Cover of March 2012 Dog Fancy magazine

The March issue of Dog Fancy magazine offers homemade remedies to cut through the toughest messes your canine compadre can create.

I hate to admit this publicly, but we’ve scrubbed puke out of the carpet three times this week. Nope, we don’t even have kids. But with three dogs and two cats in the house, accidents happen. Thankfully, I have my carpet-scrubbing routine down to a perfect science.

Other areas of our house, however, haven’t been quite so easy to keep clean. But with the help of the March issue of Dog Fancy magazine, a bit of baking soda and vinegar, almost any dirty-dog area in my house can sparkle like new–even that dingy grout in the kitchen by the dogs’ bowls.

To clean that grout, for example, Dog Fancy suggests mixing equal parts baking soda, ammonia, white vinegar and water. Then all you have to do is scrub. Once clean, place a large mat or towel under the bowls to keep the filth at bay in the future. Easy enough!

Scratches on the hardwood floor? That cleaning trick includes a bit of coffee. A couch full of dog hair? Wet rubber gloves. Gross squeaky toys? You’ll need a little more of that vinegar.

From the entryway to the screen on the back door, this issue of Dog Fancy has cleaning tips for every thinkable dog mess. Now, if I could just keep everyone from getting the house so dirty in the first place …