Let’s face it: dealing with odor is just a part of a pet owner’s life. You love your dog but you don’t want your house to smell bad all the time. While it seems hard to get rid of the dog odor, it’s not so difficult to do so if you’re willing to put in a little effort and do some basic cleaning tasks.

If you’re wondering how to get dog smell out of the house, keep reading this post; we’re going to come up with some simple and easy cleaning hacks. Let’s answer a basic question before we dig deep into some pretty cool odor removal techniques.

Why Does Your Dog Stink Up the House?

If you know why your dog stinks up the house, it will become easier to fix those problems and get rid of the bad smell once and for all. The following are some common reasons dogs smell bad or worse:

• Dogs, just like any other pet animal, have a certain smell. Every dog has a unique smell. If you have more than one dog, you probably have noticed that every dog smells differently. When they are up and playing, their body odor stinks up the house.

• It is quite natural if your dog drools a lot. However, the smell of their saliva on different surfaces such as carpet and furniture creates a bad smell.

• Some dogs have bad breath and it can make your small room smell bad.

• Dogs produce a different kind of smell when they’re in season. You may find that smell repulsive.

• It could be an illness such as an infection that makes dogs smell weird at times. This is something you should take seriously and pay a visit to a vet.

• There’s no way you can eliminate bad odor if your dog is dirty and you don’t pay attention to their cleaning. Dogs usually love to play outside at the park or in the backyard. They love to dig, play, and roll in puddles. All of these activities can make them dirty and stinky.

Now let’s see what you can do to address these issues and ensure your house smells good.

10 Ways To Get Dog Smell Out of the House

Chances are you have already tried some DIY cleaning to eliminate the unpleasant dog odor. However, you need to learn more about what really causes dog smell — fixing the root cause is important to achieve long-term results. Here is what you can do right now to remove the bad dog odor.

The first logical thing to do is remove all the debris and mop all of your home’s hard floors. Make sure you get rid of dog hair and its dander before you mop the floor.

Sweep gently when dealing with debris and hair to prevent these elements from getting into the air. Your purpose is to remove the debris and dust and not to spread them all over your house.

Take it easy when sweeping. It would be a good idea to cover the trash can with a piece of paper or cloth to stop the dust from blowing out of the trashcan. After you sweep away all the dander and small particles, mop your surfaces to remove the debris still sticking to your floors.

Don’t forget to use pet-safe cleaners and other tools to clean your house — some cleaning products may not be safe for your dog.

Pro Tip: Try Azuna’s Whole Home Kit to clean and neutralize air against mold, mildew, and bacteria.

Now that your floors are clean and smelling good, it’s time to clean your carpets. Floors are easy to clean when it comes to pet debris and hairs. However, carpets can hold a massive amount of dust, dander, and hair. You can get rid of them using a mop or sweep.

This is where you need a vacuum cleaner and clean your carpets, rugs, curtains, and furniture thoroughly. Rugs that we usually use for dogs are easy to vacuum. If you don’t have a vacuum cleaner or your vacuum doesn’t collect smelly stuff hidden in carpets and rugs, consider buying a vacuum designed for homes with pets.

A solution of half water and half distilled white vinegar is one of the favorite cleaning mixtures of households. You can mix these two items in a spray bottle and use them to neutralize odor. If you need something more sophisticated and effective, try Whole Home Kit by Azuna which is enough to treat 3 to 4 rooms. Browse through our shop for more options!

You can select your favorite natural scent when placing your order. If you’re a pet lover, Whole Home Kit is a must-have product.

Sweeps and vacuum cleaners perform well when it comes to removing dry particles from carpets. But they can’t remove any odors trapped in the carpet or rug’s fibers. At this point, steam cleaning of your carpets would be a viable solution. If you want to hire a professional carpet cleaning service, make sure they’re using pet-friendly cleaning products.

Cleaning your floors, carpets, and other components of your household might encourage your dog to mark its territory. Keep an eye on your dog after performing any major cleaning task.

If you want to learn how to get dog smell out of the house, identify all the household items that can become breeding grounds of germs and bacteria. For example, pillowcases and couch cushion covers can also start smelling like a dog if not properly or regularly washed.

Wash all those clothing items that your dog has access to, especially if you’re dealing with a severe dog smell in your house. Also, remove fur and hair from your pants.

If your dog is the cause of odor in your house, your dog’s bed is likely to be the smelliest thing in your home. A mix of your dog’s dander, dirt, saliva, urine, and hair can create an unbearable smell. Solution? Take your dog bed and run it through the washing machine and then let it air dry. Consider treating the covers with a stain repellant in case you want to keep them clean and stain-free.

We know baking soda is a natural cleaner and odor eliminator. It reacts with things like cat or dog urine odors and neutralizes them. If you want to remove odors from upholstery and floors, you should try baking soda.

How should you use baking soda? Simply sprinkle it onto fabrics or stuff that you can’t wash with water. Let it be there for around 10 hours or a night. After that, wipe baking soda away with a paper towel, a wet cloth, or vacuum it up if you have sprinkled it over your carpet.

Cat or dog owners know how important it is to let the fresh air in to reduce odors and concentration of hair in the air. It could be difficult to think of ventilation in the winter or summer. But you can schedule cleaning when the temperature is mild.

How to improve ventilation? Open some screened windows and doors in your home. Turn on exhaust or ceiling fans when the air conditioning or heating systems are not needed. If you can turn your attic fan, that would be great.

Changing your home air filters will also be a good idea. Clogged air filters can make the dog-odor problem worse. Be sure to improve the amount of air flowing through your rooms. You don’t have to hire a professional to replace old air filters. Just remove the old ones and take them to your nearby hardware store to find a replacement.

As we discussed earlier in this post, it’s critical to find out why exactly your dog stinks up the house. Is it due to a bad pee spot on the carpet or a point on the floor where your dog barfed? Identify the problematic areas and clean them thoroughly.

Sniff around your house to find out the source of the bad odor. When you find a spot, treat it with a mixture of four tablespoons of baking soda and two cups of white vinegar. Put the mixture in a spray bottle and spray the desired areas. Don’t spray on carpets unless you do a little test to make sure it wouldn’t cause discoloration.

After cleaning your house and treating all the troubling spots, give your dogs a nice bath. Use a dog-friendly shampoo and scrub well.

Smell Be Gone

We hope these simple and inexpensive techniques will help you get the dog smell out of your house. Don’t forget to check out our antimicrobial odor elimination solutions!

Sources:

22 Benefits and Uses of Baking Soda | Healthline

How to Get Rid of Dog Smell (10 Best Methods) | Oh So Spotless

Cleaning Tips Every Dog or Cat Owner Should know | Family Handyman