Any fellow clean freaks out there?
 

Sometimes I don't know why I have a dog, and I wonder how I ever had 2 of them before Milo died. I have such an obsession with cleanliness that it's ridiculous. Some people have told me that since I have a dog, I can't expect to be as clean as a non-pet owner. To that, I say no way! I absolutely strive to make it so that if you were to walk into my house, there isn't any way you could even tell we have pets. With cats, it's easy since they're really clean animals. That's probably why I've loved cats so much, they're so little work. They never have accidents, they wash themselves, and they generally behave.

Then there's the Yorkie. Whenever I get home from work and let him out of the kitchen, I make sure to smell him and his paws first to make sure he doesn't smell. I don't want any bad smells on my carpet or my furniture. Secondly, while he runs around on the carpet I watch his every move so there's no accidents. If he tries to run upstairs to get out of my line of vision, I call him back down. He knows by now I don't like it when he's out of my sight.

I vacuum all the time. I don't leave out too many toys because it just looks like a mess to me! But it is a success, because if you were to walk into the house, I don't think you could tell he even exists. All you'd see is the two cats staring at you, most likely.

Does anybody else have an obsession with keeping everything looking and smelling clean?? It's pretty much to the point that I'll about sacrifice anything to keep things clean.

Really? You think cats are completely the opposite! I think the litter box is disgustingly nasty (I hate scooping and emptying it once a week!). Cat also shed so hair sticks to everything.

My two dogs are easy! I just Swiffer often, use Yankee candles, and bathe them once a week.

Well, the litter box is put in a guest bathroom that's never used, so it's easy to keep it out of the line of people's vision that come over. Plus, we always buy the best litter we can for odor reduction and make sure to keep the boxes pretty clean. I'll take them outside and hose them off sometimes too, just to be sure.

As far as hair goes, it depends on the cat a lot. We have 2 cats; 1 that sheds a lot and one that sheds little.

My main problem is just smells though. I get worried sick he'll walk through his own urine and spread it in my house. I look at bad smells as embarrassing things.

dont sweat the small stuff!!! life it too short :)

I'm am an extreme neat freak. I just got my fur baby about two weeks ago and I am constantly following him around to make sure there are no accidents. I vaccuum my house at least once a day not to mention spot cleaning on the carpet. I know exactly how you feel!!:animal36

Ah, I can't stop. I'm very OCD, diagnosed and all. I just feel that since the house is pretty new that I need to do all I can to keep it looking and smelling new so that the value stays up.

If you haven't already, get that Woolite Pod thing for cleaning stains. I'm telling you, it's a miracle worker.

I consider myself a clean freak too but to me this sounds so sad. I'm proud to be a dog owner and want people to see and know I have dogs. Sorry, I don't mean to be rude. I don't want my house to smell or look messy either but having doggie toys scattered all over the family room tells me they are having fun. I always pick them all up before bed time.

I just hope that you enjoy having them around!!!

OCD here to. I also smell Izzy to make sure so doesnt smell like pee and everything is hardwood except the bedrooms. and shes not allowed on them. I could go on and on with this novel.

I didn't mean it in a bad way. It's just my way of saying that I like to keep an immaculate house. Heck, I'd like to have so you can't even know that *I* live there! No messes by anybody!

I was a clean freak to the extreme until someone said to me one day do you want to be remembered after you die as just someone who had a spotless house. It so struck home for me , my mum died when I was 13 and we all talk about her and all the quirks that went with living with a clean freak. Sadly it is how we all remember her and how we were not allowed to truly live in our own home.

I have lightened up a lot even though my house is still clean we are allowed to live in it , dog toys and all.

Hardwood. I'm jealous. I want to get some of that before the year is out. Definitely in the dining room and maybe the living room. That would ease my concerns quite a bit.

I used to be a clean freak and then came Maddie, and now Libby. My home, car and yard were immaculate. Now I can't keep everything perfect...I wash the windows, they smear them up...I pick up their toys...they drag them out again. My house is still clean...it just doesn't look as tidy as it used to and I've gotten so I don't worry about it.

I agree..that's another reason I don't own cats...;) plus, they jump up on the table and kitchen counters(even when the owners don't think they do), to me, I think cats are totally opposite and aren't as clean as dogs..plus my brothers cat(that he finally took to a no kill shelter at the age of 14, was spayed, but, yet started urinating on everything, that's why they got rid of her..

LOL, okay I can definately relate to that. My kids, who are now in their mid 20's and no longer live at home still talk about when I would get mad at them if they walked on my freshly vacuumed living room or dining room carpet. I use to make everyone stay out of those rooms just so the carpet was never tracked up with footprints. What a waste. I think I'm a little more relaxed now.

