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Anyone who has brought a puppy home will be no stranger to the dreaded pee puddle. During the potty training period, or in times of heightened excitement or stress, your pup may be more likely to urinate suddenly or without warning, meaning that carpet clean up may be necessary.
If you want to know how to clean dog urine from the carpet, you’ve come to the right place. Removing dog pee from the carpet doesn’t have to be complicated, and if done properly and with the right products, is usually super effective.
In this blog, we discuss the best methods to get rid of dog urine stains and smell, how new and old stains may require different cleaning approaches for maximum efficiency, and how you can help to prevent future accidents from occurring around the home.
It is important to ensure that you have the right equipment to hand before you begin cleaning. For many homemade cleaners it can be helpful to have a spray bottle to hand to make for easy distribution. You will also want to keep plenty of paper towels nearby, and it is always advised that you wear gloves when handling any cleaning products.
Depending on the products you use, whether you prefer more natural methods or would rather try a ready-made carpet cleaner, it is important to check the ingredients of your chosen cleaner to ensure they don’t contain anything that could ruin your carpet and leave you with a bigger mess than you started with!
Depending on whether the stain is fresh or has already dried and set, you may need to alter your cleaning method accordingly. Let’s take a closer look at how to remove dog pee from the carpet if it is a new stain or if it has been there for a while:
First things first, you will need to try and soak up as much of the urine as possible. Place some paper towels on top of the stain, and underneath the carpet if that is a possibility. You can then lay some newspaper on top of this and either press down with your hands or stand on the patch. Do this for a few minutes to soak up as much of the fresh urine as you can - this will minimize the risk of residual staining and make your job much easier.
Once you feel you have got the worst of the urine up, wet the affected area with cool water, and then blot this until you have managed to soak up all of the water. This process should have removed most of the stain, and so now all that is left to do is take care of those pesky urine smells that may linger.
Enzyme cleaners are specially made cleaning products which help to break down the protein blends within the urine stain and reduce odor. Or, depending on your preference, there are a range of natural odor-remover remedies, such as white vinegar, which have proven to be particularly effective at helping to reduce the lingering musk of puppy pee. It is always advised to use pet-safe products where possible, and to keep your dog out of the way whilst you clean to minimize the risk of them ingesting toxicities or getting their eyes or skin irritated.
Here at Potty Buddy we want to make pet parenting as fun and stress-free as possible, especially when it comes to cleaning up! Our Biological Stain and Odor Cleaner is naturally tough on stains and odors, and uses a pet-safe probiotic and essential oils formula to break down the organic compounds in puppy-made stains, making it a super effective and non-toxic choice for your home.
Sometimes you may come across a pee stain that has been sitting there for a while, and in this case the stain and odor will have started to get pretty cozy with the carpet! Initially, good old fashioned water will be your best friend. You will need to wet the stain with plain fresh water, blot the water away, and then repeat this step until you see the stain beginning to lift away.
Wetting the stain and blotting it dry will help start the process, but depending on how long the stain has been there, it may not fully clean the affected area. This is where enzyme cleaners come in particularly handy. These products use enzymes to help break down the compounds in the stain and lift it away completely, removing both the physical stain and the odour - particularly effective when it comes to stains that are more dried into the surface.
If you are looking for an effective natural cleaning product to tackle your older stains, vinegar and baking soda are both good options. Both these ingredients naturally have disinfectant properties, and are excellent at getting rid of unwanted odors.
Start by saturating the affected area with vinegar, and then sprinkle baking soda over the top. You should then leave the baking soda to dry completely; be sure to keep your dog away from the area while the cleaning products are in place. Once the baking soda has dried, you can then vacuum it up, and the result should be a clean, odor-free carpet.
Getting the dog urine smell out of the carpet is important to help deter your dog from repeating unwanted peeing behaviors. If a dog can smell urine around the house, the scent will entice them to pee there again, and they may form a habit of doing so. Keeping your house pee free and implementing a regular potty training routine will help keep your dog on track and stop them lifting their leg where they shouldn’t.
