How to Use the Scientific Method for Everyday Problems

I made an observation that my dog is dirty every day I let him in when I come home from school. I needed the help of science to improve this dilemma because I was wasting my time everyday trying to clean him off. I decided to perform an experiment that might help me find out why. First my hypothesis was that he was playing outside in the mud. I inspected my yard for any area with excessive mud amounts. Unfortunately I found none. I let my dog out in the morning before I went to school. After I came home my dog had mud on him once again.
I let him out the next morning and communicated with a neighbor and just asked her to help me collect data by checking on him every few hours to see what hours my dog got dirty and she agreed to collaborate with me. When I came home that day she reported to me that the dog was dirty after one o'clock. She also told me that while my dog was outside she observed him going underneath the pool deck.
I looked underneath the pool deck and there was a lot of mud underneath. That night I blocked off the area with some fencing I got at home depot. The next morning I let my dog at as I always do and when I got home he was not dirty!
I've now figured out how my dog got dirty with the help of my fellow scientist, my neighbor. Together we communicated and I would have probably not known for a while that there was mud under my pool deck if I had not asked for her help. My dog is not clean and everything is good!