubbing alcohol. It worked, and removed the ink completely, just in case this happens to anyone else.

Dirty pets? No, say it doesn't happen!

Fab stories! You guys are great and made me giggle a lot! I wouldn't trade my babies for anything either. I just need to be more on top of things! I have read some tips on how to help with cleaning the fur.

I love all of the pics of the adorable pets. Thank you ALL for sharing everything (info, thoughts, pics etc.)!

1 Golden Retriever plus generally at least one foster dog. And I just had a litter of puppies here. My house never looks nice and clean. How do I cope? I don't take photos of my house.

Fur versus hair. Our Jack Russell had fur, it was on everything we owned, and the reason that I purchased a Dyson. Scooter has passed, but our two remaining dogs have hair, with minimal shedding. Plus, my friend that is allergic to dogs can handle being around these two.

Papillion - Coco

Little Bear - Pom-a-poo

PUPPIES!!!!!!!! Can ya at least share a pic of them???? pleeeeaseeeeee???? And of course what kind they are and all the fun about them.

THIS dog is a problem. If you look closely, you may be able to see that her fur is just barely attached to her, and as she walks through the house, it just falls off. When our older dog passed away a few weeks ago, Coco got very stressed out and we had a carpet of white fur throughout the house. It's better now -- back to her "normal" which still means a lot of shedding. We love her but I will NEVER get a white dog again!

This dog is less of a shedder, but she is actually allowed on the sofa (when invited) while Coco is not. So we have fur on our sofas.

I have learned to ignore it although if we have company, of course I try to eliminate every trace of dog fur from floors and furniture. And we have sticky lint remover things for our clothes in the closet by the back door. We did recently get one of those groomer tools that Lukki showed above, but haven't used it yet. I'll try it out tomorrow!

Between kids and dogs, my standards of what makes a "clean (enough) house" have changed quite a bit over the last 20 years or so!

I can't imagine life without a pet. My choice is dogs, presently only one. I try to keep her well groomed. If I see her fur on my clothing I like to think a little part of is always with me. One window get nose art.

3 cats, 2 dogs, all shredders. I try to decorate with items that disguise hair and are easily washable. it's always a big consideration before every purchase or item I make. I'm always coming up with ways to make cleaning easier. That and getting lightweight, easy to use vacuum cleaners are the key for me. my current one is the shark rocket upright. I know it won't last more than a few years, but it doesn't wear me out like my dyson, so I vacuum more often and more quickly.

We're down to one dog, a labrador, from a high of 4 rottweilers. I do hesitate when I say that since so many people associate rotties with aggressive dogs. Mine were wonderful creatures, gentle, calm, well trained and stoic. I really miss that breed.

When our last one passed away we opted for a smaller dog that would fit into a smaller SUV. I needed a Suburban for the rotties.

As much as I love our Lab I will never get another one. She's an English Lab and only weighs 70 pounds but she sheds more than 400 pounds of rottweilers. Where did I go wrong? I don't even bother to put the vacuum back in the closet. It just sits in the laundry room next to the dryer and I use it daily, sometimes twice.

But she is well trained and doesn't jump on furniture. She's content to lay all around the family room, kitchen, library and office. I have never allowed my dogs upstairs in the bedrooms so at least most of the dog hair is on the first floor.

I have one dog (Golden Retriever) and 2 cats. We haven't had the dog long (got him at 9 weeks and he's 9 months now). I never really noticed cat fur, but I do notice dog fur. I deal with it by saying, "Hmm-- that looks like dog fur" and then moving on. He doesn't like being on furniture-- we invite him up, but he prefers the floor. Every once in awhile he climbs up, and only when he has muddy feet, which means I have to wash my slipcover when I care, or just get a throw. The biggest mess he's made is my mirror in the background. He can't keep his eyes off that beautiful guy in the reflection and jumps to say "hi." As for the cats, I'd love to find a way to keep the litter more contained. One box is in the basement in an unfinished part, but another is in a hallway upstairs. Cat box does not look horrible but the litter that get thrown out of it does. It is a constant battle. I would be open to another dog (Keeshond, Samoyed, or another Golden) and would have zero issue with more fur, but I think I have low standards when it comes to fur.

(enlarge the photo to see one of the cats)

And I must be the craziest of crazies, but I love dog smell. I soak it in like perfume. I never smelled the newborn smell of my kids or my dog as a puppy, though. I wish I could have!

