Dog drool removal

Apparently, my dogs bowls hadn’t been cleaning for years before I showed up as their new adopted mother. Turns out they needed to adopt me just as much as I needed to find purpose in the continuous pleasing of two practically puppies and a middle aged neglected puggle. Our baby puggle had a terrible case of gingivitis and breath that could kill a smaller living creature and had been the culprit of my gagging time and again. She had a recent teeth cleaning which made a HUGE difference and was put on antibiotics for a while (I obbbbviously gave her daily acidophilus to protect her tummy and it did wonders… but that’s another story!). I wanted to be sure that even if she was licking her brother and sisters bowls clean for them she wasn’t licking up weeks of wicked nasty buildup. But after months of just dishwashing my dogs bowls to find them still left with a slimy film making me feel as if the rest of my dishes had now adopted a bit of their own dog problems, I sought a healthy solution. Though I am not fond of using our pot and pan scrubber for :please excuse the grossness: snot filled, slimy, crumbs left behind, stainless steel, I found a way to fight the slobber without much scrubbing and minimal hassle.

After just 1 meal this is what the bowl looks like.. ew...

So, after dinner clean up or before bed I place the water bowl and three dog bowls in the sink, two on the bottom and two resting atop. After putting the two bottom bowls I spray some HOT water on them just get them wet and then generously sprinkle baking soda. Same goes for the top two.

In the morning I give them each a light spritz of my all-purpose-vinegar-blend and then lightly scrub and rinse the bowls-- usually while my husband’s coffee is brewing, omelets setting or bagel is toasted, and then I squirt an inch or so of rubbing alcohol onto one of my rags (usually one that’s resting on the side of the sink having already dried and wiped something) and wipe each bowl out, including the bottom. I might re-alcohol the rag between bowls but it’s almost not necessary. Not only does the alcohol-rub dry the bowls but it’s certainly disinfecting them in a very natural way. Then I toss the rag into the dirty rag bin, stack the bowls and feel clean and accomplished.

My dog-babies have truly become my children and keeping their bowls clean helps me sleep at night and most definitely doesn’t hurt their chances of a longer, healthier life. Now if only brushing their teeth were so easy…