When I adopted my Golden Retriever 16 years ago, I was maddened by the dog smell. He was 9 months old and didn’t have any accidents inside, he didn’t go in the carpeted areas of the house, and I cleaned constantly, but still couldn’t get rid of the smell.
Since then, I’ve had another (even stinkier) dog and hosted over 150 dogs in my house (up to 7 at a time!) with my dog-sitting business. I have been so excited to hear many times throughout all that, guests commenting that they couldn’t smell the dogs or see the fur anywhere.
So here’s what I did to keep our house smelling and looking clean, AND keeping the dogs comfortable, clean, and happy:
Daily cleaning tasks with dogs:
- Run the robot vacuum (automatically–and bonus tip: run it on a schedule, so it forces you to tidy the floor before it runs). I’ve tried many of these, and in 100% honesty, I LOVED the inexpensive ones and nearly despised the expensive name brand ones. My favorites are the Deebot and the iLife.
- Run a lint roller over your clothes. I do this before cooking (we keep one in a kitchen drawer). It keeps fur out of the food of course, but also off of everything else you touch and sit on.
As-needed cleaning through the week:
- Spritz Kids-N-Pets enzyme cleaner on problem areas or areas the pets frequent takes care of small odor issues.
- Spot clean any carpeted areas or fabric furniture that are stinky for whatever reason. You can use Kids-N-Pets diluted in water with a towel to scrub and then cover with a clean, dry towel, or use a spot cleaner. This spot cleaner gets regular use around here.
- A couple times a week, brush the dogs (outside) to keep loose fur out. You can use any brush for this, even a hairbrush works well on many dogs.
- Clean their paws. Doggy feet get stinky and transfer that stink to the floors, so when needed use the MudBuster paw cleaner–usually once or twice a week. Then dry with a towel. You’ll have less stink on the soft floors and less paw prints on the hard floors. If you don’t have a MudBuster, use a very wet towel to scrub, then a dry towel.
- Dry shampoo the dogs, my DIY dry shampoo recipe is my favorite, and it’s practically free. For me, this is usually about once a month, in between baths.
- Shake out rugs. I was impressed by how much these rugs actually work. We keep one outside the back door (on a covered deck) and one inside the door for double the dirt catching. I would like to shake them out daily, but it’s usually once or twice a week.
Weekly cleaning tasks:
- Use a deshedding brush on the dogs.
If you have a double-coated dog, you might want to take pictures of the second dog you could create out of the fur…fur that would be all over your house otherwise.
Different deshedding brushes work on different breeds. For double coated dogs, the ShedMonster has been my absolute favorite. For short-haired dogs (and cats), I love the EquiGroomer (I learned about it from the great groomer, Girl With The Dogs, so it’s safe and effective.) - Remove fur from fabric furniture. Very lightly mist the fabric with water, then put on rubber cleaning gloves and wipe the furniture down with your hands. It’s AMAZING how much better this works than a lint roller, and there is no burning through roller refills either.
It picks up all the fur way better than a lint roller does, and there’s no waste and no refills to buy. - Remove fur from bedding. Your bedding and theirs. The Chom Chom is so good for large surfaces.
- Run a full-sized vacuum on carpeted areas. Twice in a row. You’ll be amazed at what comes up with a second cleaning, whether you have dogs or not, but especially if you do.
- Mop hard floors. (Don’t use Kids-N-Pets in your mopping liquid, it makes them VERY slippery.) You can do a full mop, but even a Swiffer-style wet mop will make a big difference.
- Wash the rugs in the hottest water you can. If you get the rugs I recommend, don’t use vinegar on them as it will break down the non-slip backing. If they are stinky, soak them in water with Oxiclean overnight before washing.
Bi-monthly or monthly cleaning:
- Clean the carpet. After running the vacuum (twice!), clean the carpet with a carpet cleaner, preferably using Kids-N-Pets as your cleaning solution (it’s natural and actually eliminates the odor instead of masking it with fake ones and it’s the most effective natural ones we’ve found). And don’t worry, cleaning the carpet with the right cleaner is just as easy as vacuuming.
