Dog Odour Control and Cleaning Guide | Budget Pet Products

Dog Odour Control and Cleaning Guide

Dog urine can be smelly, so cleaning it up after an accident is not only a challenge, but also a necessity. Fortunately, there are now a host of new dog urine cleaners and odour control products on the market designed to support dog owners and make their lives easier, even if their pup goes to the bathroom where they shouldn’t. In this post we investigate how to get rid of dog urine smell from a variety of surfaces, how to get dog pee out of carpet, mattresses and bedding, and the couch. By the end, you’ll have a much better understanding of dog stain and odour remover products and how they can improve your life with your pet.

Why is the Smell of Dog Urine so Strong?

Unless you’ve been eating a lot of asparagus, human urine smells quite mild. However, the same is not always true of dogs. Their pee can smell very bad at times. Remember urine contains the waste products of the metabolic processes of the body, hormones and pheromones. There are compounds in there that can really smell when they become concentrated or when they are exposed to air.

Healthy dog pee should be nearly odourless. If it isn’t, it could suggest a problem.

There are four major causes of strong dog pee:

Urinary tract infections caused by bacteria
Dehydration, which leads very concentrated urine and a strong ammonia-like smell
A problem with your dog’s kidneys which prevent them from processing waste normally
Changes to your dog’s diet, such as including fish or asparagus and B group vitamins more regularly

Dog urine is almost clear when dilute.. If the pee is dark and smells, it suggests dehydration. Normal dog urine should be a clear yellow, or straw coloured.

Why does your Dog Pee in the House & How to Deter them

There are a number of medical reasons why your dog keeps peeing in the house (including urinary tract infections and kidney issues mentioned above). However, they may also be urinating indoors purely for behavioural reasons. For instance, dogs are more prone to toileting accidents inside if they aren’t properly trained, haven’t been spayed/neutered, have anxiety, or don't have enough opportunities to go outside.

Techniques to Deter

To deter your dog from peeing in the house, do the following:

Visit your veterinarian - They can rule out medical causes
Spay your dog - Dogs tend to pee more prolifically if you don’t neuter them. Urination is a way of marking their territory and can become a habit.
Retrain your dog - Dogs can sometimes forget their puppy toilet training. If so, simply repeat the training you would apply to a puppy. Be consistent and use unscented poop bags. Retraining may take a little while but with positive reinforcement they will get teh hang of it.
Provide more potty breaks - Your dog may be peeing inside the house because they don’t have enough opportunities to go to the bathroom outdoors. Adult dogs generally go to the toilet three to five times per day, and can hold their waste for between four to six hours.
Remove urination triggers - Dogs will sometimes attempt to “mark” new items in the house as their territory. If you notice this behaviour, check any changes you’ve made to their routine. Introduce new people and objects gradually if you can.
Clean up accidents promptly - The longer it sits the more the smell develops. This can encourage your pet to return to the scene of the crime.

Products to Deter

These days, you can buy sprays that deter your dog from revisiting and marking or soiling the same spot . These contain essential oils that smell good to people, but bad to pets. They’re safe for use on virtually all indoor surfaces as well as plants or areas of your garden that you don’t want your dog to use as a toilet.

Removing Dog Urine From Carpet

Despite your best efforts to train your pup, they will almost certainly pee on your carpet at some point in their life. When they do, you need to be ready.

Are you scratching your head, wondering how to get rid of dog pee smell in carpet? Don’t worry: help is at hand. To remove dog urine from a carpet, you can whip up a traditional vinegar and baking soda remedy and then leave it to soak in the carpet for 5 minutes before blotting dry. This method may work for mild stains.

Better yet, you can use a specialist dog urine carpet cleaner. These are much more effective because they use enzymes to neutralise odour-causing compounds in the pee.

Removing Dried Dog Pee From Carpet

The most effective cleaners are enzyme-based. These break down the odour-causing compounds in the urine, getting rid of the smell at the source. They are also great for removing tough, dried-on dog pee stains.

Here’s how to use carpet cleaner for dog pee:

Test the product on a small area of the carpet for colour fastness
Use a damp cloth or paper towel to blot up solid urine crystals.
Apply the product to the affected area and then wait five minutes (or the duration specified in the manufacturer’s instructions)
Blot away the stain with a damp cloth
If the stain is tough, use a bristle brush - gently rub, do not scrub.
If the stain does not remove completely, re-apply the formula and wait an hour
Blot away with a clean dry cloth

What To Do If Your Dog Urinates On A Couch

Your dog may also urinate on the couch from time to time. Here’s how to get how to get dog urine smell out of couch:

Test the product on a small area of the carpet for colour fastness
Blot the urine with an absorbent cloth, such as a washable rag. (You can also use disposable kitchen towels)
Spray the stain with a stain remover product and then wait for the duration specified in the manufacturer’s instructions
If there is any dirty foam, remove it with a spatula
Spray the affected site with white wine vinegar and then sprinkle baking soda over it, if necessary.

For more effective cleaning action, use an enzymatic cleaner for dog urine.

