rugs and dogs. can they co-exist?

We are on living room rug number 4 and have lived here for almost 5 years. The first was a flokati we had from the Chicago apartment days that did not last very long. It was replaced by a wool rug from ikea. Yes, Mark came home with a white rug from ikea. I hated this one the most. Mind you he found it in the scratch and dent section and a good bargain for sure but a white rug in our house…really? Not only did it show every paw print, construction boot print, and dog vomit spot, it was like owning a second pet. This thing shed so much! This shedding dingy thing had to go and was replaced by a gray rug I bought at Meijer for $24.99. I loved this rug. It could have been bigger but it had a cute textural pattern on it and come on - $24.99!! That was going to be my goal from here on out…only buy rugs costing less than $30 bucks and replace them often. This Meijer rug made it for almost a year, I think, with the help of the Woolite rug stick and cleaning foam that has since become my best friend. I’m not sure what the magnetic pull is to the living room however if Lottie needs to puke she goes straight to that rug and lets loose. It finally got a spot that just wouldn’t come out so it was replaced with what I believe to be the most perfect rug in the universe – a $27.99 beauty from the Home Depot. I probably should not admit to how many times Lottie has hurled on this rug as you might think twice about ever sitting in my living room… but rest assured, this rug is so stain resistant and cleans up so well with the Woolite foam that I am going to be devastated if I cannot replace it with another exactly like it. And I look every time I go to the Home Depot and never have seen another like it. Can you feel the panic!! Which brings us to yesterday afternoon. I went to the post office and forgot to close the dog door before I left. Lottie doesn’t usually go outside if she’s home alone but there must have been a squirrel taunting her and she could not resist the chase. When I got home 20 minutes later, my rug was covered in black muddy paw prints and there was Lottie standing there with pieces of grass still stuck between her toes. Wow, this is going to be the real test for this rug. Can the Woolite clean THIS mess?? I scrubbed and vacuumed and scrubbed and vacuumed. I think I need to do the whole cleaning process one more time today but I’m not sure that these mud stains are going to come completely out. I know this backyard mud. These are the same muddy paw prints that never came out of my white bedspread! We’ll see what another session with the Woolite does. Who knows, maybe I’ll get lucky this weekend at the Home Depot and find another one. Or maybe there is an even better $30 rug out there somewhere?? We shall see.



Something to add... multiple $30 rugs can really add up in our landfills. A couple of our rugs have been repurposed to the garage and basement where it doesn't matter how gross they are. This website gives some recycling and repurposing options for your old area rugs:
http://www.greenyour.com/home/furnishings/carpet-and-rugs/tips/recycle-carpet-rugs-and-padding