For people with pets, their dogs or cats essentially are members of their family. But unlike other family members, pets can shed their fur all over your clothes, furniture, and floors. And when the weather is damp or rainy, your pets can track mud and dirt inside your home.

Owning pets is one of life’s most rewarding experiences. But it also can create big messes in your home. Your professional cleaners can remove pet fur and dander and clean muddy paw prints from your floors, but what about in between home cleanings? What can pet owners do to keep their loving companions from making their home look like a disaster zone?

Keeping Up with Shedding

If you were smart enough to get a breed of dog or cat that doesn’t shed its fur, you are already ahead of the game. But most pet owners don’t think about that sort of thing when choosing a new family member.

The trick to dealing with shedding fur is to keep up with it. There’s not really anything you can do to stop it. But you can stop your pet from leaving furballs and dirt devils on your floors and especially under your furniture by vacuuming and sweeping regularly. Once you get into the habit of giving your floors a quick cleaning to remove pet fur and dander, it becomes second nature.

Hold Pets at the Door

Tracked mud and dirt from pet paws is a trickier proposition. Dogs don’t track dirt into the house all the time, only on rainy or snowy days.

The trick is to pay attention to the weather. If you let your pet outside to play or to do their business when it’s damp out, make sure to keep an old towel or rag by the door. It’s also a good idea to have a small rug on the floor just inside the door.,

Then, before letting your pet into the house, make sure to wipe their paws thoroughly so they don’t track mud, dirt, and debris throughout your home.

Owning pets is rewarding. But it’s also a lot of work. These steps can help make sure your pets create less of a mess between professional house cleanings.