Clean house and a satisfied dog

I have to admit, I was a bit worried before adopting our dog, Saci ( Schatzi, a Hungarian nickname for Charlotte ). Besides the fact that she is 8 years old, she has to live in the house - a house we have been working on so hard for almost a year now. It's freshly painted ( white, of course), we have brand new pine wood floor, a 100-year old grand piano, and several beautiful pieces of furniture inherited from my man's grandparents. Moreover, almost everything is black and/or white - even the carpet in the living room, where both we and the dog spend most of our time.

So yeah, I was worried a bit before she arrived. I read books, watched youtube videos and read some more books, trying to adapt some of the advices I believed worth adapting. But my biggest help came from Vilmos Csányi, a world-renowned Hungarian ethologist specialized in dogs. In one of his books, he emphasizes the importance of rules and rituals for dogs: rituals that do not only teach us to be more deliberate owners, but give our dogs tasks and a sense of achievement every time they perform right in a given situation.

So we created some rituals, the first one being: never go inside the living room without your paws being cleaned first. Every time when we arrive from a walk, or we just come back inside from the garden, Saci sits down in the kitchen and waits for her paws to be cleaned. Sometimes, when she is too excited she rushes in after the third, but overall, she enjoys it. Lately - since the last couple of days were quite rainy -, she even needs a full-body cleaning with a towel.She does not seem to like it that much, but she certainly likes it more than the thought of being washed in the bathtub.

Rule number two: She has her own spot on the carpet covered with a small blanket, where she usually sits when not lying on the sofa. Yeah, the sofa... Saci has an obsession for sofas, they are her safe havens. This means that she is not interested in sleeping on the carpet anyway, but in case we sit on the sofa, she sleeps at her blanket on the floor.

Rule number three: No dog in bed.

Rule number four: Long daily walks, tasks, games and a lot of love.

That's it. I know that we are lucky to have a dog like Saci, since only after 3 weeks of living together,  she acts she's been living with us for years. But believe me when I say: with some simple rules, tasks, weary muscles and a mind kept busy, you will end up with a perfect dog and a clean house at the same time.