2 of the biggest reasons…
I’ll never have a clean house.
Meet Bella and Boog.
Bella is a suspected pit mix (brown) who I found in the middle of nowhere about 3 years ago starving to death and covered in hundreds of ticks. Her previous captors had zip tied her collar to her from a young age and it was starting to embed in her skin. I had to cut off her collar bc there was not enough slack to get the clasp undone. She’s a healthy 100lbs now, at best guess. She’s massive, nonetheless. 😂
She loves tennis balls, all bones, and stuffies to demolish. Unfortunately, she likes to chew things up and then actually eat them. So she’s down to a bone and a ball. She also snores like an overweight trucker, even when she’s not asleep… but vets say she’s fine, little chunky, but she’s been spayed and that apparently is normal.
She also loves her best friend, Boog.
Boog is beautiful, fluffy, and deaf as a damn doorknob. We have no idea what breed he is, just that’s he’s the best boy ever. I love his silly self, but my god is he irritating. Always a shadow, even if you can clearly see from one end of our little house to the other in almost any direction. He routinely drives me to crazy tears.
He’s not allowed in the kitchen. Not because he’s a counter surfer, but bc he never stops wagging his tail and all that gorgeous fluff ends up in food or on the utensils and things. It’s a work in progress and we are always vigilant of those long white hairs.
He’s also the reason we can never walk outside in the dark. Bless his heart, he likes to create booby traps in the form of holes just deep enough to either break an ankle or completely disappear. If anyone needs a well-digger, I gotchu. He’s kind of obsessive, but being deaf comes with its own set of problems. It’s not like I can just yell at him to stop….regardless of what my husband thinks. 😑
So why do these two mean I’ll never have a clean house? Allow me to point to the digging aspect one more time. Boog routinely comes in the house looking like he’s been mud ridding. Bella is a good girl, but she loves to sleep and occasionally rolls off into a pit of water, thanks to her lovely partner. Baths? Forget about it. Boog will bite if his feet are touched, so… dealing with dirt is better than putting him down for snapping. Bella just throws up from the stress.
These two are house dogs. They love being around people. Even after being in their pen all day, they are always so ready to be inside to lay on their pillow, bed, or people because they mistake themselves for Yorkies.
So, in comes mud. Mud dries. Both decide it’s the perfect time to rough play. Stir up dust. Dust settles on every conceivable surface in the entire house.
Me being me, all I see is a lost cause and get very overwhelmed with the cleaning part of it. Floors look great for about 30 mins, surfaces look new and shiny for about half that time, then the cycle repeats. 😩
But ya know what? I’m not sorry for that. I’m not sorry that most days I can barely get out of bed. I’m not sorry that most days all I can manage to do is make coffee which does absolutely nothing to me anymore.
I am not sorry for barely making it through another day, barely moving because that’s all the energy I have for the day. I’m not sorry my dogs are spoiled indoor/outdoor babies.
I. Am. Not. Sorry.
Okay, let's be real. Living with furry, chaotic loves like Bella and Boog means a perfectly clean house is a myth. And you know what? I'm completely okay with that! If anyone judges my muddy paws or fluffy tumbleweeds, my inner voice just goes, 'loser says what?' It’s a constant battle, isn't it? One minute the house is sparkling, the next, Boog and Bella are engaged in some vigorous rough play on the wooden floor, stirring up dust bunnies the size of small rodents. Then there's the mud from their outdoor adventures – especially Boog's digging escapades! I swear he thinks he’s a professional excavator. And Bella, my sweet pit mix, sometimes just rolls into a muddy puddle created by her partner in crime. Forget baths; that’s a whole other trauma for them (and me!), so managing the dirt becomes a daily ritual that often feels like a lost cause. I used to stress about it. I'd feel a pang of guilt when friends came over, feeling like I had to apologize for the stray hairs or the faint smell of 'dog.' But then I realized something: this mess is a byproduct of pure, unconditional love. Every muddy paw print, every fluffy hair tumbleweed, every slightly-chewed toy is a testament to the joy and life these two bring into my home. Who cares if my surfaces aren't pristine 24/7? My dogs are happy, healthy, and incredibly loved. So, my advice to fellow pet parents dealing with the constant chaos? Embrace it! Shift your mindset. Instead of seeing a mess, see a home full of life. See the evidence of happy dogs playing, napping on their favorite dog bed, and generally just being their wonderful, chaotic selves. Invest in a good vacuum, maybe some chic storage for toys, but most importantly, invest in your mental peace. Don't let the pressure of a perfectly clean home steal the joy of living with your best furry friends. Life with Bella and Boog isn't always neat, but it's always full of love and laughter. And if anyone has something to say about my perfectly imperfect, dog-filled home? Well, my heart knows my home is rich in love, and that’s all that matters. So, to anyone judging my mess, I'll just smile and think, 'loser says what?' because I'm not sorry for a single furry, muddy, wonderful moment.
🥹awhh, honestly you gotta worry more about the dogs being clean so the house don’t get dirty 😂