Muddy paws… a reality for any dog owner, a daily occurrence for those with active adventure dogs. We love to see our dogs run and play and have a good time. For them, getting dirty is part of the fun. But as much fun as it may be for us to watch, the reality of those paws tracking mud and dirt all over our houses and our cars is less than ideal.

Dexas recently released their new Mudbuster, which claims to “provide quick cleaning of a dog’s dirty or muddy paws, before they track it all over the house” with “an array of soft, gentle, thick silicone bristles inside an easy-to-grip tumbler.” Our house has long been fans of all things Dexas, we were excited to try it for ourselves. 

Bye Bye Pawprints – Dexas MudBuster Review

 *As an ambassador for Dexas, I was sent some free MudBusters to try in exchange for our honest review. We value our relationship with our readers and promise that our reviews are always based 100% on our experience with the product and in no way influenced by any outside source. 

A positive introduction

​Any time that you introduce a new tool to your dog, especially one that is unlike anything that they have ever used before, it’s important to do a slow introduction to ensure a positive experience. The Mudbuster works by inserting a dog’s paws, one at a time, into the tumbler and then moving and twisting it in different directions. This allows the silicone bristles to loosen dirt from between their pads and underneath their nails.

The first time we used the Mudbuster, I broke the process down into multiple steps, each accompanied with praise and a treat. First, I had each dog investigate this new tool and gave them a treat. Then, we practiced inserting their paws partway inside, again followed by a treat. I did this a few times with each dog, increasing how far their paw was inserted each time. After doing this a few times, I then added some room temperature water and a bit of movement. With some practice, the dogs quickly became accustomed to this new sensation and it made cleaning their paws a breeze.

Time to get dirty!

In order to properly test how well something cleans your dog, first you need a dirty dog. So, we set out to test the Mudbuster in a few different dirty dog scenarios.

 

TEST #1: Hiking, Digging & Swimming at the River

For the first real test, I took Boomer down to one of our favorite trails along the river. We hiked about a half mile on a dirt trail down to our favorite swim spot. Boomer jumped in and out of the river countless times and then spent a good half hour digging along the banks under this huge tree, convinced that there was something living inside (which I’m sure there was). Then, we hiked back, nice and wet, to the truck.

While she didn’t look that dirty from afar, Boomer was soaking wet and in between her pads and all under her nails was a whole lot of wet dirt and debris. Normally, I keep a towel in the back of my SUV, which I use to wipe down the dogs as well as I can before we load back up, but then I end up with this muddy towel that stinks up my car, and honestly, when it dries, most of that dirt ends up exactly where I didn’t want it.. All over my SUV. So, I’m really in need of a better solution. 

Since we had already practiced at home, Boomer knew what the Mudbuster was and what was expected of her. She sat patiently and in no more than a minute or two, I was able to clean all 4 of her paws, making sure that all that dirt didn’t get all over my seats! Once her paws were clean, I dried off her fur and paws and loaded her back in the truck. All that was left to do was pour out the dirty water in the grass and throw the Mudbuster back in my truck for next time. SO much easier of a cleanup!

 

TEST #2: Southern Snow Day

When we get snow here in the South, it never lasts long. After a few hours of playtime and fetch in the snow, the sun begins to melt the beautiful white stuff and the grass starts to show through, leaving behind a nice wet, muddy yard. Perfect opportunity to further test the Mudbuster though!

After a fun morning of playing in the snow, we all headed back inside to warm up. We shed our winter jackets, pups included, and then I took off my muddy boots. All that was left was to clean the dogs paws before they tracked mud EVERYWHERE. Again, I usually end up with a nice muddy towel during this process, but this time I opted to try the Mudbuster instead.

The Dirt (Test Results)

FUNCTION (5/5)

Dunk, twist, dunk, twist… 3 dogs and 12 paws later, and everyone had nice clean paws in just a few minutes! With a proper introduction, the dogs are learning not to mind using the Mudbuster at all, and it’s a lot faster AND cleaner of a process than my old towel method. Time to dump the water and see just how much mud we stopped from being tracked all over the house.

