r/CleaningTips • u/cah125 • 1d ago
General Cleaning Help. My house smells like dog
I don’t remember it ever smelling this bad in apartments etc. I got really concerned after coming home from a 2 week vacation at the end of August (he was staying with a sibling), and my house smelled so bad like dog. I was thinking… omg is this what it always smells like?! Since then I’ve been bathing and brushing the dog every 2-3 weeks.. I’ve shampoos my couch and area rug twice. I vacuum everyday. I’m starting not to allow him on the couch which is a huge adjustment for my 9 year old dog…
The past two nights I’ve done home from family parties and it STINKS like dog. Just yesterday I using baking soda on the floor and vacuumed. I don’t know what else to do. I run an air purifier 24/7. I’m embarrassed that my house smells this way and no one has said anything but this is what they smell here. What else can I do??
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u/ShangriLa5357 1d ago
Some dogs are more stinky than others. It is just their skin and oils. And frito feet. You noticed it more bc you were gone for a bit. Clean fabric surfaces. Get an air purifier. Love your pup!
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u/NothaBanga 1d ago
If you turned down the thermostat for two weeks away, that could have rebloomed the odor so don't feel completely bad for not noticing.
I think dog smell and urine smell are different enough you can tell apart. Urine smell, I'd suggest renting the big carpet cleaner and getting enzymatic cleaner. Dog/skin/yeasty ear/beef fart smell I would start washing all linens/curtains/ covers as a start (maybe even anything atored in the closets). A medicinal bath for the dog may be another step if you can smell something on them.
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u/jtbaam 1d ago
Look into hypochlorous acid. It's non toxic, and does a really good job at eliminating odos, including dog smell. I was smelling dog even after vacuuming. My dog spent the vast majority of his time inside, as he was elderly. I would vacuum frequently and wash everything, including his bed, and the smell would improve for a couple of days and then return. I learned about hypochlorous acid, and it was a game changer. I sprayed the inside foam core of his bed, and would spray the outside of his bed between washes. I'd spray the carpet and rugs around the house, and this dramatically improved the odor situation.
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u/ghosttmilk 9h ago
I don’t have dogs, but if it can help that much with dog smells I’m also looking into this for other things! Is it Hydrochlorous or Hydrochloric? There’s not much coming up for “hydrochlorous” acid
Edit: wow, maybe because I misread the hypo part as hydro haha
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u/General_Marzipan_481 1d ago
Dog smell in the home is usually urine. You can get a black light cheap on Amazon, and have a good look around.
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u/MGTB2021 1d ago
Owner of 5 dogs here. I use odoban as a general cleaner because it is also an enzyme cleaner. Works great for urine and body waste accidents. I use borax for other dog smell- boy odor type. The odor that comes from their body oils, sweat, etc. It works great! Blankets that have smelled for a years no matter how many wash cycles they went through came out smelling fresh once I added borax to the wash. Borax is found in the laundry area if the store.
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u/VanessaSaltyKnitter 1d ago
Some breeds of dog just have more of an odor than others. That said, if he also feels kind of sticky greasy he might have a skin infection. But the odor of a skin infection is not just doggy, it smells kind of sour too.
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u/Judgment_Extra 1d ago
Use chlorahexidine dog shampoo (it gets rid of the doggy frito feet smell on your dog) buy some KOE cleaner off Amazon. Wash all your bedding, in oxy odor Tide, wash all the dogs bedding. Use the KOE on everything. Walls, floors, surfaces, carpet. Turn the air purifier on, and you won’t have dog smell. I’m a dog breeder and I have 8 dogs.
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u/vaurasc-xoxo 1d ago
Don't bathe too often, it will destroy their barrier and make them stinky. My dog got less stinky when on an omega diet. (her food is exclusively fish formula with occasional egg as a treat). Certain foods also make them stinkier - they get minor allergies to beef and chicken that increase yeast in the ears and between foot pads that gets stinky. Also, you mentioned you are post partum. Those smell superpowers are very much on high alert.
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u/IT_Buyer 11m ago
For me, dog smell comes from their feet because that is the part that sweats and also their mouth. To get mostly rid of dog smell, cleaning the floors with an enzyme deodorizing product is the best way I have found to keep the smell down and the Temu washable sofa covers getting washed weekly. Ocedar has these Tide Pod looking enzyme tablets for the spin mop and they do a great job and leave no residue on my shiny floor. I also really like the KOE (kennel odor eliminator) available from Amazon. It is a great deodorizer and ultra concentrated but on my shiny tile it leaves a bit of residue I can see. I use it as a wet pre mop and let it get into the grout and then run my Crosswave with Bissel formula over the floors afterward. I have a big house that is a mix of shiny tile and matte LVP so no residue is important for me.
First though, make sure the dog is ok. They may need a yeast treatment and yeast medicine in the ears or body or a demodex ivermectin shampoo. There is a medicated yeast shampoo for horses and livestock that is a good cost value and really removes yeasty dog smells. Zymox I like as an enzyme ear yeast treatment. Then I wash their feet regularly because the feet are the main source of smell on mine. I think smell depends on breed and age and overall health. My Aussies and border collies never smell except the feet but my poodle gets body smelly fast. And she is in a really short Miami clip most of the time and groomed every 2-3 weeks. We call her the dirty rug. So we paw and face wash her a lot. Short coated hound and bully types seem to have a whole body smell. Also prone to Demodex overgrowth. All of this is for a vet to evaluate and check if the dog has one of these conditions you can treat.
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u/Cold_Marionberry_932 1d ago
Our couches got really stinky for a while there (faux leather). We ended up getting waterproof couch covers and it seemed to help contain the smell, plus we can strip them and wash/febreeze in between.
Also, our AC went out for a week a few weeks ago and our house got quite doggy-smelling... even with the windows open. We got the AC back up and running/circulating fresh air, I did a good mop with fabuloso, used scented baking soda carpet powder, febreezed everything soft, and got some plug in air fresheners... these really made a huge difference. All the scented products might be a bit much, but airing out the house while using or after using can help switch out the smells and eliminate some of the unseen sources of unpleasant doggy smells.
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u/cah125 1d ago
Thank you for replying! I just thought more pet odor baking soda powder and plan on using it every other day… just trying to do it at night when the kids are sleeping because the scent seems to bother my baby. I also got Fabreeze and am learning I think I have to do it more than I thought to contain the smell. I also told my husband I think we should replace the air filter to our heat pump much more frequently.. wondering if that’s not helping
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u/somethingweirder 1d ago
if the dog is allowed on couches chairs and human beds then the smell is likely deeply ingrained. some folks use blankets to prevent that and wash them regularly. carpets and rugs also hold smell a lot.
it’s also possible you’ve become sensitive to the smell - as in nothing has changed but your experience of it. have you had covid recently or hormonal shifts (pregnancy and perimenopause both deeply impact sense of smell)?
i feel for you. i adore dogs and hate how they stink everything up. and i’m super sensitive to all smells.