English greyhound © NHM

Some dogs relish a bath, others play up very badly and refuse to let their owners scrub them down. It's unlikely the dogs from the Natural History Museum at Tring will present that kind of problem when they get cleaned up this year – they're stuffed.

The UK's largest collections of domestic dogs (all expired), housed at the Natural History Museum's Hertfordshire outpost, is being prepared for the big cleanse today, and will spend the next few months undergoing a thorough programme of conservation.

A pug © NHM

Along with dozens of snakes, kangaroos, pandas, giant tortoises and a model moa, the dogs are being treated by conservationists thanks to a grant of £87,000 from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Wolfson Foundation.

The renovation will see a complete overhaul of the display cases, resulting in more accessible labels and lighting while retaining the historic character of the museum's displays, first created by the Victorian Walter Rothschild and given to the nation in the 1930s.

Gallery 6, with its incredible array of mutts, will be closed for refurbishment. © NHM

"I am delighted that work has begun at Tring to preserve this intriguing collection of Victorian zoology as it will ensure that thousands more visitors will get a fascinating insight into the animal kingdom," said Culture Minister Margaret Hodge.

Gallery 6 and part of Gallery 5 at Tring will be temporarily closed for the works, but visitors will be able to watch some of it in progress through viewing windows in Gallery 5. The project will be completed by the end of 2008.