We've had big dogs, little dogs, and everything in between. As said above, for us, it just isn't right without a few dogs. I am allergic to cats and some dogs, so no cats sadly. We recently bought a house that was literally destroyed by 2 large dogs. Crazy, lazy owners. Took us 20K to get it right. Wood floors destroyed, cabinetry eaten, urine (OMG the urine). But, none of that is the dogs' fault IMO.

I've always lived in multi-dog households. Some dogs were just big shedders: German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, and Malamute left tumbleweeds of fur throughout. Dogs that requiring having their fur groomed (terriers, poodles, and related hybrids) are much more manageable. There's no magic solution: vacuum, and choose to live with a certain amount of mess as the price of loving pets. The slimy drool marks I have to mop off my kitchen floor are my least favorite mess. But neither my kids, my husband, nor I would have it any other way.

Lisa, I am sorry for your childhood experiences! I am not so sure I would have liked animals, either! I used to be really scared of dogs for no reason, no trauma, except the old ones. I always loved to pet calm, old dogs. That slowly helped me learn to even like dogs. As a child, we had cats for a short time that were basically ferrel, as my parents didn't socialize them much with us, and eventually they went to "the farm," so I wasn't big on them, either. But then my husband had two wonderful cats, and now I am a huge fan. This might be silly, but to help you with your fear of dogs, you might want to learn about "calming signals." They help humans read dog body language. It won't help you like dogs, but learning about them may help you read them better, which in turn will help you feel a little safer.

This shaggy mutt sheds but is otherwise not too dirty. She doesn't slobber, doesn't sit on the furniture, doesn't smudge windows and doesn't go in the bedrooms. We have some scratches in our wood floor from when she gets excited to get a bone and races around the house. I get dog hair on the edges of the furniture where she brushes past.

The previous owners of our house put an old cast iron tub on our deck for a dog bathing area. We have a mild climate so it's easy to put the dog in the outside tub without making too much of a mess in the house. I wouldn't have put the tub there but it is convenient.

I don't think our dog is any messier than my husband and children. I run our roomba once a week and vacuum once a week. Still, I am pretty grossed out by all the dog hair that comes up. I'd use the roomba more but it is loud and seemingly chases the dog around the house so she is terrified of it.

1 cat and 3 large dogs in our house currently... I gave up years ago trying to keep the house clean and am much less overwhelmed than I used to be! lol

it's one of the reasons I stopped having a housekeeper years ago- when the kids were home and with the pets, our house used to look almost exactly like it did before she came by the next evening!! just made no sense to me hiring someone!

Maire-Cate, that's exactly what I have is a 70 lb Lab, daily or even weekly grooming along with a higher end food will cure 90% of that shedding. I've been feeding mine Canidae Pure, Salmon for about six months now and it's worked wonders for her. Her coat is soft, shiny and has very limited shedding. The exception might be when they have their bi-seasonal coat blast but that's a given with any animal. They all shed their winter and summer coats.

One big yellow Lab. She gets brushed everyday. She still sheds enough hair to make another puppy daily. She does not go into the bedrooms at all. I vacuum 'her' rooms once a day.

ha!!! would love a dog (we have 2 shepherds and a lab/golden mix) that would shed 90% less with regular grooming and a specific food brand!! I brush them ~ every other day!!

I have a little dog who doesn't shed and she's far far less of a mess than either of my kids! She does have a sensitive tummy and pukes once a week or so. But overall, she has little paws and hates rainy or cold weather, so she usually doesn't get too dirty.

She does think she's a cat though.

One over-sized chocolate lab (90 lb male). We adopted him when he was about a year old and he finally made his way inside most of the day. He does shed in the summer but it is mostly manageable with daily vacuuming as he doesn't get on the furniture. He is not allowed in any of the bedrooms. But he does claim most any other available piece of real estate, throw rug, square foot of hardwood or middle of the hallway in the house.

Yes the hardwoods are scratched. The main problem now seems to be drool spots so I have to clean those spots on the hardwood floors with a wet rag. Even with an extra large bed, his head always hangs over the side so he's drooling on the floor.

Two cats and a cockatiel. Cockatiel creates dust from his feathers. I could dust every day and you'd never tell. Cats are both longish hair and run around like wild ponies. I can vacuum the house and five minutes later, there is hair all over the carpet. Doesn't help that they stage the kitty version of WWE as routine play. There are some pretty impressive take downs between those two!

