# keeping your home from smelling like dog???



## kularing (Aug 24, 2006)

Was wondering if any of you have tips on keeping your home from smelling like dog. I walked in my house the other day, and was hit with dog smell. With three gsds, I know there will be some smell, but curious if anyone knows some good tricks?
I am ready to rip out all my rugs and put vinyl down


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## KCandMace (Apr 8, 2008)

We have two area rugs. One in the computer room and the other in the living room. the rest is bare floor. We have the windows open as much as possible. Also we keep the pups from smelling. Baths about once a month.
So far that is all we have had to do to keep it nice and not use air fresheners.


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## Betty (Aug 11, 2002)

Febreeze.

Your very own carpet steamer.

And then after 5 years or so you give up and do what I did. Tile and laminate the entire house. Throw rugs down for the older pooches who need a litte traction. Then you start buying throw rugs that you KNOW can go in the washing machine...


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## GunnerJones (Jul 30, 2005)

smell??? what smell???


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

You think GSD's are bad, you should get a Lab!

Truthfully, if I bathe my GSD's about every other month, there's almost no dog smell (or more frequently if needed). I use a good deodorizing shampoo.


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## Betty (Aug 11, 2002)

> Originally Posted By: MaxGunnarsmell??? what smell???


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## acurajane (May 21, 2008)

I have a gsd and a lab. And two kids. But I clean constantly. I we have no rugs, which is taking a toll on elbows so we will soon, but when we did have rugs/carpet we cleaned them all the time. Candles and yes bathing the dogs when we without a doubt have to. We limit their time on couch. Cause fabrics hold that dog smell. And my favorite trick is that conditioner spray from walmart.


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## kularing (Aug 24, 2006)

"And my favorite trick is that conditioner spray from Walmart."

What is the conditioner spray? and do you use it on your dogs or furniture?


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## AnnaRiley (Feb 14, 2008)

It's called Odo-Ban. I get a gallon size from Sam's Club. It's concentrated and according to the purpose you are using it for, you dilute it with water. I often leave a little water in the kitchen sink and pour some Odo-Ban in. House really smells nice when I come home from work.

We had a kitchen fire at my office several years ago. Our courier left a HotPockets in the microwave for 20 minutes!! Anyway the smell was terrible. I brought the Odo-Ban and we filled the kitchen sick with water and lots of Odo-Ban over the weekend. Smoke smell was completely gone when we opened on the following Monday morning.

I also put it my wash when washing dog beds. You can leave this stuff in containers with a little water in each room if you want to.


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## midnight804 (Jun 13, 2008)

i have some stuff called ona. i first found about it working the gut bin at a seafood restaurant. its a air neturalizer spray. i only use it when the big boy gets farts or has recently rolled in something dead. I vacumm a lot and keep windows open for air circulation. i wash all dog laundry (beds, blankets, my stuff he steals and sleeps on) with some vinegar in the rinse cycle and do two rinses.


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## WiscTiger (Sep 25, 2002)

I have 4 GSD's. Only one is allowed on carpeted area's. I have tile, each dog has their own crate with comfortable blankets which I wash every week to 2 weeks depending on the weather. The only time I have doggie smell is bath time, it is raining and I have 4 wet dogs or their blankets all need a bath.

I don't use any of those commercial things that are loaded with chemaicals that just try to cover the smell. I use natural products and when I wash dog blankets I use a product that is a natural odor remover.

Also what are you feeding. If you are feeding a quality food I have noticed a difference in how much the dogs smell.

Val


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## ellen366 (Nov 2, 2007)

my solution was to get rid of all the carpeting and put down tile; i use febreeze and of course do a lot of laundry; i use human pillows and pillow cases for dog beds which makes it easier than those big, overstuffed beds that don't fit in conventional washers; and i vacuum and mop a lot


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## Nerrej (Jun 23, 2008)

I know you said sam's club, but do you think Wal-mart has this too? I think our sam's club membership just expired and we didn't plan on renewing this year.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

I have two dogs (soon to be three) and three cats. I vacuum every day or every other day. My dogs and cats don't really smell. They have healthy coats and I brush Coke at least once a week. I don't like using sprays or anything like that b/c it just masks scents with a stronger, more annoying scent. We don't have AC so in the summer, all the windows are open all the time and I run an attic fan. Now that it's cool, I'll open the windows for a while each day to keep the house aired. If the dogs are wet, I put down towels in their favorite spots to lay and wash those once they are dry.


