Asked on Apr 04, 2013
Keeping home clean with dogs?
by
Tricia
+10
I have two dogs - a 50 pound cattle dog and a 5 pound chihuahua - both seniors. Both dogs shed like crazy and my little chihuahua has a bladder control issue. So my house is hairy and smells. I do what I can to keep them clean with regular baths and brushing and they are healthy. But it makes me embarrssed to have anyone over. There is hair everywhere (couches, etc) and I feel like I can't de-odor my house from the pee/pet smell. My house is very clean and minimal in stuff. My couch is an Ektorp from Ikea which means the cover can be washed but unfortunately it's black and the hair shows up everywhere even when using a removable blanket. All of the living areas of my house are wood floors and bedrooms are carpet. Thanks
12 answers
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I have 3 cats and a Westie and they all shed and I have 3 litter boxes. One thing I do is buy this gallon size deodorizer thats similar to Febreze(I bought it at either Home Depot or Lowes) I refill little spray bottles and have them in various rooms in the house so I can give a spritz anywhere I am.You can spray the couch, pour some in your washer when you do laundry. much cheaper than Febreze with the same results. I vac about every two days or if someone is coming over lol. by then it really needs it. I'm not a compulsive cleaner that's vacs and sweeps every day. I don't like the pets smells so I pay attention to that everyday.
Mary Insana
on Apr 04, 2013
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Tricia, Every Monday and Friday I Vacumn the house. I have two big dogs and the one with the shortest hair is the biggest shedder. I have never been a big fan of spraying away smells. It's better to remove the smell then to mask it. BTW i have a Rainbow Vaccumn it is twenty years old and work like a champ, you can get one used for a fraction of the cost. And when you can get rid of the carpet or keep them out of the bedrooms carpet is like a brush to a dogs coat. I have carpet in the backroom and is is going asa possible. As for the pee smell use hot water and Vinegar it will cut that smell buy it by the gallon the smell will vanish. Good luck! lc
Cindy Luby
on Apr 04, 2013
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I can recommend something that will help with the pet hair problem. We used to have two German Shepherds (Shepherds shed A LOT, and all year long) and a cat, so I was constantly fighting to keep one step ahead of the pet hair in my house. (Sadly, the Shepherds have both passed and we're just left with the cat now.) A few years ago, my daughter, who was working as a vet tech, told me about a de-shedding tool/brush called the "FURminator" that reduces the amount of shedding by pulling out all the fine undercoat that most pet brushes leave behind. Apparently, it is the undercoat that is the source of excessive shedding. When I looked at the FURminator in the pet store, I almost choked. The medium size was around $50.00! I was very skeptical and did not believe any pet brush was worth that amount of money so I didn't immediately buy it. (Check sites like Amazon and eBay for discounted prices. I ended up buying a new one, in a sealed package, for $22.00 on eBay.) Once I tried it... Oh! My! Gosh! Let me assure you, this is no ordinary "dog brush"! I was absolutely amazed at the amount of baby fine undercoat this brush pulled out of my dogs...and even the cat. Believe me, the photos you see on the website of animals surrounded by a big pile of hair after being combed with the FURminator are NOT exaggerated or contrived. It is no sales gimmick. It really is possible to remove that much hair/undercoat with this tool. Needless to say, I immediately noticed a huge decrease in the amount of pet hair that was accumulating on my carpet and floors. And once you get all that fine undercoat out, you don't have to brush your pet as often. I do highly recommend you use this tool outdoors or in an area that is easy to vacuum though. The undercoat hair it removes is so baby fine, it is difficult to control and contain. It has a tendency to float and fly around everywhere and I'm sure you don't want it landing on every horizontal surface inside your house. Here's the FURminator website if you would like to read more about this amazing de-shedding tool. http://www.furminator.com/What-is-Furminator.aspx By the way, I don't work for the company that makes the FURminator, nor do I get any compensation for recommending it. I just think it's an awesome product and I'm sorry I didn't buy one sooner!
Shari
on Apr 04, 2013
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Regarding the urine smells... Of course there are many commercial products on the market which supposedly remove pet odors but many months ago, over on Pinterest (I think), I read about a homemade recipe that uses a mixture of original Listerine mouthwash, white vinegar, a drop of Dawn dishwashing liquid, hydrogen peroxide and water, mixed in a spray bottle. I didn't want the soapiness of the Dawn, or risk discoloring my carpet with the hydrogen peroxide so I just tried mixing up the Listerine, white vinegar and water and it worked pretty well to remove the odor from a couple of accidents the cat had on my carpet. I've also started putting a little Listerine (and white vinegar) in my carpet cleaning machine. Once the minty-fresh smell disappears, it seems it helped neutralize the pet odors too.
Shari
on Apr 04, 2013
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Hi Tricia, Regarding the smell, @Christine has a post on this subject that has been very popular. People swear by her recipe. Check it out here: http://www.hometalk.com/diy/-545977 Good luck!
Yair Spolter
on Apr 05, 2013
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After reading all the comments on the link Yair provided, I'm pretty sure her recipe is the same Listerine/white vinegar/water/hydrogen peroxide/Dawn mixture I originally saw months and months ago. It appears she's no longer sharing the info for free.
Shari
on Apr 05, 2013
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On the link Yair provided, Christine has a link to her blog. I read through the comments there and actually the recipe I originally mentioned was offered in the comment section by telesma on June 17, 2012 at 6:44 pm. She also explains why each of those products in the recipe work to eliminate the urine smell. You might find it helpful to read through all those comments. Here's the link: http://www.firsthomelovelife.com/2012/05/no-not-new-couch.html.
Shari
on Apr 05, 2013
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Shari said about the furminator....TRICIA go to Tractor Supply they have a brush that's almost like the furminator. I have 1 for our long haired Lab/Shep and it's awesome. I had a fit when my man told me he paid about $10.00 for it, it's the be Ten he spent
Sal Breiner
on Apr 05, 2013
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i added a drop of my dish soap. it cut the smell and there is not stain at all. it was cat urnine the worsest of all smells She had decided the back room on the carpet and drapes was her new spot. She has not been back after the water Vinegar and dish soap and has returned to her litter box. Key to that.... hang on you won't believe this but I added a inch of sand to the top. Yes play sand. It is her new favorite spot. Thanks goodness. ...lc
Cindy Luby
on Apr 05, 2013
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@Tricia there was a review on one of our stations of the furminator that @Shari posted with great reviews, so may be worth a try. As for minimizing the hair, we have blocked off our living room and dining rooms - baby gates, also prevent pets from going in there to do there business :P We had a dog a number of years back who seemed to prefer the dining room rather than outside - phew the smell. Once we realized this was happening we had a tip that if there was a spot, soak with vinegar and cover with baking soda, let dry then vacuum up. I worked pretty good. For stains I recommend a spray bottle of oxyclean, works wonderfully! Even removed red wine from a sofa when it was discovered several days later - my first stop as a stain remover and comes in spray, powder, and gel - works great in the laundry as well.
Gail Salminen
on Apr 06, 2013
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THANK YOU to everyone!! I can't wait to try all these suggestions!
Tricia
on Apr 08, 2013
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One more suggestion is get a dog door and show the chihuahua how to use it. Then you shouldn't have trouble anymore.
Grady
on Jan 09, 2015
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