Keep Fido from tracking snow and dirt into your home this winter

I wrote this review last winter for a local website, but I thought I'd share it earlier in the season so you all can be prepared before the snow starts falling!  Remember last January when we seemed to get a foot of new snow every week?!

Snowy Daisy

Another storm dropped 11" of snow on Boston this week and yes (big sigh) another storm is on its way promising a similar amount of snow. Walking the dog is hard enough in winter, but with all this snow it seems Fido is also constantly tracking snow, mud, salt and dirt into the house. Should you just give in to the mess and hope for an early spring? No! Try a "doggie chamois" instead.

After checking out options at local Boston pet stores, I decided to test out the "BowWow Pet Shammy", $6.95 at Fish and Bone (Newbury St., Back Bay). It was the least expensive option that still came with a sales rep recommendation. The official product description states: "The Bow Wow Shammy (20" x 27") is a super absorbent shammy made in Germany that has endless uses for your pets! Variety of Uses: Holds up to 20x its weight. Great crate liner. Keep pet entrances clean and dry. Dries your pet fast after a wet outdoor activity. Makes pet clean up quick and easy."

I was admittedly hesitant, but tried out the Bow Wow Pet Shammy in two scenarios: first, after taking my dog Daisy on a one hour walk through several snow banks and a snow-covered dog park and second, after giving Daisy a bath.

The Bow Wow Pet Shammy was extremely absorbant and big enough to wipe down my 50lb dog after a snowy walk. Bigger dogs would likely need multiple shammies though. I liked that I could see the dirt come off of her and onto the towel.  The towel felt damp after one use, but felt dry thirty minutes later after I hung it up. After the bath, the shammy took significant moisture off Daisy but still didn't prevent my couch and bed from becoming damp after she climbed on them. In that scenario it also felt dry after thirty minutes. The packaging claims the product is machine washable (line dry only), but after washing I felt that the shammy lost a lot of its absorbancy. Not so much that I can't use it still, but enough that it's noticable.

Final take: At $6.95,The Bow Wow Shammy worked well enough to recommend. Not a home run, but significantly better than washing your floors every week. I recommend having dedicated shammies for different uses. Save one (or two) for after bathtime, when your dog is nice and clean, keep one in the travel bag so you can clean up spills in the car, and leave one by the door to wipe down Fido's paws after playing outside. Wash infrequently to preserve absorbancy, which is another good reason to have multiple shammies on hand.

Besides Fish and Bone, I also found the Bow Wow Shammy available online, with Amazon having the best deal.

DIY pet project: Doggie duvet

Is your pet's bed in need of some refreshing? Are you (minimally) handy with a sewing machine? If so, here's a great weekend project for creating a new cover for your pet's bed. A doggie duvet, if you will.

Here is my dog Daisy's bed before I went to work on it. The bed itself functions fine and Daisy seems to like it, but after 18 months the top has a few holes and is threadbare in areas.

BEFORE: A nice soft bed, but not exactly easy on the eyes

I went to my local fabric shop, Grey's Fabric & Notions, and picked up some gray cotton canvas to make the cover. Select a material that is durable enough for your dog's wear and tear (Daisy doesn't tear or scratch at her bed so I had that going for me) and one is durable enough to be washed over and over. Alternatively, if you think your dog will destroy ANY bed, you could make this cover and save it just for when you have company over!

Measure the bed. Daisy's was 36"X24"X5". The project is easier with a rectangular bed, unless you have better sewing skills than I do :) I needed 3 yards of fabric to cover this bed, you might need more or less. Important point: make sure you wash and dry the fabric before you start measuring, cutting or sewing. This canvas shrank a LOT but I'd rather know that beforehand, not after I've put in a lot of work.

You'll likely need 5 pieces of fabric cut to make your bed cover. A "top" (the dimensions of the top of your bed), 2 overlapping "bottom" pieces (these should be the dimensions of the bottom of the bed, except for the length, which should be about 4" past the midpoint. The bottom pieces will overlap so that you can fill the bed cover with the actual bed (no zippers required!) but it will still look nice with no open gaps), and 2 gusset pieces (if you're lucky and can make a single gusset piece do that. My gusset needed to be 60"X5" -- 36" + 24" + 36" + 24" -- and it didn't make sense to buy that much extra fabric just to keep my gusset in one piece).

Now here's the sewing part. Pin your fabric good sides facing in and sew your bed cover together. Take your time and back sure your angles and dimensions look good. You can use a decorative hem on the overlapped bottom pieces for a nice added touch.

When you're done it should look like this!

AFTER: A doggie bed I actually want to look at!

For added flair you can stencil your dog's name or cute phrase onto your bed cover. I thought "Lazy Daisy" seemed appropriate! Since my stenciling skills are much better than my sewing skills, I stenciled after completing the bed cover, but it would probably be easier to do it the other way around. Do whatever makes you feel confident.

I created the stencils by first using MS Word to create the desired font and size of my letters. Once printed, I taped a transparency sheet to the page and then used an Exacto knife to cut the transparency in the shape of my letters, thus creating the stencil. There are easier ways to do this, including using freezer paper, printable transparency sheets or even buying stencils from your local craft store, but I went with what I had on hand. Once you have your stencil, tape it securely to the fabric. You don't want it moving. Place a piece of paper or cardboard inside the dog bed so the paint doesn't accidentally seep through to other pieces of your fabric. (With a heavy canvas like I used that's not likely, but better to be safe than sorry!) Use a textile paint, preferably once that is labeled "for dark colors" or "opaque". These paints are thicker, giving you better coverage with less effort and IMO will wash better. Here's a close-up of my stencil.

Close-up: I actually slipped the bed onto my ironing board to do the stenciling. It provided a nice, flat surface.

I used a sponge brush to do the stenciling, which was nice because after I pulled the stencil off (let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes before pulling off so the paint has time to set) I could go back and dab some paint on in areas I felt needed it. Don't get greedy though - I make 90% of my mistakes because I can't leave well enough alone!

The final step for the stenciling is heat setting it. Put a piece of plain paper below the stenciled portion (inside the bed) and one on top. Using the highest setting the fabric will allow, press an iron over the painted area. Try to press straight down on the paint and not the typical sweeping motion we all do when ironing. Heat literally seals the paint to the fabric so you want to make sure you do that evenly and completely.

I know it seems like a lot of steps, but it is actually a pretty easy project for a weekend. Daisy gets to keep her comfy old bed and I get something that I can leave out when family comes for Thanksgiving. It cost about $30 for all materials.