I'm another one with a Westie. She doesn't shed hardly at all, dog fur is not an issue. She does love to put her nose all over the patio door and windows.

I require a clean house. Seriously, I'm borderline OCD about this. I'm here to tell you that the dog makes less of a mess than my spouse does.

The dog accepts being brushed, knows my routines, and waits more or less politely for me to wipe her feet if they are wet or dirty.

My spouse (who I love almost as much as the dog, ha-ha), is far more resistant to training.

I'm not going to get rid of either one of them. :)

Why do people think they can maintain a clean house with dogs and cats roaming around the inside of their house?

A long time ago most people had bigger yards and did not let their cats and dogs inside. If you lived in an apartment, you did not even THINK about having a pet. (And if you did it was more likely to be a little bird in a cage, or a fish)

This might be one reason older women back then were more anxious for grandbabies. Today many women seem to be too preoccupied with all their cats and dogs to want to take care of a baby or little child.

lol... I know both my grandmothers would never have allowed a dog (or a cat for that matter!) in their houses! but they both lived in a big city, had many more daily chores, and were very finicky and meticulous with their cleaning!!

I think pets can enrich the entire family's life!!

I can't wait for grandbabies--- when my kids are responsible, settled and stable enough to raise them!!

Cats here, and as you can see, they "know their place" (and their place is wherever they WANT it to be, for the most part).

Our number has dwindled, but at one time we had seven cats indoors, and two of them were longhaired and BIG shedders. It was a constant battle to keep on top of the fur, not to mention the scattered litter, the horked-up hairballs, and the logs that Pip decided to leave on the floor JUST outside the litter box daily. Thankfully, since we've moved, his potty habits have resumed to normal and he's using the box every time now. Sure, it got to be rather tedious at times, but you just have to weigh the love you get in return against the inconvenience of cleaning up after pets, I think. Sometimes I would really start wishing that my home could be picture-perfect clean constantly, but I wouldn't give up my babies in order to have it that way.

I don't think it's any of our business who and what others choose to care for in their own homes. Cats, kids, dogs, grandbabies, parakeets, 45-year old sons living in the basement - who is able to accurately determine what is best for each of us?

Pets are like children. If you have them...hopefully you love them. If you know you don't want them around, then don't have them.

As for clean homes, yes...it is possible. But you have to design the home with the pets in mind. Again, just like kids. Do they have storage for their toys? Can they reach them? Will they put them away? :)

Do they have a place for their beds? Is their bathroom the same one you use for company. If so, you'll need to keep it clean all the time. If you can throw them in the basement (just kidding, but think of teenagers LOL) then the mess can be somewhat contained.

We have cats and horses. Some cats are inside, but none of the horses have been. Although there was one night when they were six months old and it was -27 degrees F. that I briefly considered putting them in a back bedroom. Then reality kicked in and we threw a bunch of hay down in the barn :)

Bottom line, if you like a clean home that stays clean while you're at work or shopping...don't have pets. They will trash any home, even if they don't mean to and they don't grow out of the toddler stage. They will get sick. They will make a mess. They will wreck some of your favorite things. But they love you and you love them. It's up to you if that's the kind of lifestyle you want. But don't have them if you don't want them. Again, just like kids.

I too am somewhat OCD (using the term lightly, I've not been diagnosed as OCD!) about my house, car, clothing, etc). I adore and LOVE dogs and as I said earlier, would have a house full of them...in a perfect world. But I have a hard enough time keeping my home up to my "clean standards" and clutter free with my debilitating back issues (stenosis, herniated discs and sciatica) , Multiple Sclerosis and Fibro Mylagia. Having the extra chores that come with having a dog in the house is just not something I can do. Carly is a 80-85 lb chocolate Lab and we love her to pieces! We live in the country. Her backyard is as large or small as she wants it to be. She has ponds to swim in, rabbits to chase and birds to stalk. She's "head of ranch security". As much time as I spend alone out here, I could never feel safe without a big watchdog. She's my "therapy" dog. She's a very patient and gentle dog that takes any and everything my grandchildren might dish out :o Bless her heart!

