Pet Odour Issues

[White Orchid]

I need help badly, and I didn''t know who else to turn to other than the most creative and practical ladies (and gents) that I know.

So here''s the thing, I lived all my life in the country and have always had animals. But now that I''ve moved to the city I have indoor pets for the first time in my life. We currently have 2 dogs and a cat and no matter how much cleaning I do, no matter how much pet bathing I do, no matter how long I keep the windows open in the house... I just can''t chase away the smell of DOG. It could be I''m just really sensitive to it because my husband doesn''t seem to notice the smell. I''m not comfortable asking anybody to come over and tell me how bad it really is.

So for those of you who have indoor pets (dogs in particular), what do you do to keep your house smelling nice and fresh?

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

We have a dog and two cats. Our house can definitely get a funk about it every now and then. We try to open all of the windows and air out the house when it gets bad. Staying on top of vacuuming helps too. You can try sprinkling baking soda on the rug letting it sit for an hour or so and then vacuum it up.

Another weird thing is DOG''s paws smell like Fritos for some reason...

 

[lulu]

I just smelled my dog''s paws. They do smell like fritos! Why?

 

[lulu]

Also, I have a big dog and three cats and some smell is inevitable. But I think it helps to keep throws on the furniture and wash them weekly. And I vacuum at least every other day.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I don''t know why they smell like that, but i think it''s hysterical.

We bath DOG with furminator shampoo. It smells like pina colada but fades quickly after they dry. It takes a lot of the dog smell away.

 

[lulu]

Another thing- when we built this house we didn''t do any wall- to- wall carpeting because of the animals. Only wood, tile and area rugs. Much easier to keep clean.

 

[packrat]

I have a super sensitive nose about dogs too! We have a Cavalier with longish hair and I can not stand finding her hair all over, so we finally started shaving her. She keeps the feathery hair on her legs/paws/ears/tail, but her body is shorn. That helps a lot. We shave the cats too, tho they don''t smell. Is it b/c cats clean themselves a million times a day or do they just naturally not have a smell and dogs naturally do? (We''ve also been having issues with Chicken peeing on anything soft, including her bed, so that really contributes to why she smells so funky) I use Febreeze a lot. I never thought about baking soda on the carpet..I''ll have to try that! Pets are one of the reasons we''re getting rid of the carpet in the living room and going to wood.

 

[indypitty]

Date: 3/19/2009 9:40:33 PM
Author: lulu
I just smelled my dog''s paws. They do smell like fritos! Why?

Ha ha ~ the Frito smell is yeast!

 

[lulu]

I went back and smelled all four paws. Three smell like fritos and the fourth smells like dead fish.(we live on a lake)
I should have left well enough alone.

 

[deegee]

Hubby and I had 3 cats for 14 years, and never had a smell in the house. Last week we adopted a rescue puppy, and our house smells like dog. We have bathed puppy twice, but she gets stinky so fast. I even bought stuff to use between baths, and it doesn''t help either. I think the biggest problem right now is that I''m housetraining her, and everytime I take her outside it''s raining or snowing. She smells like stinky wet dog! I haven''t sniffed her paws. She''s busy chewing on stuff - I''ll have to check that later.

 

[White Orchid]

Wow, thank you so much for the great ideas! Please keep 'em coming!



Great idea about throws over the furniture - will definitely try that!

I've never tried baking soda, but I used a carpet powder. It's more expensive and probably less effective so I'll try it with real baking soda later on.

Vacuuming every day is also a great idea... but how do you find the time to do it every day?? But if it helps it'll be worth it!


Weird about dog paws smelling like fritos...

 

[White Orchid]

Deegee, have you ever seen Tin Man?

 

[Amandine]

Date: 3/19/2009 10:47:28 PM
Author: lulu
I went back and smelled all four paws. Three smell like fritos and the fourth smells like dead fish.(we live on a lake)
I should have left well enough alone.

This made me laugh!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/20/2009 10:30:27 AM
Author: Amandine

Date: 3/19/2009 10:47:28 PM
Author: lulu
I went back and smelled all four paws. Three smell like fritos and the fourth smells like dead fish.(we live on a lake)
I should have left well enough alone.

