The Mother Load

Now that it’s officially “Spring Cleaning” time, lets talk about dog laundry. I could talk about all the household chores that are “enhanced” because of our dogs but dog laundry is the one that kind of blows my mind every time. 

The cleaning never stops when you have a pet, much less multiple pets. For us, a four-dog family living in the desert…it’s dusty. We have carpet and tile so I vacuum, Swiffer, and mop on a regular basis but the one dog chore I spend the most time on is dog laundry. Picking it up, scraping weird stuff off, washing it, drying it, folding it, putting it away.  It's never ending, so I decided to take an inventory of all the "dog linens" to see just what I'm working with here:

26 DOG BLANKETS:  Yes, this is the actual number of blankets that are exclusively for the dogs use. For a little perspective, we humans only have two. We had three, but one got peed on and that automatically moves it to the dog pile. #BurrowOrBust

2 SETS OF SHEETS:  Because layering. Hot summers. A senior dog. A special needs dog.

19 TOWELS:  Not kidding. The same rule applies here as it does with the blankets. Once a towel is used for serious dog business, it goes into the dog pile. We use bath towels to line the bottom of the sink for bath time, wrap around the entire sink for Bruno, towels to make Boogie a “donut” so he can keep his balance during bath time. Towels to wipe off paws. Towels to dry off with, because guess who rolls in everything and gets the most baths...?  Plus, dry towels to maniacally rub their bodies on during post bath zooms. Last but definitely not least, towels for Boogie to eat on because he’s a super messy eater.

15 DOG BEDS:. We have 15 dog beds in this house!! I’m so very jealous of dogs who share one bed and cuddle puddle all day long. I want to know where I went wrong in this department. Ah, the dream of having one huge dog bed ….

72 TOYS:. Yep, 72 toys live here and they are all washable.

DOG CLOTHES:. About 3 pounds worth and Boogie wears most of it because he weighs two pounds and gets cold. He really needs a glam room. 

Whoa.

I should get rid of half of this.  But I can’t.  But I should.  But I don’t know how.

Send help.

Keeping all the pet items clean helps keep the house smelling fresh and is good for everyone’s health and well-being. It takes a lot of time, that's true, but it's worth every second to make sure my pack is happy is healthy. Plus, when I stay vigilant about the laundry, I feel a little better ignoring the rug that has become a giant wee-wee pad just a little bit longer. Hey, no one's perfect!

So, let’s hear it: What's your most time consuming doggie chore?