So we live in the Nevada desert and last year we got very little rain or snow and the fact that Finley and our other dog, Chloe like to romp around and go nuts they have pretty much pulverized the ground into dust. It's dusty here to start with anyway. He loves to lay in the dirt and when he comes in the house and lays on the wood floor, well you get the picture. I brush him a little everyday and that helps but Im wondering if there any tips that you may have. I don't like to give him to many baths but every so often I do that. We have 2 acres and he has access to a good acre in the back yard. My plan is to bring in rock and lay that down about 30 feet out from the house. Some rock and some lawn as I know how much he loves lawn. The previous owners here did a lot of above ground gardening and there are 10 large planter boxes in the back yard. Well he loves to sleep outside during the summer and many times I see him sleeping in those boxes with the potting soil. I did buy a really nice cordless stick vacuum that has been a life saver. I would mention the name but that may be against forum rules so I wont. Do anyway, any ideas about the dust issue on Finley or is it just a summer thing that we will most likely have to deal with?

We have abundant lawn, live in the ample-moisture northeast and STILL have dirt falling out of Mr. Dog regularly (you will see in many of my comments..."changed the sheets again" always due to either sand falling from him jumping on our bed or mud tromping on our sheets.) Or the floors. He also has dug a crater behind the rhododendrons next to the foundation that is pure dirt and he loves that when it is beastly hot outside.

The only trick I've come up with, other than my new washer and dryer, which was a pain but now is a god-send, is I put an old mover's blanket on the floor of the laundry room where he comes in from outside and encourage, lead/drag him all over that. Or put down a kong or bone or dinner on that and then brush while he is occupied. For smelly dog syndrome (usually mean he got into the swampy mud on the northwest corner ) I sprinkle corn-starch baby powder on him, rub it in and 15 minutes later, brush it out.

Or he is just plain banished to either the outside or the laundry-room/kitchen until he has "dumped his load" so to speak. Most of the dust/dirt/sand seems to vanish within 15-30 minutes of coming in...I call him the magical self-cleaning dog. Except it IS all over the floor but the laundry room is vinyl and the kitchen is wood and is easy to do a quick vacuum.

Hi Tom / Sharon - I live in the desert over south east of you a ways (the Big Bend Region of Texas). My front yard fits your description, a layer of dust on top of some rather hard caliche - Avalanche likes to sun bathe so he comes in dusty; Shasha somehow gets into the dust as well and .... well, I gave up! Sasha gets a brush run through her longish hair but too much and she's ready to leave well enough alone, Avalanche - there are two things he won't tolerate at all - a water hose and the brush.

I just vacuum as needed (well, not as needed but often enough that the hair and dust don't get more than a few inches thick) but then, I'm an old bachelor living in the middle of nowhere so no one really minds ....

Good luck!!!!

Well Im glad we are not the only one!  We have learned to deal with it and it's not too bad.  

Here is the lazy dirt loving boy now, we had a walk scheduled but he wanted to sleep some more instead!

" />