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

Our dogs have their own room off the living room, with windows and it's own door to the outside. All their crates are in that room. So when it's really muddy or nasty outside, they just rolled in something unsavory, swam in the pond and smell like pond scum, etc... then can come in from outside and go straight to their crates in the dog room until dry, or brushed out or bathed or whatever is needed. No running through the entire house. That helps a LOT.

No carpet on almost the entire first floor. Constant vacuuming to catch the little dog hair tumbleweeds wandering around.

The few throw rugs go in the washing machine pretty often. The one rug that can't go in the washing machine gets professionally cleaned a couple times a year.

Keeping the dogs brushed and bathed when needed.

We keep blankets on the furniture that the dogs are allowed on. Those blankets get washed weekly and the only time the blankets aren't on the furniture are when we are having guests and don't want the living room to look like a bunch of squatters live there.

Febreeze for the furniture, and carpet on the second floor.

Windows open when weather allows.

Glad plug ins, candles, Oust, etc....


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

Have you tried Capture? They used to sell it at Sears and most carpet stores have it.

I get together with my neighbor who runs a day care when I need the carpet cleaner guy. She's only 100 feet away and the charges us one up charge for both houses. Costs me $65 last month for my den (WTW), stair runner and the area rug in the foyer. I get it done maybe twice a year and it's well worth it for the high traffic areas.

I've noticed over a lifetime of having dogs, some carpet fibers take on smells more than other. Low pile wool seems to do the best as long as it doesn't get wet. Low pile cheap olefin does the worst, my boys have that in their room and I swear after it's been clean that I still smell pee - boy pee is worse than dog pee!

I have another area rug thats a wool blend and it never seems to get 'Doggie' although it's always been a favorite spot for all the dogs.


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## GunnerJones (Jul 30, 2005)

Simple Green works pretty good as well


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

ISn't that for cleaning car rims???


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## acurajane (May 21, 2008)

The conditioner spray I get at walmart is Hartz-Infusion conditioner spray for dogs.







It doesn't leave them oily at all and it smells nice and you can use it as often as you need to.


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## acurajane (May 21, 2008)

I use simple green too. If its tough enough for Marine Corpes bootcamp use then its good for my house too.


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

I have two dogs and I've been told by friends who would be honest that my house doesn't smell doggy at all. My house is all tile except in the bedroom. I sweep/vacuum the fur every day or every other day at the least. Leather couches have been a godsend because the dogs lay on them and you can just vacuum up the fur. They only get bathed every six months or so but they're brushed every other day.


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## Nerrej (Jun 23, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: acurajaneI use simple green too. If its tough enough for Marine Corpes bootcamp use then its good for my house too.


LOL, where can I find simple green? This is how I make most of my decisions in life. "If it is good enough for law enforcement/military, its good enough for me."


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## ellen366 (Nov 2, 2007)

i buy simple green at home depot and lowe's; it comes in the gallon size and i always have a spray bottle w/about 3/4 simple green and 1/4 water handy for spot cleanups


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## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

I have wall to wall carpeting in the whole place. My house rarely smells doggy. But then, my dogs aren't smelly. I regularly stick my nose in their fur just to check.







Good food and vacuuming are a big part. I vacuum once a week, but I don't have major shedders like GSDs are likely to be. I also have a household sized ozone generator that I use if I start smelling dogs. Usually, its the bedroom, because I don't vacuum there as often as I should. I plan to take out the carpeting, but only because it's white and I have too many stains from my dogs being sick. 