This is my favorite carpet cleaner for dogs. It does a great job at getting out the gross, and if you take your time, it dries the carpet pretty well too.
For the first year or so, I kept everybody (human and dog) off the carpets while they dried, but then realized it didn’t really matter in the end. Before bed is a great time to do it though if you’d rather not walk on damp carpet. - Bathe the dogs.
There’s much advice about how often to bathe your dog. After having 3 of my own, and having over 150 visiting dogs, I’ve found that every dog has different needs. Some need a bath monthly, some weekly. When your dog no longer smells neutral or feels pleasant, they’re are likely feeling it too and start scratching and rolling in the grass excessively. Give ’em a bath. For double coated dogs, a silicone dog brush helps tremendously to get the shampoo all the way to the skin when bathing. It’s important to get all the way to the skin if you’re going to remove the smell. (If you struggle to get the shampoo all the way to the skin, that might mean they have slightly matted fur, use a “slicker” brush to clean that up, then bathe.) I do 2 to 4 shampoos per bath, depending on how clean the fur feels. Start with 2 if you’re not sure.
Dry thoroughly after the bath, otherwise they’ll just bring in fresh wet dog smell and undo everything. Towel dry (2 to 3 towels with lots of encouraged “Shake” in between, then let them run around outside while you clean up–tossing some kibble into the grass keeps them excited by engaging their hunting needs and keeps them busy while they dry out a little–we say “Kibble hunt!”). Then once you’re ready, blow dry to make sure they’re dry to the skin. - Wash their bedding in the hottest water you can. I like to spray it down with Kids-N-Pets first and lay it outside to dry, then wash normally with soap, but using vinegar instead of fabric softener. It comes out with the least smell and the softest that way.
Recommended products to keep dog smell out
To keep the dogs clean
Paw cleaner
Effective at cleaning stinky paws before the smell transfers to the house.
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ShedMonster
For deshedding double-coated breeds, I recommend this twice a week.
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Equigroomer
Originally made for horses, this works so well on short-haired dogs (and great on my cat too!).
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Silicone Dog Brush
Great for our Berner who has fine hair, both for de-shedding and bathing
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To keep the house clean
Oxiclean
Oxiclean takes the dog smell straight out of clothes and bedding. For really strong smells, soak overnight.
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Carpet and furniture spot cleaner
This is perfect for accidents on carpet, or just frequently used areas. I use it on my upholstered living room chairs as well with great results.
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Chom Chom Roller
Much more effective than a traditional lint roller on large surfaces, and no refills to buy!
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Door mats
They’re not all that cute, but they make a big difference!
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Gloves for picking up fur
These gloves work way better than lint rollers for gathering fur. Just a light mist of water on the surface of your furniture or clothes, then swipe with the gloves and you’re done! So easy.
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Carpet Cleaner
Carpet cleaner that’s as easy to use as a vacuum. This runs weekly in our house to keep the dog smell away.
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Kids-n-pets
The most effective odor eliminator (even urine). Great for spraying directly on accidents, or for using in the carpet cleaner.
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Deebot Robot Vacuum
Our favorite vacuum if you DO have a smart house. (WAY better than Roomba from our experience–and way more affordable.)
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ILife Robot Vacuum
Perfect vacuum to run daily if you DON’T have a smart house. (Currently only $99)
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Dyson Animal Vacuum (Refubished)
We’ve been using our refurbished (half-price) Dyson for 8 years and it’s still working beautifully.
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And one last point: humidity makes a huge difference. The less humid your house is, the less it will smell like dog. Even if you do everything listed above, if your house is very humid, you’re going to smell the dog(s). Consider a dehumidifier if it’s an ongoing problem, otherwise, just remember it’s temporary and you’ll be back to normal when the humidity is. 🙂
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