This made me laugh!

Me too, cracking up at the visual of all the paw sniffing going on....

 

[Irishgrrrl]

You guys have NO IDEA how relieved I am to hear that everyone has dogs with Frito-feet! I have been quietly keeping that little fact to myself, because I was concerned that our guys had unusually funny-smelling feet. I feel so much better now!

Oh, and it''s not just dogs. The cat I had when I was a kid had Frito-feet too!

 

[DivaDiamond007]

Once upon a time DH and I had two pugs and two cats. I thritto the suggestions to get rid of the carpet. The baking soda trick works pretty well, too. Also invest in a Dyson Animal. My IL''s got us one for Christmas a few years back and it''s great at getting the hair up. We also ditched the upholstered furniture and went with leather. This could be a problem if kitty has claws though.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

We love our Animal. It''s the only vacuum our chow chow''s fur hasn''t killed.

 

[Linda W]

This thread made me laugh. Our Mazies paws smell like Fritos too, ha ha ha ha ha ha.


I wish we could get the smell of dog out of our house too. It isn''t Mazie, it is my daughters big dog. Sometimes it is embarrassing having people over. We always make sure to clean the carpets beforehand.

We don''t want people walking in and going

what is that smell.

 

[Aloros]

I only have a little dog. I used to bathe her in oatmeal shampoo (I heard a lot of good things about it) until I couldn''t find it one day, and used kitten shampoo instead.

It smells amazing, and the smell sticks to her for at least a week. Very gentle on her skin too. I can''t remember the brand name right now, but it comes in an orange bottle. I lather her twice. In comparison, the oatmeal shampoo smells nice for about a second. I''ll post back with the brand name later.

Baking soda helps too. I spread it on the carpet, let it sit for a while, then vacuum it up.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/20/2009 11:02:17 AM
Author: Irishgrrrl
You guys have NO IDEA how relieved I am to hear that everyone has dogs with Frito-feet! I have been quietly keeping that little fact to myself, because I was concerned that our guys had unusually funny-smelling feet. I feel so much better now!

Oh, and it''s not just dogs. The cat I had when I was a kid had Frito-feet too!

LOL!! Ok I am now going to check out my kittah paws, as I have 8 of them it might take some time....

 

[sba771]

Date: 3/19/2009 9:35:19 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
We have a dog and two cats. Our house can definitely get a funk about it every now and then. We try to open all of the windows and air out the house when it gets bad. Staying on top of vacuuming helps too. You can try sprinkling baking soda on the rug letting it sit for an hour or so and then vacuum it up.


Another weird thing is DOG''s paws smell like Fritos for some reason...

OMG!! I am so glad I am not the only crazy one! my FI is always like Darth smells like fritos

 

[NewEnglandLady]

I feel like I constantly battle the dog smell--it''s going to get worse as our little guy gets older and develops his adult coat. In many ways, I''ve just accepted the fact that I will never have a fresh-smelling house.

I did find that hardwoods were great for a.) easy cleaning and b.) not locking in pet smells. We''ve had carpet in the past and it simply didn''t work. I still vacuum every single day, sometimes twice (I literally have a vacuum on every floor), but if I don''t, the fur overwhelms the vacuum.

I have reed diffusers in every room. I also have one of those air fresheners that sprays every 20 minutes or so. And I keep potpourri out, too, as well as candles. I have no doubt that my house smells like dog and about 1,000 other scents trying to cover up that smell.

I''m very excited for it to start warming up so I can open up the windows--I feel like that helps more than anything. I feel like winter is worse for us--the house is completely shut up and the heat sort of makes the smell worse. Plus we have dogs tracking in snow with wet Frito feet.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

And those are some BIG frito feet!

 

[White Orchid]

I''m so glad to hear I''m not the only one dealing with this issue. Thank you all again for the great suggestions. One of the dogs got sick in the kitchen yesterday, so the house has smelled like dog barf all day. And of course my husband can''t smell it!

I invested in a new vacuum cleaner - apparently one that''s designed for home with pets. Hopefully that helps a bit.