We all love dogs at MRT Autos, and as you know, Peggy is our mascot at the garage. And as dog owners, we relate to our four-legged friends tending to follow any trail, find every puddle and disappear into the mud, especially at this time of year.
So, as we head into a wet weekend, here’s some trivia: Did you know there has been some science done looking into the muddiest dogs? Okay, it was conducted for commercial reasons by car manufacturer JEEP, but we think the findings are fascinating and wanted to share them with you.
The off-road brand conducted a cleaning habits survey with its users and found that, on average, a dog owner devotes around one day each cleaning their dog (23 hours), muddy house (24 hours) and car (22 hours). Does this sound familiar?
Anyway, we love our pups, and Jeep went further to find out which of the four-legged fur-balls friends win the well-earnt accolade of being the muddiest dog.
They worked with The James Hutton Institute to investigate which dogs pick up the most mud on their daily walks. The Institute is an internationally networked organisation and operates from multiple sites, including two main ones in Scotland at Aberdeen and Dundee. It combines strengths in soils, crops and land use and environmental research and contributes to our understanding of crucial global issues, such as food, energy, and ecological security, and developing and promoting effective technological and management solutions.
‘Paw’ticipants were instructed to go on three walks, then they were tasked with collecting the mud picked up by their dog post-walk. They were sent kits from Jeep that included a dust sheet, a brush, and a form to fill out. The mud collected was sent to the lab at the Hutton Institute to be evaluated.
All samples were treated anonymously, and the sample number was used in any analysis or evaluation to avoid any potential bias. In the information pack, owners disclosed their dog’s weight so that the lab could analyse the amount of mud brought back relative to the weight and coat type of the dog.
A sample of 30 dogs from around the UK took part in the challenge, from small breeds including Chihuahuas to canine giants such as Great Danes and ‘wildcard’ mixed breeds, from the well-known Cockapoo to a more unknown Lhasa Apso Cross.
The first-of-its-kind study revealed the muddiest and most explorative adventures can come in all shapes and sizes, with Ollie Mo the Yorkshire Terrier taking acclaim as the ‘Paw X Paw’ Muddiest Dog of the Year. Ollie collected a greater proportion of soil compared to his own body weight than any other dog. Gathering 14g of dirt on his walk – 0.29% of his own weight – he was followed in second place by Evie, a Bearded Collie, who collected 0.15% of her weight.
Meanwhile, Houndslow, a Saint Bernard, picked up the most amount of soil, 42g – 0.05% of his weight.
To celebrate the muddy dogs that took part in the study, Jeep has created a muddy dog’s calendar, which can be downloaded for free here: https://www.jeep.co.uk/news/muddy-dogs
For the time being, if your four-legged friend’s dirty habits are messing up your car, we have a host of professional cleaning products to help. Or we can recommend SCC Valeting if you wish for a day-off cleaning.