Removing Dog Urine from Couch Cushions

Learning how to get dog pee smell out of couch material also involves removing it from cushions. Today, there are several products on the market specially formulated to remove dog urine from couch cushions. The following are some products you might want to try:

Urine Off Odour and Stain Remover for Dogs and Puppies: This product uses bio-enzymatic technology to eliminate the chemical compounds in dog urine and saliva stains that make them smell bad. It works on both old and new stains, and is safe for use on all pets. It is suitable for hard surfaces and upholstery.
Yours Droolly No More Urine Stains And Odour Remover For Dogs: This product offers a dual-action formula designed to eliminate pet pheromones and prevent re-marking, using both enzymes and oxygen. It is suitable for fabrics and hard surfaces, and is safe as a laundry pre-soak for linens (such as cushion covers).

Keeping Dogs from Urinating on your Bed & Mattress

Dogs will sometimes pee on your bedding. This may occur for any of the reasons discussed above, such as anxiety or lack of proper training.

To prevent dogs from urinating on your bed or mattress do the following:

Close your bedroom door at all times of day
Keep your dog in a crate while you are away from home
Take your dog outside as soon as he requests to pee
Reward your dog for peeing outside. Don’t punish him for peeing inside
If you see your dog peeing inside, say “uh oh” and then quickly remove him from the spot and take them outside to finish

How to Clean Dog Pee from a Bed

To remove dog urine from bedding, use an odour and stain removal product suitable for laundry use.

Apply the stain remover liberally on the soiled area of the bedding and then place it in the wash along with regular detergent. If the area affected by the stain is too large to saturate, place half a cup of the stain cleaner in your washing machine’s detergent drawer. Then allow it to cycle normally.

For cleaning mattresses, choose products that have an applicator cap. These let you apply cleaning fluid so that it comes into contact with all the urine below the surface material. Stains are generally two to four times the size they appear on the surface when they fully soak into the mattress . You must ensure that any solution comes into full contact with all soiled areas if you want to fully eliminate the smell.

Keeping Dogs from Urinating on Hardwood Floors

Dogs will sometimes urinate on indoor hard floors, often because of enticing scents or the fact that wood is a preferred surface for them. To prevent soiling on hardwood, do the following:

Remove any dog urine smell (or other smells) from the affected area. You can do this using a hardwood floor-specific cleaning product, such as Urine Off Odour And Stain Remover. You can also simply wash the floor if you believe that the alluring scent might have another origin.
Use repellents. Spraying indoor dog pee deterrents, such as Yours Droolly No More Marking and Weeing Training Aid can help to prevent dogs from urinating on wooden floors in the future.
Neuter your dog. Spaying may reduce marking behavior by 80 percent.
Place your dog’s bowl in the spot where they pee. Dogs instinctively pee away from their food to prevent contamination.
Use pads. Puppy training pads can be helpful for protecting your hardwood floors, even if you have an adult dog. They absorb pee, giving you time to get to the root of the problem.

Here’s how to clean dog pee from hardwood floors:

Choose a suitable stain and odour removal product
Test the product on an inconspicuous area to make sure it doesn’t affect the floor.
Adjust the spray nozzle to allow proper coverage (if applicable)
Spray the affected area
Scrub with a soft-bristled brush to reduce urine penetration into the wood
Re-spray, ensuring that the formula comes into contact with all the urine
For new stains, allow a few minutes for the formulation to work. For old stains, leave the formulation on the wood overnight and cover it with plastic.
Remove any residue with a damp cloth and water

Why does Dog Urine kill Grass & How to fix it

Why does dog pee kill grass? Dog pee kills grass because it contains a high concentration of Nitrogen based compounds . These include uric acid, urea and nitrite. You may be wondering where these nitrogen compounds come from. Urea and uric acid are natural waste products from the breakdown of protein in the diet and other metabolic processes. Some fruits and vegetables also have high nitrogen content. Nitrates in the diet are turned into nitrites by bacteria in the dogs digestive tract. These nitrogen based compounds end up in the urine to be excreted from the body. While grass requires nitrogen in small quantities to thrive, too much can prevent them from taking up nutrients from the soil, causing them to wilt and die.

Here’s how to fix grass from dog pee:

Use a rake to remove any dried or dead pieces of grass at the surface. (Don’t remove dead grass if it goes all the way down to the soil).
Make sure that the soil temperature is at least 12 C. Less than this and any new grass you put down may not germinate.
Sprinkle fresh grass seed with in-mixed fertiliser to the affected area, making suring to fill it all in.
Water well
Erect a garden fence around the area to prevent dogs from disturbing it as it grows

To prevent dead patches in the first place, regularly water your lawn. Watering frequently will dilute the nitrogen compounds in the dog pee, giving the grass a better chance of survival.

You can also help prevent dog pee burn marks by using dog rocks to reduce the nitrate content in the water that they are drinking and the nitrite content in their pee. These products help to filter out impurities from your dog’s drinking water that could increase the nitrite content of their urine.

It is still advisable to water the stains, as your dog will still have nitrogen from his food in his urine. However, you should notice a reduction in lawn stains, provided your dog does not drink from other sources, such as ponds, toilets and pools.

Wrap Up

Nowadays, there are dozens of products available to help you control dog urine odour and clean up any stains. What’s more, manufacturers are now customising their products for different surfaces, meaning that you can get specific products for carpets, hardwood floors, upholstery and even cushions. Of course, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,marking deterrent sprays are also a useful tool both inside and outside the home.