Wow, that’s a LOT of dirty water…

As you can see in the picture above, the MudBuster definitely did the trick. It removed practically all of the dirt from the dogs’ paws. So, it definitely does what it claims to do.

One thing I’d like to note is that it does leave your dog with REALLY wet paws. I don’t see this as a downfall,  as it is just the nature of any product that uses water to clean your dog’s paws. I would, however, recommend either using the Mudbuster over a towel if you are doing it inside, or just do it in a relatively clean area outside like on a porch or patio before bringing your dog into the house.

 Before & After

 

DESIGN (4/5)

I really love the amount of thought that goes into all Dexas products. Here are some of our favorite features:

Silicone bristles 

 The soft, silicone bristles of the Mudbuster do a great job at cleaning between the dogs’ pads and under their nails. They’re stiff enough to get the job done, yet soft enough to be gentle on their sensitive pads, and even dew claws, if your dog has them. All 3 of our dogs that tested the Mudbuster have dew claws on their front legs and it didn’t bother them at all. 

Grippy exterior

The outside of the tumbler has raised bumps that help you get a good grip, even when it’s wet. 

Easy to clean 

The Mudbuster breaks down easily to make cleaning a breeze. Just screw off the top ring and the entire inside sleeve pulls right out. Pull the tabs and it opens flats so all you have to do is run it under the hose or the faucet in your kitchen sink to wash away the dirt. When it’s clean and dry, tuck the tabs back into the other end of the inner sleeve and the whole thing slides effortlessly back into the tumbler. Screw the ring back on, and you’re ready to use it again.

Fun colors – The Mudbuster comes in 3 of Dexas’ staple bright color options: pink, green, and blue. The exterior portion of the tumbler itself is an opaque clear plastic. The color is seen in the top ring and the inner silicone sleeve of bristles. We have a blue and a green Mudbuster and they’re both really aesthetically pleasing, especially for a grooming tool!

Possible improvements for Portability

Water-tight Lid

Because I really love how well the Mudbuster works, I wish I could take it everywhere. It works perfectly at home, where you have access to water either from the hose or the faucet, but if you want to bring it in the car to use away from home, you have to carry a separate bottle of water.  As it is, the “lid” is just a ring that holds the silicone sleeve in place. While it works great for that purpose, I’d love to see Dexas add an additional lid that allows you to keep water inside the Mudbuster so that you can throw it in your car pre-filled and ready to use after hikes or the dog park. Since this is the most useful application for the Mudbuster for our pack, we had to knock off a star for portability. 

For the “Large” size Mudbuster I think the height is a bit overkill. While it works just fine, I think it’s a much taller than it needs to be. Even with Boomer’s really long legs, I only ever ended up putting her paws maybe halfway in, 2/3 at the absolute most. Making it a bit shorter would make it a lot more portable as well.

QUALITY (5/5)

As with EVERY product that we’ve ever used from Dexas, the craftsmanship and quality of materials is impeccable. The silicone is nice and thick and I have no doubt that it will hold up to years of use and muddy paws, which I think more than warrants the $24.99 price tag.

Sizing:

We got two different sizes to try, the Medium and Large. I got the Large for our bigger dogs, Boomer (62 lb. Hound mix) and Helo (58 lb. Border Collie/Lab mix) and the Medium for Ringo (30 lb. Heeler mix). After testing them out, we could have gotten away with just the medium, as all 3 of the dogs’ paws fit in it perfectly.

Below is a copy of Dexas’ size chart from their website, so you can see what size you would need for your pup. For more information about the Mudbuster, check out Dexas’s website.

                                                    

Would we recommend this product to a friend?

Overall Rating (4.5/5)

Absolutely! We would confidently recommend the Mudbuster to all of our friends with dogs. It’s a great tool for keeping your dog’s paws clean and your floors clear of muddy pawprints! I know we’ll be using ours OFTEN!

Questions or comments about our review? We’d love to hear from you. Leave us a comment below!

Thanks for reading!

Debbie & The Mutts