I get taking shoes and even outside clothes off coming into a home. I don’t do it in my own home. But I get why people would want to. The world can be gross. Having home be a respite from that is a great idea. What I don’t get is the anecdotal overlap I see in that so many of these homes have dogs, who traipse through yards and cities with no such foot covering and come straight back home. One of my friends has a dog door- her dogs go in and out multiple times per day, then inside, right past the pile of people shoes at the door, all over the floors, the furniture the beds. None of these homes seem to wipe their dogs paws, and frankly even if they did, dogs are much more likely to be covered in all sorts of grossness- they like it more/seek it out and are bathed (significantly) more rarely.
Seems irrational to me to try to maintain any sort of shoes-off or outside/inside clothes hygiene standard when dogs are involved.
Comments
Please remember what subreddit you are in, this is unpopular opinion. We want civil and unpopular takes and discussion. Any uncivil and ToS violating comments will be removed and subject to a ban. Have a nice day!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
So dogs should wear little dog shoes.
Why in th fuck would all hygiene rules go out the window just because a dog is walking through the house?
Ahh yes, a bit of dirt here from the dog. Welp, all rules are out. Anarchy only from here on out. Time to start shitting in the corner of the house.
Depends on the home, I clean my dog’s feet every time he comes inside (we don’t have a doggy door). Is it perfectly clean? No, but why add the dirt of my shoes to it?
I don’t wear shoes at home because shoes aren’t comfortable. Not because it’s dirty.
This is the same logic that people who are bad with money and bad at following diets use. “Slightly blew my budget/calories? Might as well go fucking nuts!”
Why would you ever even wear shoes inside in general? That just makes absolutely no sense to me
I went to see an apartment. The woman handed me a pair of shoe covers. Baby, I could not get past the front door because the apartment smelled so bad. I was gagging. I gave her back her shoe covers and left. What difference does shoe covers make if your home is so filthy that people gag when they smell the apartment – AND the carpet was filthy.
We do this. Anecdotally, I don’t ever see dog prints on the floor but can definitely see shoe prints if someone forgets to take them off.
What you’re really implying is that dirtyness is binary. The floor is either dirty or its clean. In reality its a scale, and every time it gets slightly worse. If you can reduce 90%, it goes much longer before it needs to be cleaned again.
I used to use dog appropriate wet wipes to clean off my dog after walks, etc. But you raise a good point, especially people who walk their dogs in urban cities, where bums are pissing on sidewalks, etc.
Anecdotally, most people I know who have dogs keep shoes on inside the house. The houses I’ve been at that require shoes off and also have dogs always have gross floors that make my socks feel dirty. 😐
But – my dog doesn’t walk in the bathroom at Walmart, or the ground at the gas station… she only walks in the grass in the backyard
I agree with this take honestly. I don’t want my feet covered in dog hair.
I have house slippers that I wear in the house when I want shoes. What monster just walks around with their regular walking shoes in the house. That’s weird as fuck.
Shitting in the toilet? Why!? You have a Pomeranian. I should be able to shit wherever I want!!
Dog owners just need to hoover their floors more often.
As a Canadian, it’s customary to take our shoes off no matter what. It is frankly a respect thing. Even if pets might be a bit dirty from being outside, me taking my shoes off will at the very least not make the matter worse. The thought of walking through someone’s house, especially if carpeted, with my shoes on feels so wrong to me.
My sister in law always wipes off the bottom of her dog’s paws before he is allowed to roam, and so does my daughter. I don’t have any pets, but I’m sure I would do the same.
Having a dog door does make a difference to your point.
I live in an apartment that is covered in carpet. I take my shoes off but I can’t take my dogs shoes off but I still think that lessening the number of dirty shoes on the carpet significantly reduces the dirt on the carpet.
Unless you wipe the dog off when he comes into the house. Takes all of 30 seconds with some baby wipes…
In your rational, if my dog poops on the floor it’s pointless that I poop in the toilet.
Does everyone live in a black and white world. What are these stupid scenarios
Upvote for unpopular opinion. I have a small dog and she is dirt and mud averse. Her paws are cleaner than the bottoms of my shoes, for sure!
Many of us wipe our dogs feet off before they come in. Just saying.
So because my dog tracks in dirt and stuff from the back yard, I should also wear my shoes that have stepped in oily messes at the gas station, public bathroom floors, etc?
It doesn’t have to make sense to you. Respect the homeowner.
wait, do people not wipe their dogs’ paws after walks? and do people not wear slippers inside their home? i don’t understand why having dogs means you have to wear your outdoor shoes indoors.
I don’t bring my pets into public restrooms, dirty stores etc etc
Shoes on/off in the house. Pets in/not in the house. Who fucking cares. Clean your goddamn house! Neither of those things make your house an unsanitary cesspool. Having a home that you don’t clean does.
Not exactly the point of the post but how come if I take my dog for a hike, he doesn’t leave as much of a paw print, but I spread mud all over the house by taking my shoes off outside and carrying them to the bathroom for cleaning?
I’ll see like a streak of dirt on him while we’re outside, we get home and I go to clean it off.. It’s gone?? Is this normal or is my dog secretly a cat?
My dogs walk around in my yard grass which is well cared for, my shoes see pavement that has been spit on, gum, oil stains, etc etc. That’s the difference.
The feet are not even the grossest part of a dog. Source—dogs
Me, when guests want to take their shoes off:
“We’ve got five dogs. They’re good dogs, they’re well trained, and we vacuum or mop almost daily. But you want to leave your shoes on, at least downstairs. Because we’ve got five dogs.”
Pretty sure shoes are dirtier than dog feet on average by a pretty significant margin. I use my shoes to walk everywhere, but my dogs are most commonly walking on grass in my yard.
Not to mention that dogs exert less pressure on the ground (they weigh less, twice as many contact points on the ground, claws allow efficient gripping of the ground compared to shoe bottoms which minimizes contact area on the ground). I wipe my dogs feet off when it’s wet outside, but if it’s dry I’m only checking for obvious mess like mud or other stuff.
A carpet with dog feet is probably cleaner than a carpet with outside shoes, I’m not sure why you would claim that you might as well maximize mess when you can minimize dirt or other bacteria (shoes stay on in public restrooms) by taking shoes off.
Dogs also don’t go to gas station bathrooms, or work in chemical plants, or share an office bathroom with a plumber who just waded through a sewage-flooded basement on his last job. Most dogs might only ever see the front and back yard.
In short, there are so many degrees of dirtyness and hazards that can become attached to shoe soles. One cannot assume that the outside ground is the worst case.
I don’t wear shoes at home. I have a dog. No, dogs are not clean. However, my dog doesn’t use public bathrooms, and that is way nastier than whatever my dog walks on outside
My dog doesn’t walk in the gas station bathroom by a urinal or a homeless person decided to play Jackson Pollock
My dog is never “grime covered” 🤷🏼