Imitation Turf

[TJBi]

@Jeanette Green is right about bath mats. They are thicker than towels so absorb a lot more of the muck & moisture.

I’ve got a stash of old towels which also do the job with muddy/wet animals.

Both options easily washed.

The Dirt Trapper and Hug Rugs are very practical and good if you want something that looks a bit ‘posher’ than bath mats and towels. Hug rugs also wash easily, I swear by them in the house as you walk straight into our kitchen from the front door and they work a treat. But the washing machine is only a few feet away too, completely different situation from dealing with mucky stuff when you’re away living in campers

How does the dog react to being put in the washing machine?

 

[Sharon the Cat]

We have a collection of cotton mats from Ikea and old bath mats, anything that absrbbs the moisture and mud.
We're not too houseproud in the van as it would be embarrassing if it was cleaner than our cottage,

 

[maingate]

A Professional dog walker told us to get some Bath Mats from Aldi as they were super absorbent. Three of them fit into the back of the car very well and they do a great job of absorbing water. They are small enough to chuck in the washing machine when dirty.

 

[caledonia]

Cale has her own towel and she gets it off the radiator while you’re getting you wellies off. If she’s really dirty she gets a wee hose down and has a big shake before getting in the house.

 

[jagmanx]

Ps The grass is always greener elsewhere !

 

[jagmanx]

Ps2.
What do you say to @trevskoda when he is laying turf ?









Greenside up !

 

[caledonia]

We tried imitation grass but found it hard to light

 

[jagmanx]

The skunks came for mine !.
Or too much weedkiller ?

 

[jagmanx]

Watching cricket at Lords when a faint sweet smell drifted by.
Well that is just not cricket.
My friend (who did partake) suddenly perked up !

 

[jagmanx]

I went to a Welsh garden centre and tried to by some.
Tom Jones started to sing .
yes..

The green green grass of homebase.

A local female put some inside her underwear !
How green is my valley ?

 

[saxonborg]

These are the only absorbent rugs/mats that do anywhere near a decent job, imho.

https://hugathome.co.uk/collections/hug-rug

Imitation turf is plastic and non-absorbent (I also detest the stuff! )

We have absorbent mats in the van but my thought was mud might come off easier on something a bit rougher.

 

[saxonborg]

Basically we do what @Robmac said above.

We have taught our pooch "washpaws" so when we return home she trots quietly to the shower for a spray down as required. (Note, we do live in a bungalow with hard flooring). The system also works when in the van.

We have carpeted our van with Flotex. It's fitted in three pieces so the piece nearest the door can be easily lifted and washed down outside; a good second line of defence against muddy paws should the other lines be breached!

Thought about Flotex but quite expensive.

 

[saxonborg]

We have a dog bag. No idea what they are really called but it has a velcro collar and zip up back. Open it up, put now grumpy doggie in, zip it up and wait. Dog dries, mud collects in the fleece material and is sort of ok.

It worked well enough last week when we spent 4 days / 3 nights walking about the muddy woods South of Dumfries.

However, parked up at lunchtime today and I saw a dog walker with what looked like a 10 liter bottle with a hand pump to pressurise it with air and a spray nozzles being used to wash doggie...
So there are many solutions other than AstroTurf...
Cheers,
-G

Good idea but 35kg of wet Retriever takes some handling now.

 

[saxonborg]

That sounds like a product called the Mud Daddy. No doubt there will be other similar models.

But I wanted to say, particularly at this time of year, washing mud off your dog is believed to help reduce the risk of the fatal disease CRGV, also known as Alabama Rot. To see whether you are in a high risk area, there's a map here -

Live Map of Cases | Check Your Location | CRGV | Alabama Rot

There is a possibility there are environmental triggers for Alabama rot. Find out reported cases near you by looking at our live map.

www.alabama-rot.co.uk

Tks for the info have heard of it before but forgot.

 

[saxonborg]

We carried a 12 volt shower unit which could plug in to the external power point. We never needed to use it on a trip but it has been used on our front lawn after a dog walk. Usually to wash off Fox poo which smells 'orrible to humans but like Chanel to dogs.

From memory we should have 2 or even 3 of those Doggy Bags. We got them for the Whippets a good while back but hardly used them. I think one is unused. I might stick them on here for sale (if I can find them).

Think I have one still in it’s box, must have a look.

 

[saxonborg]

@Jeanette Green is right about bath mats. They are thicker than towels so absorb a lot more of the muck & moisture.

I’ve got a stash of old towels which also do the job with muddy/wet animals.

Both options easily washed.

The Dirt Trapper and Hug Rugs are very practical and good if you want something that looks a bit ‘posher’ than bath mats and towels. Hug rugs also wash easily, I swear by them in the house as you walk straight into our kitchen from the front door and they work a treat. But the washing machine is only a few feet away too, completely different situation from dealing with mucky stuff when you’re away living in campers

We have plenty of towels and absorbent mats but was just looking for something that could be left in place that would benefit canines and humans.

 

[saxonborg]

A Professional dog walker told us to get some Bath Mats from Aldi as they were super absorbent. Three of them fit into the back of the car very well and they do a great job of absorbing water. They are small enough to chuck in the washing machine when dirty.

Will have a look next time we are shopping.

 

[saxonborg]

We tried imitation grass but found it hard to light

Obviously wasn’t full of weed.

 

[rugbyken]

i have a pump up garden spray not a favourite of either dog but gets the thick stuff of then just old towels

 

[maingate]

This thread got me thinking about a 12 volt shower for Camping. I bought mine many years ago just before they stopped being sold. I know that quite a few people used the same one in selfbuilds. There were very few similar types available back then, some of them were crap. I have just had a look online and there are lots of them for sale and they look good quality.

There is even a gas powered heater with shower hose (5 litre capacity) which could be useful, although not cheap. Worth a look in my opinion.