I love my ozone generator!
http://www.air-zone.com/models.html


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## ozzymama (Jan 17, 2005)

> Originally Posted By: BlackPuppy My house rarely smells doggy. But then, my dogs aren't smelly. I regularly stick my nose in their fur just to check.



I do the same thing!! Both my dogs sit on my knee/lap and get good lovin', if anything they smell like our perfumes/colognes.

I vacuum daily and have a housekeeper weekly. I pay her $20/hr and she does 4hours/week. Best investment ever!!









The only thing I have an issue with is my 13 y/o female is incontinent at times and I know as soon as I walk in the house if she's had an accident, she only has accidents in one spot..... so I steam mop after cleaning it with a towel, throw the towel in the washer and the smell is gone.

I tend to be a bit OCD and a clean house is a must!! I get irritated with my dh if he doesn't put the phone book away after he looks up a number LOL.

I have 2 dogs and three cats and if you didn't see them, you wouldn't know they lived there.


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## Bluewolf (Apr 20, 2006)

My dog really isn't smelly - which surprised me because every dog I've had up to this point has had a decidedly doggy odor. This is the first one that I've raised on RAW and high-grade kibble, so that may have something to do with it, but I also keep towels in the hallway next to the door so that he gets dried completely off and gets his paws wiped off before he can track anything through the house. He also doesn't spend a great deal of time outside so that could also have something to do with it.


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## Skye'sMom (Jul 11, 2004)

acurajane;

I'm glad the hartz product is working for you, but you might ant to google all the compaints about hartz

I stopped buying any product with their name years ago.

Just my opinion based on the # of dangerous products they have released for dogs and cats.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

I have seven dogs in the house and seven puppies. Only when the dogs were out in the rain all day will it smell doggy. But the puppies.... Well, it is only for eight weeks. 

I too removed all carpet, put down pergo in the house and linoleum in the sun room. Carpeted only my living room. Only one bitch at a time is allowed in the carpeted area of my house. That helps a lot.


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## Dobergals (Jun 25, 2013)

I use either baking soda or Arm and Hammer Pet Fresh on the carpeted areas. I have not been able to get rid of the dog smell completely but this helps with carpets and rugs. 

For those of you who use Simple Green-- that is an all purpose cleaner, correct? Not for deodorizing?

Thanks,
SK
The Blogging Dog | A dog blog


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

We got rid of all the carpet downstairs. I honestly think carpet is very, very dirty, even if you vacuum a lot -- it holds mites and ground in dirt and ick deep inside. When you pull it out, you'll likely see the dirt (it's gross). Without carpet, it's _far easier _to vacuum hardwood or tile quickly to snag the dog hair -- and do a wet mop once a week or so with vinegar/water to get the dog drool, dirty paw prints and the rest. Mopping with vinegar solution _really _gets rid of any odors on a hard floor--once the vinegar smell dissipates, all that's left is clean. And if a dog licks the floor, I don't worry about what chemical they're ingesting.

For freshening the house, I also really like using a tealight oil diffuser with essential oil. It's a cup of water over the little candle, with about 5 drops of any natural, essential oil you like (lemon smells clean!). The steam from the water carries the scent through the room. My favorite is Aura Cacia's Medieval Blend--something about that one seems to relax the dogs and make them think it's nap time....must be the lavender in it!


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

We just cleaned our larger area rug; soaked it in a solution with Woolite to loosen the dirt or whatever is in it, then hung it over a long 2 X 4 and sprayed with the garden hose for an hour. What comes out is horrendous amount of dirt. Now it is clean and dry and I wonder if there is anything you can spray on to make it more dirt repellent?
The living room looks naked without that rug but I am about to hang it on the wall, since it is so pretty now.


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## kiya (May 3, 2010)

I only have a problem in the summer when I take the dogs swimming. For some reason Kiya stinks even after grooming and a bath, the other 2 dogs don't stink after swimming.
We took out the rugs years ago and I put area rugs where needed. I use sheets on the dog beds so it's easy to throw them in the wash.
It can get a little doggy smelling on rainy days but as long as it's not swimming season I don't think my house smells doggie at all.


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