Oh but the hair! She (used) to shed enough of it to make 3 dogs (per day!) Not anymore. This just started this a couple of years ago. The breed sheds anyway but this was that x100. So we broke down and ordered the insanely expensive Dinovite food additive and the omega 3 fish oil from Dinovite as well. Problem solved! And she smells better too :)

lavender_lass - I laughed at the image of horses bedding down for the night in your back room! Your last paragraph made me think about the natural order of things, and how barring any unforeseen earlier event, we are likely to be caretakers of elderly animals eventually. They have their own special needs, just like old humans do. Their physical issues and ailments can mean messes you never imagined when they were young and healthy. We recently went through this with our sweet Tiger, towards the end of his life. It's a commitment, to be sure.

One corgi here and her shedding is the biggest challenge. I run the roomba every morning and it keeps things manageable. Totally worth it!

Agree lavender_lass ... when I moved out to a rural area and have cats, dogs, and horses or donkeys, my days of a really clean house disappeared. I clean as much as I want to, but have learned to live with fur (and hay which also tracks everywhere!). I'm not interested in vacuuming every day ... I do make sure my home is newly vacuumed before company comes.

lavendar_lass, LOL, your post reminded me of an incident I thought I'd never recuperate from! 20-25 years ago we had two Dalmatians. They were outside dogs. It was Christmas Eve and cold enough to let them come in the house for the night. We had a tiled entry. I could close a bedroom door, put a baby gate up to block the entry into the LR and lay a quilt on the tile floor. Sounds like heaven for an outside dog, right? I had been cooking all day for a Christmas Eve dinner at my in-laws. All the Christmas presents were under the tree, the house was clean and organized and we were to head down to Houston EARLY Christmas morning. So we walk in the front door after a late night at the in-law's, hoping to get to bed soon since we had a 4 hour trip the next morning. The dogs weren't in the entry. What I saw next was something out of a "Home Alone" movie. The dogs had escaped and were sleeping peacefully on our bed! :o That was the only "peaceful" thing about the inside of my home. They had turned over the trashcan. All the holiday baking trash, the turkey carcass, flour, EVERYTHING was strewn across the house. And apparently they ate either too much or something that didn't agree with their tummies because dog vomit and poop was also in the mix. Christmas presents were ripped open. Decorative pillows were shredded. I wanted to 1) kill a couple of Dalmatians and 2) MOVE! DH thought I should just leave it till we got back from Houston. Oh, and 3) Kill DH! :o "They" say I'll laugh about that some day. Some day hasn't gotten here yet!

Then there was the time I was babysitting my parent's poodle. He and our doxie had found some fresh cow poop, rolled in it and apparently ate quite a bit of it. My daughter let them in the house (she was only 5 or 6) and they started running lickity split from one end of the house to the other and jumping up on my bed, leaving trails of cow poop. As they repeated this fast and furious trek of terror thru the house, they started vomiting (or maybe it was pooping). I don't remember, but it didn't slow them down. By the time we could catch them they had successfully tracked all this mess thru 3 rooms and my bed.

How could I not mention the skunk incident!? I Let the above mentioned terrorist doxie outside late one night. Pitch black. Live in the country and don't like street/security lights. I'm calling Odie. Something runs past me. It wasn't Odie. She was behind the something that ran past me. Took about 1 second to realize that "something" was a skunk and we'd both had a direct hit with skunk spray :( I ran in the house, screaming...dog right behind me. I ran to the bathroom. Dog ran to my bed and started rolling to get the smell off! I'm in the tub and DH has me covered in tomato juice (btw, that doesn't work). Still screaming. Then it dawned on my our daughter is still asleep but what if she wakes up, runs into the bathroom to see what all the commotion is about and sees me covered in what she can only imagine to be BLOOD! :o Again, I wanted to move <lol> I'm too old for indoor dogs!

LOL @ monica! Those are some GREAT stories! Hahahahahaha!

Auntjen- They were so young and still very small. They were not brother and sister, but about six weeks apart. Their moms were sold (just as we inherited the farm) and I wanted to keep these two cuties. No horse experience, really....so on the phone with my mom. She said don't worry, they're in the barn, they'll cuddle up together and be fine. Plus, my husband was putting his foot down about horses in the house! LOL

Next morning, they came out and the colt (my Cordell) looked like he had white mascara on. It was crazy. He and Mandy (our filly) were both fine and out playing in the sun the next morning. They had been in the barn, out of the wind....and they were fine.