Hydrogen Peroxide is a strong chemical which can be used to effectively remove stains from your carpet. It is worth noting that this is a particularly harsh product that could make your dog very sick if ingested and could also cause eye or skin irritation, so always keep them far away from the area you are cleaning and remove all residue. Always wear gloves when handling harsh chemicals and cleaning products.
To clean your carpet using this method, mix 22 ml of hydrogen peroxide, 15 ml of dish soap and 28g of baking soda together until they form a paste; it is best to use a plastic bowl for this. These three ingredients work as a team to remove and deodorize stains - the hydrogen peroxide vanishes stains by breaking their chemical bonds, and then the dish soap and baking soda swoop in and act as a disinfectant and help to reduce odor.
Once your mixture is ready, spoon it onto the affected area and leave this for around 30-60 minutes. It is best to work the paste into the carpet a bit for maximum effect, gently pushing it into the carpet with the spoon should do the trick.
Using a warm, damp cloth, you will then want to push this into the paste and keep dabbing until the mixture is completely lifted out - you may need to dampen your cloth a few more times if it starts to dry out.
Once you are sure you have removed all the paste, you can then use paper towels to press down on the affected area and dry it. If you do happen to find that any paste has been leftover, allow it to completely dry and then simply vacuum it up, being sure to keep your pet away from the area until all product has been removed.
So now you know how to get the dog urine smell out of your carpet - but what happens if you can smell it but can’t find the stain? Luckily, there is an easier way to identify these hidden stains without crawling about the floor with a looking glass.
Urine stain detectors use UV light to highlight areas which have been affected by urine, even if the stain is old. These handy devices often come in the form of a handheld light which you can easily shine across the floor, and before you know it you’ll be able to find the source of the smell.
While many of us will want to do everything in our power to clean the carpet ourselves, sometimes the task is just too great, and you may need to call on the help of a professional. Keeping your carpets fresh and clean with regular cleaning services means you can rest easy knowing that they are being cleaned safely and with the appropriate products, and stopping a build up of carpet stains can mean you are less likely to need to replace them.
A professional carpet cleaner may be required if you have multiple dogs, or if your pups tend to have fairly frequent accidents, perhaps due to incontinence linked to anxiety or a health issue. Keeping up with regular pee stain cleaning can feel like a never ending job in some cases, and a professional will be able to take some of the pressure off, providing a thorough cleaning and allowing you to spend more time with your pups.
Once your dog has peed on the carpet, they may be tempted to do it again if they can still smell it. Dogs will naturally want to mark their scent, particularly if they find the scent of urine, either their own or another animal’s. Odor neutralizers will work in your favor to remove pee pongs and deter your dog from repeating the offense.
Proper potty training is important to ensure your puppy learns where they can and can’t pee, as well as getting them into a regular routine. If your dog continues to pee in places they shouldn’t, it could be that they are trying to tell you something. They may be experiencing heightened stress or anxiety, or they might not be able to hold their pee due to an underlying medical condition.
Amongst all the talk of baking soda and enzyme cleaners, there are few things we may forget when it comes to our dogs peeing on the carpet:
Dogs respond best to positive reinforcement and repetition; these are the best ways to get them to do what you want them to do, and to help them avoid falling into bad habits. Fuss, treats and an upbeat attitude will have a huge effect not only only on your dog’s confidence, but also on how receptive they are to training.
While it can undoubtedly be frustrating when your dog pees on the carpet, the worst thing you can do is punish them. Dogs do not know how to be bad, and they are not trying to make work for you on purpose. Their behavior is only ever trying to communicate something to us, and it is our job to take notice and help them.
If you are struggling with a pee-happy puppy, it is always worth talking to your vet about possible causes. They will likely have considerable advice on how to help train your dog out of the habit, as well as be able to diagnose any underlying causes for their undesirable toileting habits.
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