You are allowed to stay in the house with dogs – especially if you have no other choice.

 

It is wrong to say that we must avoid dogs altogether. How can we hold such a view when we know that we can use trained dogs for policing, guarding, shepherding, guiding the blind, etc.?

It is only the saliva of dogs that we must keep away.

 

According to some scholars due to health concerns for dogs – especially those that are stray – may likely carry rabies. It is for this reason that we are ordered to wash the clothes or spots that have come in contact with the saliva of dogs.

 

Ibn `Umar reports that dogs used to run through the Prophet’s mosque during his time. And yet there is no mention anywhere in the sources that the Prophet, peace be upon him, ever ordered any of his companions to wash the floor of the mosque; it is worth mentioning that the mosque had no carpets then; they were rather paved with pebbles and sand.

 

It is therefore sufficient for you to wipe clean or wash once the surface that dog has licked.  According to the most preferred view of scholars, it is only the saliva of the dog that is considered najas; in other words, other parts of a dog are not considered najas or impure–except, of course, its excrements.

 

Almighty Allah knows best.