However, down the road a few miles, a rancher lost 1/4 of his cattle herd. They had been outside in the field and froze to death. It doesn't get 27 degrees below zero very often, but that was so sad. Our two horses grew up, had four boys and mama just passed away last spring. Cordell and his boys still have a great time in the back pasture and the barn.

Here's an older picture, with mom, dad and the four boys :)

My original 3 dogs and 3 cats:

Punky (cat) was first. Here you see him with Scrappy, my daughter's puppy (we have Scrappy's brother, Desi, who you will see below)

Then we adopted Mikey from a rescue

Then we adopted Maggie from a rescue - they transported her from Louisiana to Michigan

None of them were cuddlers, which was what I was looking for. So we moved on to adopting dogs. First came Lucy

We also have a foster right now, Chico. The boys get along great. No shedding. Sometimes someone throws up, and we often have potty accidents. Our next project in our house is to replace the carpet with hardwood floors and large area rugs that can be taken in and cleaned.

I have a 65 lb Labradoodle. He's less of a housekeeping challenge then my 6'5" teenage boy. Both are very lovable. :)

My son and daughter in law just got a new recliner yesterday, I got the text message to make sure I keep the white kitty off of it today while I watch by grandson.....less than 24 hours later who owns the recliner?

Dirt and hair aren't as much of a problem as this:

Yes, that's my 65lb Boxer laying on the BACK sofa cushion.

When I vacuum and put the kids floor pillows on the chair Her Royal Highness assumes her position:

I had a post written up this morning that i forgot to post and subsequently closed the browser thinking I'd posted. Much shorter now:

Replaced our worn out sofa w/ a white machine washable slipcovered one. I purposely bought it so that the dog could be on it. I throw the slips in the laundry w/ a crap load of bleach and they come out fantastically and the only thing that I haven't been able to fully get out was the gel ink stain from a pen that exploded a few weeks ago. Oh well!

I have a white metalasse' throw that I put over the back of it because Poochina likes to lay on the back of the sofa and observe what goes on outside.

I currently have faux leather chairs that wipe off easily and cleanly. When they are totally trashed someday I will replace w/ real leather because I know it works for my needs.

I gave up heavy comforters a few yrs ago in lieu of machine washable quilts that I turn down when I'm home and the gal is following me around and when we go to work I pull it up all of the way and she sleeps up there until we come home.

On her white sofa:

Proving that no space is too small for her to squeeze into and cuddle w/ someone.

We have three cats and I find the housekeeping mess somewhat overwhelming. They seem to puke constantly and my geriatric cat with kidney disease has incontinence issues (and yet I have to give him subcutaneous water every day, seems to cause even more incontinence!) they also destroy all nice upholstery and rugs. That said they are cute, affectionate and amusing which means a lot after a long day at work.

i have recently discovered that they love lying on towels so now I have a towel on my bed and some on the upholstered chairs...really works wonders!

After reading about some of these naughty dogs and cats ;-) it makes me appreciate, even more, the little dog we adopted nearly two years ago. Truly the perfect dog! Doesn't shed much, doesn't run away, doesn't touch any decorations/furniture in the house, doesn't drool, barely barks and is very affectionate. She is only allowed on one sofa and it only took one or two verbal corrections to have her stay off the other sofas. She asks for permission to get on the sofa, by standing on the floor and looking at you first. Once you say "OK", she hops up on the sofa and only lies on her fluffy throw. Only one verbal correction to have her stay off the pricy throw pillows on that same sofa. She has learnt quite a few tricks and people praise me for it, but having owned/trained plenty of dogs, I know that she deserves most of the credit!

She does throw up once in a while, much less once I figured out the wet food with fish seemed to be a trigger. The last time she threw up, she even did it on the tile and not the oriental rug!! Truly the perfect dog :-)

aktillery9, look what I just came across! Lol

I need those, Nate!!! I have two short-haired dogs that shed profusely, plus a cat. Danny, the Weimaraner has the World's Biggest Feet that bring in handfuls of the yard every time he comes inside. I have two Roomba's that run every day that can't even keep up with the amount of dirt he brings in. He paces the house non-stop, so the least he can do is dust mop as he goes :)

Natebear, those are hilarious! Who really thinks their pooch would keep those on?

I think you've seen my baby before:

She likes to travel. LOL

You could just get an animal like mine, both light and dark fur, so matter what you wear or where you look, the contrasting colors will show you all of the fur.