ok ladies, i need your help... i'm about as domesticated as a wolf and i'm tired of yahoo answers giving me random advice... figured i'd go to sources that i'm "familiar with", lol! i used to have 2 dogs (my mother adopted one so now i only have 1). he's a minpin, but our house REEKS!!! it's like a cooped up-left the ac off for a couple days-added-with-animal-kind of smell. I wash my dog (i probably could do it more often, but i get nervous about irratiting his fur if I was too much). I have a housekeeper that comes in once a week and cleans (I work full time). It's a new house, military just built it a couple years ago... no carpet only tile floors (although we do have area rugs). The ONLY thing i can think of is that because the dogs lay on the couch and rugs... THAT's where the smell is coming from. Just over time animals sleeping on it. So...... how do I get the smell out?? there's no stains or anything, it's just an odor. do I need them professionally cleaned? I've tried carpet cleaning with my Bissel a long time ago and in the end it just smelled like old WET dog. I'm worried about the couch b/c i dont know how on earth i would clean that. Any advice?? I was hoping there'd be some savvy pet owners who are also domestic goddesses that have a few tricks up their sleeves....
I'm not clear--is it a urine smell? If you think it's the couches, you may have to have a cleaner come in and clean the cushions and couch with a special pet odor cleaner (rug cleaning services also clean furniture). Like Staci said, there's a pet odor Febreze spray for upholstery and mattresses. It works pretty well. You have to spray enough on it so that the spot is damp. Also, vacuum the cushions and couch. Since you have area rugs, you might want to either get those cleaned by a pro, or just get rid of it if the odor is really that bad. Or, take it outside and let it air out, vacuum it, etc on both sides. Have you checked around the house in the corners and behind furniture that the dog can reach and pee on? Yes, even tile and esp grout can hold a urine odor really well. I guess I'm also a little baffled that a small dog like a mini-pinsc could leave such a strong smell in a house. I grew up with four large dogs, and our house didn't smell like "dog". *scratches head* Have you had the dog checked out by the vet? They have a sac in their butts that when it gets infected or full (or plugged up) or whatever, it can leave behind a noxious odor. All the vet has to do it squeeze it to empty it out. And that's all I've got! I hope you're able to clear the smell out!
We moved into a rental house and the master bedroom carpet was smelly. The owner had a professional carpet cleaning company come out to take care of it but it only masked the smell for a few weeks. Then the smell was back and overwhelming. In the end I learned that baking soda needs to be sprinkled on soiled area even if dry. 1/3 Vinegar and 2/3 water mixture go in your bissel to clean it all up. This is the only thing I found to cut the smell and I have tried everything. This works for everything... carpet, furniture, and tile flooring. Good luck.
awesome guys, thanks! no, my dog has never peed on the couch... he probably peed on the carpet once or twice (as did my kid, lol!) but we have one of those spot bots and washed it immediately afterwards. Weird enough, it's not a urine smell though.. it just smells like a stale, musky smell. it fills the house. It's embarrassing because I don't have a dirty house... heck, like I said I have someone come in an do a deep cleaning on top of the tidying I do during the week when I get home... but it smells like I have a dirty house. Ugh, it's embarrassing... and hard to explain without having something common to compare it to. It's like a big whiff of a dog blanket hits you in the face when you walk in. I have tried Febreeze and it works for about a few hours then in the evening when I sit down to watch TV I can smell the couch again. Maybe I should get it cleaned... our rugs were cheap and i can throw those out... but our couches not so much, lol. I didn't even think about taking him to the vet to get his stink glands checked out, I wonder if they are just overactive. maybe he's in puberty or something, lol.
I'd sneak a little oxy-clean into the bissell. I shampoo my own carpets every few months with my own shampooer (2 young kids-ish-carpet-nuff said) and I know you're not "supposed to" put any other cleaning solutions in besides the carpet solutions, but whatever. That's mostly because it can leave a build up and so therefore you just clean the parts out every so often. But oxy-clean is the bomb.
I wonder if it's not a pet smell but something else. Should you have your house checked for mold or something like that? If there was ever a leak or something, that could get in the walls and you could have a problem without even knowing it.
Well, the other thing I just thought of is if he's been neutered? its a boy? Male dogs can have a smell.
You can also try baking soda on the furniture. Sprinkle it on, leave it for a bit, and then vacuum it off. Same with the rugs. Sometimes I sprinkle it before I go to bed, leave it overnight and vacuum in the morning. We have two Boston Terriers and we have one area rug that they like to roll on to scratch their backs, so the baking soda helps with any doggy smell, and it is cheap and all natural.
vinegar too.. i hate when there's just that lingering smell! UGH! i love love animals but i soooo feel you. my pets irritate me lately LOL
