I don’t know about you, but I am so excited Spring is almost here!

I absolutely hate winter. It makes me depressed and I just want to hibernate for the 6 months it’s here.

(I live in Wisconsin where we only have two seasons… Winter and Construction.)

One of the worst things about Spring, (besides muddy paws), is the Spring cleaning that comes along with it. At the same time, I do enjoy it.

I hate having to do a deep cleaning before I start, but once I finish it feels oh so damn good!

The best part is being able to open up the windows to let out all the stale Winter air. But there's also the cleaning up all the dust and grime that built up over the season and organize everything to start the new season fresh.

But, being a dog mom, Spring cleaning can be a little more tricky. So today I wanted to share with you some of my tips and tricks.

If you prefer to watch a video instead of reading you can watch the short IGTV video on my Dog Mom Tip Tuesdays series.

 

5 Spring Cleaning Tips for Dog Moms

1. Clean Your Dog's Dog Toys and Accessories

First let's start off by going through your dog's toys and accessories, throwing away any that are broken, giving away any that you don't use anymore, and cleaning the rest. 

Okay, maybe you should clean the things you are giving away, before actually giving them away.

Remember your dog is more sensitive to chemicals than you are. So keep this in mind while cleaning their toys, clothing, collars, leashes, bedding, etc. Don't use your normal laundry detergent, instead, you can use baking soda and vinegar.

Any plush toys, clothing, bandanas, bedding, etc can be washed in the washing machine. And any of the rubber or plastic toys can be hand washed in the sink.

Your dog's bowls should be washed daily, or at the very least weekly. 

To read more details about how to properly clean your dog's toys and accessories, check out this post: How to Clean Your Dog's Chew Toys

 

2. Deodorize Your Home

To deodorize your home you'll want to clean the couch, carpet, rugs, and your pet's living area.

The best way to do this is to sprinkle baking soda over the carpet and other vacuum-able surfaces and let it sit for at least 20 minutes. The baking soda will deodorize by bringing both acidic and basic odor molecules into a neutral, more odor-free state.

Once the baking soda has had time to sit, you will want to thoroughly vacuum it up. Using the hose attachment will help you be able to get into all of the crevices.

Repeat this process on every vacuum-able surface in your home.

*Note: I like to do this to the dog bed before putting it in the washer.

 

3. Remove the Dog Hair

If you have carpet and you have a dog, then your carpet is full of dog hair. Even if you have vacuumed it ten times.

To help pull up some of the dog hair from carpet and other upholstery furniture, you can use a squeegee. For smaller or harder to reach areas you can use a wet rubber glove.

Just press down and pull or wipe and the rubber will grab the fur. You'll likely need to do multiple passes if you really want to get rid of the fur. 

This is also a great trick for cleaning the fur out of your car!

 

4. Clean Your Dog

It will be a little easier to achieve that clean house feel if you also clean your dog. You can either do all of this grooming in one day or split it up over multiple days. It depends on if grooming stresses your dog out, you don't want to make them too uncomfortable.

It doesn't really matter the order you do these tasks in but I always start by brushing them outside. You just cleaned up all of the fur in your house, so why would you want to brush your dog inside? Plus, birds love using dog fur to build their nests.

Now bathtime can either be a fun time for you or a huge chore if your dog hates it. But luckily nowadays there are multiple locations you can take your dog to bathe them yourself. This can make things a lot easier because they will have a standing tub with high sides.

I always just bathe my dogs at home, I have a removable showerhead so that helps a ton. I used to have a shower with shower doors and that made it 10 times easier because I just locked us both in there.

And of course, make sure to use dog safe shampoo.

Then come all of the smaller tasks such as ear cleaning, nail trimming, and even paw fur trimming. 

 

5. Decluttering

At the beginning, I mentioned that you should go through your dog's toys and accessories to see what needs to be tossed and what can be given away. 

But the decluttering shouldn't stop there. Look at your dog's food and treats to see if anything needs to be thrown out.

If you feed your dog kibble, it shouldn't be opened for more than a month. After a month of being exposed to air, it will get stale. Same with your dog's treats.

You should also go through your dog's medications if he/she has any. Check the expiration dates and dispose of any expired ones correctly. DO NOT flush or throw away any medication. 

Some towns have medication drop-offs otherwise you can take them to your vet and they will be able to dispose of them correctly.

If you have any medication that isn't expired but your dog is no longer using, you can take it to your vet and they will be able to give it to someone who might not be able to afford that medication otherwise.

 

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