Re: [PyrNet-L] Perhaps you can help

[MagEBroD@aol.com]

In a message dated 5/19/99 2:35:11 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
espinay@dynamite.com.au writes:

<< Have you thought about a compromise regarding house access?
 Perhaps, depending on the layout of your house, you could give the dogs
 access to areas like the kitchen and bedrooms when you are there, but not to
 areas like the lounge and dining room where you entertain guests.  You can
 block these off using 'baby gates'.
  >>

   I'd like to ditto this statement!  Maybe have a TV/Family room where you 
can all relax and kick back and where the dogs and popcorn and pizza and 
snacks are  allowed.  I know I have had strictly outdoor dogs and dogs that 
are part-time outside dogs.  Now I could not live without having the dogs 
inside some of the time at least.  The benefits far outweigh the 
disadvantages, for us at least. However, I will caution you to stay out of 
that room at those times when you must be immaculate.  Or like me, always 
have a number of excellent lint brushes handy in various rooms and all your 
cars!!  Or double-wide masking tape rolls work great, too!!  Just pull off a 
good section of it long enough to wrap sticky side out around your palm and 
back of your hand and stick ends to themself and use it to pick up hairs, 
turning it as it fills up with hairs. Replace as needed. Then have the rest 
of your house for entertaining. Figure that there will be spills in this 
room, also, and that you need to plan for that, by not having fancy rugs 
there. Have it be a place to relax and do not expect it to be immaculate and 
you will enjoy it more. It will probably end up being the favorite room for 
all in the house, and that will help you to keep those places for entetaining 
stay nicer as a result. Could also be a sunroom type room.  Have comfortable 
furniture there, but not fancy stuff, unless you cover it with comforters or 
sheets when dogs are there.  We don't entertain in a formal fashion, so our 
regular living room is for everyone. Still, I have one nice new couch there 
and I always keep a comforter or sheets handy to put on it. Mattie, our couch 
potato dog likes it better because it has a better view of the TV!!  Plus she 
needs constant belly rubs and it is the favorite place for her personal 
belly-rubbers to sit, also. So it is usually covered with something to keep 
it nice. We make the dogs dry off in our entry foyer until dry and the mud 
has dried and fallen off. For your situation, I would consider a mud room off 
of the Family Room for family members to take off their grubby clothes and 
shoes/boots and let them dry there and make it big enough for the dogs to lay 
there and dry off.  We keep a crate and dog food and water in our entry foyer 
and rugs for them to lay on. It has a linoleum floor. Our Family Room has a 
oak floor that is easy to maintain and clean up spills from and easy to 
vaccuum up dog hair. Maybe have some large pillows with zippered washable 
covers on them for the Family Room for humans to put on the floor to cuddle 
and give belly rubs there at times.  My kids like to sometimes sit on the 
floor and play with toys or games on them. One thing we have done is keep old 
special souvenier T-Shirts and fill them with washable stuffing materials 
when the boys outgrow them, but want to keep them for souveniers. You could 
put zippers on them, too. Or decorative ones with washable covers. I think it 
is important for any family to have at least one place to kick back and relax 
and not worry about keeping everything immaculate. Sometimes this is your 
regular living room or great room and sometimes if, like in your case, you 
need part of the house to be dog hair and scent free - then you need a 
separate place for that. It may seem like a lot, but I think you'll never 
regret it!!

:)  &  :)```   (me grinning & Albert grinning & drooling!)

See Albert's photo at:   
http://www.sonic.net/~cdlcruz/pyr-l/pyrlpix3.htm#Albert

Janice Vocke
MagEBroD@aol.com
Shelton, WA.