A dog owner has come up with a cheap and simple solution to stop her golden retriever from getting muddy paws in the garden.
The idea came when the pup was constantly making trails of muddy paw prints in the house after coming in from outside.
Jody Bates, from South West Wales, says seven-month-old Kobie loves to get his paws dirty from digging in the garden and with the weather getting a lot wetter, it was becoming a regular habit.
Jody resorted to using two pairs of her own socks and putting them on her dog’s feet to see if that would help cut down on the cleaning required.
The simple trick worked a lot better than expected, with Kobie actually enjoying his new socks. Since then, Jody has bought Kobie his own pair of boots for the garden to keep his mess at bay.
Jody, 32, said: “He’s well behaved but he has a sneaky, naughty side to him. My garden, when it’s wet, becomes extremely muddy and Kobie loves to dig. He just can’t help himself and digs all the soft spots. He also likes to eat the mud.”
Jody is a project sales manager and is currently working from home. While she works upstairs, the goldie has full rein of the garden and kitchen.
Jody said: “When it's wet I come downstairs to check on him and the kitchen is always full of muddy paw prints. Although it takes a few mops to clean, he has a whale of a time in the garden.
“We have tried using a mat which I trained him to wipe his feet on – but he tried to eat the mat.”
Kobie isn’t a fan of being hosed down so Jody was stumped for ideas after her mat training failed but her last-minute hack is one that anybody can do, if their dog lets them.
She said: “He will only have a shower while in the bath and I can't get him upstairs when he’s so muddy, so I decided to try my socks on him to see if he would mind wearing something on his feet.
“He went out in my socks and he was absolutely fine and when he came back in I just took the socks off and washed them, instead of battling to wash his feet.”
Kobie is now enjoying his upgrade from socks to boots when digging, and it saves muddy paws, muddy socks and the floor doesn’t get half as muddy as it once did.
Jody said: “He is so used to them now he will sit and give you his paws to put them on. We also have a super absorbent mat that he stands on when he comes in.
“I advise anyone with the same problem to buy a good spin mop.”
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