I also now have all hardwoods except in the 3 guest bedrooms (which are blocked off to the dogs). It does make it so much easier to keep clean. I hope that you will be able to get hardwood floors also.

I can relate to you as well... I am a cleaning fanatic but not by choice. I have always been a regular cleaner but when my daughter had a transplant, I had no choice but to clean everything in site from top to bottom. I vacuum every day for her health and disinfect everything that I can with Clorox wipes just to keep her healthy and not to have dog germs around. We are so fortunate we were even allowed to have a dog in our house ... but I think deep down the doctors knew that because I was a cleaner, they knew our house would be spotless and thus allowed us the opportunity to enjoy Kiki being with us.

Nothing wrong with being clean, I just wish it didn't have to be our entire life right now.


Anna

Welcome to my world! I too, am a clean freak!! I breed yorkies too and the people that come to look at puppies usually say they wouldn't even know I have dogs in the house!!! One woman commented... "that air purifier you have running really works... I can't smell any dogs!!"" .... I don't have an air purifier.... it was a HEATER she was actually talking about!!! :D

You live only two hours away from me... maybe we can start a "CLEAN FREAK CLUB"! ;)

I am very much a clean freak!. I do laundry every 2 days, clean my kitchen with bleach every night. bathroom gets cleaned every other day. I vacuum ALL the time. I am always picking up doggie toys (currently training them to do so themselves). I clean their paws as soon as the get in the house from pottying and the list goes on....:rolleyes: . I am trying to cut back and calm down, because i do not want to end up "crazy" over a spoon in the sink. I get so frustarted when my other half doesn't put away clothing or wash a plate after using it:thumbdown

I should look to you as my idol. That's awesome. You're more thorough than me!

You dont want to take after me . I am INSANE (my family says that:( ). I was caught cleaning the refrigerator last night at 2 am..felt a little embarassed but it need to be done:eek: . I need INTERVENTION!

Cleaning the ref. sound like a great idea to me lol. Im so bad about cleaning and washing hands, my hands bleed, and hurt so bad sometimes I cant sleep at night (great time to get up and clean lol). I have been on medication before for the OCD, I am much better now, but I do love a clean house.:D

I LOVE a clean house, clean dogs, clean everything. I have not been diagnosed with OCD, dont know if i want to be:) but i wouldn't mind taking it down a notch.

My dear Mother who is now passed, was a major clean freak(she got it from her mother who is still a clean freak at 87). She was always so stressed out over the house, and you know it is said that stress can cause a lot, I often think that is one of the causes of her Cancer. We lived in a huge house, my Mothers dream house, 3 levels and about 4,000 sq. ft. so it worked her to death to keep it to her standards. No walking on carpet after vacummed(which was everyday), wipe the sink after washing hands, do laundry at least 3-4 times a day, no food anywhere but kitchen, no laying in bed with bedspread I could go on and on. We loved her dearly, but it was very hard dealing with her addiction as we called it. To this day my brother, Dad and I remember her for that the most. We had a hard time bringing friends over because we didn't want to mess something up. I always swore I would not make it that way on my kids, and when we first built our house I could see myself becoming that, so I now make a huge effort to not be that way and life is so much more relaxed. Don't get me wrong I like a clean house and organized like no dirty dishes in sink or laundry on the floor and beds made, I just don't make it my main concern. Although I do sweep every day, I think it is relaxing, but I clean the rest once a week. Life is too short and my kids are only young once and I want to remember my time with them not driving myself or them crazy over cleanliness like my Mother did. This was a huge part of my growing up so sorry story is so long, it is a pretty emotional subject for me. I don't want anyone to take it the wrong way, this is just how I feel about it for me and my family. If you can be a clean freak without it stressing you or anyone in your house out, I am all for it.

Cleaning
 

I am not a clean freak...my home is clean and lived in. Ya'll can come deep clean my home. I have an in home preschool and 3 dogs and my parents always ask me how do I keep my home up with all the activity in our home. Everyone has something to do here....not just me that keeps the house up.

Do you have kids? If you dont have kids yet it will got worse, thats when mine began 8.5 years ago. I mean in between posting Im changing bed sheets, mopping, cooking lunch and cleaning commodes :D Im sorry I love it. My kids know the first thing they do is walk through the door is wash hands. When my kids were really little we carried a potty chair in the car we NEVER used a public bathroom.:rolleyes:

I am definately a clean freak. Having dogs doesn't mean you can't have a clean house, just means you have to do more work to keep it that way. All of ours combined don't make the mess my hubby or kiddo do.:rolleyes:

Great post!!:thumbup: You made some great points.

You said it the best of any poster so I won't add anything else

You said what I was trying to say , our stories are so similar I am just not good with words. Thank you.