How to ensure the house doesn't smell of dog?

[MyGhostIsFlummoxed]

Is it inevitable or is there something magical I can do (other than regular vacuuming/cleaning?)

[SpicyBear]

I find if I bathe the dogs, vacuum and wash bedding regularly it doesn't smell, but then neither of my dogs are the big shaggy smelly type!

Or I suppose it's also possible that the family and friends I've asked are lying and it stinks...

[CMOTDibbler]

Wash dogs, wash their bedding and coats. We have leather sofas and laminate, so they get washed over.

House gets aired through too

[NigellasGuest]

wash, wash, wash.

Wash their bedding, wash their toys, wash THEM

Happily we have wood flooring and tiles downstairs, and DDog not allowed upstairs (where the carpet is). So I can also keep the floors washed.

I thoroughly recommend one of those wash bags for dogs - rather than put dog's bedding (and other stuff) directly into the washing machine, you put them first into a special bag. That way, none of the dog fur / fluff / grime / mud / muck / whatever goes into your washing machine.

[frozenmad]

Ooh, what's a dog wash bag?

[CMOTDibbler]

Its like a big, zipped pillowcase. I bought one for washing horse stuff - on ebay as a rug wash bag

[EasyToEatTiger]

How do you know if your house smells of dog? I think our house smells a bit of outside. We are working on getting rid of acres and acres of carpet!!

[Sunna]

All houses that dogs live in smell of dogs. If you own a dog you don't notice but those of us who don't can smell them. The same as smokers' houses smell of smoke.

[MimsyBorogroves]

Ooh, yes - mire information on the dog wash bag please! I have a bloody pack of dogs and the hair is a nightmare.

[needastrongone]

scented candles and shake and vac

Wash their beds regularly. The dogs (mucky spaniels) are thoroughly cleaned before they come in. Clipped short for hair. I squirt them with doggy perfume which they hate and actively run away from.

Downstairs we are wooden floored, tiled and have leather sofas so that's an advantage.

Seriously, I do use the candles and plug in fresheners a lot during the winter And during the year too tbh.

My dog bag was from Amazon for about £12. It's great for bedding and dog towels, for us, pony stuff too.

sunna - I swear my house doesn't smell!! My BF is a clean freak who doesn't really like dogs (apart from ours, which is good). She is totally honest to the point of offence sometimes (!!) and swears our house doesn't smell of dog.

However, see all of above and a weekly cleaner too!! I probably am a bit anal about it tbh.

[FluffyMcnuffy]

I need a doggy wash bag and doggy perfume

[BiancaDelRio]

I hoover at least twice a day (I shed more than the bloody dog!), bleach the floors and have loads of scented candles.

I also have the windows open all day and bath the dog (semi) regularly.

I can't bring myself to put her bed through the machine (did it once - the washing was hairy for MONTHS!) so I just buy her a new bed when the old one starts to pong. Wasteful maybe but I can't live in a dog smelling house!

[LizzieMint]

I would agree with Sunna, if you're a non-dog owner you can just smell it straight away. Some houses smell more of course, but I've never been in a dog-owning house that didn't smell at least a bit of dogs.

[BiancaDelRio]

I don't care if there is a dog smell in my clean house. It means we have a dog.

Anyone who would be bothered by that wouldn't get across my threshold anyway .

People who don't like dogs are miserable hoors.

[moosemama]

My house smells of dog - can't smell it ourselves generally, but I do notice when we've been away on holiday and come home after a couple of weeks.

We used to have three dogs and did our best to make sure there was no evidence of them when selling our last house. We had wooden floors, which were washed twice daily and again before every viewing and all dog bedding was removed and locked in the car - along with the dogs, before each viewing as well. Dogs weren't allowed upstairs, which was the only place we had carpet or on the furniture and the whole house was thoroughly aired daily with windows opened wide. We were asked several times, by both potential buyers and estate agents why we had a kennel and run in the garden when we clearly didn't own dogs, so I guess it can't have smelled.

[code]

I don't have a dog (sadly) but can't smell the dog when I go to friend's houses. Avoiding carpets, washing floors and beds and grooming the dog (plus good dental hygiene) plus regular airing stops any bad smells.

[DiaDuit]

I hate to say it but i agree that dog homes always smell of dog.

I am a large hairy stinky dog owner and try really hard to keep smell away but it must still be detectable to others. My friend is a clean freak and even i notice the smell of her tiny yorkie in her super clean house.

[EasyToEatTiger]

Houses tend to smell of whatever's inside them. People like different smells, so some houses smell of coffee, some of cake, some of air freshener, some of tobacco, some of wine, some of rats, some of cats, some of dogs, some of scented candles.... We have noses on the fronts of our heads to smell things with. A lot of people seem to like the smell of laundry powder.

[googlenut]

Don't agree that all houses with dogs smell of dog. Before we got a dog I used to monitor this in other people's houses because I didn't want that smell in ours. And I definitely visited a few houses that didn't smell of dog.'they were all biggish houses and I wonder if that makes a diffirence?

[code]

I like the smell of dogs. Covers up the smell of humans.

[EasyToEatTiger]

Yes, humans do smell pretty awful don't they

[Methe]

If you have a dog your house will smell of dogs whatever you do.

[DiaDuit]

Yes googlenut you could be onto something with the size of the houses making a difference.

Both mine and friend's houses are small so perhaps that is why i can smell her very small dog.

[NigellasGuest]

My honest sister told me my house didn't smell of dog but that my car did.
House is big, car is (obviously) small.
Cue lots of air freshener for the car! I find this is good

<a class="break-all" href="//www.amazon.co.uk/Citrus-Magic-Solid-Freshener-Fresh/dp/B006TZ73FK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1415222720&sr=8-2&keywords=citrus%20magic&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">//www.amazon.co.uk/Citrus-Magic-Solid-Freshener-Fresh/dp/B006TZ73FK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1415222720&sr=8-2&keywords=citrus%20magic&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[BiancaDelRio]

The house size makes sense.

We live in quite a big house and it categorically doesn't smell.

In our student days we used to live in a back to back two up/two down and had a cat and the house stunk.

So airing every day and having easily washable wooden floors work for me. I think it must be a lot harder with carpets. Especially if there are accidents. Eww.

[Takver]

Not a magic solution, but we have lots of old giant bath towels, one over ddog's bed, and one anywhere else he likes to lie, washed at least weekly and more often if needed.
Idea came from MiL who has trained all her cats to only sleep on towels (obviously she has smaller towels ). Works very well, though in ILs house you do have to be careful to always hang up your towel straight after taking a shower . . . fortunately as ddog not allowed on furniture nor upstairs this is less of a problem in our house.