How To Get Dog Smell Out Of The House (Before Your Guests Come Over)

Raise your hand🙋 if you ever walked into your house to the smell of – what smells like wet dog odor? You know you have at some point if you’re a dog owner. It’s not the nicest of smells, Right? So now you are wondering how to get dog smell out of the house before your next guest comes by.

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How To Get Rid Of Dog Smell In A New Or Old House

As dog lovers, our pups are family.

So we usually all learn to deal with everything that comes along with owning a dog. You know, dog hair, an occasional accident, the dirt they track in, and sometimes that lovely odor that makes your house smell like wet dog smell.

But, when it comes time for a dinner party with guests or holiday get-togethers, that’s a whole other story.

You see, at my house, that’s when I’ll tend to start worrying if the house has any dog smells, and I also don’t deal with it very well at first, probably because I know I’ll have that one guest who isn’t a dog lover. ( I don’t see how they couldn’t be, but we won’t get into that.)

I’ll start to drive everyone in my house crazy because I’ll ask them a thousand times if they think it smells in the house.

I don’t want that guest who isn’t a dog lover ( you know we all have one of those in our lives) to feel uncomfortable or make faces (you know what I mean) – I know I really shouldn’t care, but being a people pleaser, it’s hard not to.

But you know what…

It’s ok because I have learned all you have to do is find ways to keep your home clean as much as possible and use some great tools to help eliminate pet odor.

I will show you how to keep your house smelling fresh with a dog by sharing these tips I have learned over the years. This way, you can focus on the joy of owning a dog and all the wonderful benefits we receive from them.

Related Post: 5 Powerful Benefits Of Having A Dog

First, before we discuss how to keep your house clean and the great tools to use, we need to speak about what can cause our dogs to have an odor in the first place.

What Can Cause Dogs To Smell

There are a lot of different reasons your dog can smell. It isn’t their fault – dogs are prone to odors. We, as dog parents, need to do our best to keep them as healthy as we can to prevent some of these odors from happening.

Here are some examples of what could be causing your pet to smell.

• Environmental issues – dogs can get seasonal allergies that can lead them to become itchy. Allergies can then lead to skin issues if not taken care of properly. (Please note some breeds are more prone than others when it comes to allergies.)

• Bathing your dog too much, believe it or not – it’s important to wash your dog, and it can help get rid of dog smell on a dog. Still, If you bathe your dog too much, their skin can dry out and cause skin irritations, which then can increase the risk of bacterial or fungal infections, according to this article from petmd.

• Infections ( If that is the case, it should be addressed with a veterinarian) – If your dog is scratching a lot, it’s most likely due to an infection or skin allergy. Those two issues can lead to your dog smelling bad because of the yeast that infections produce.

• Teeth – Taking care of your dog’s teeth are essential. If not correctly taken care of, it can lead to tooth decay, which will cause their breath to smell bad and maybe more significant issues.

What To Do When Your House Smells Like A Dog

It is easier than you think.

Over the years, with all my dogs in my house – I have found keeping the flooring cleaned, and the air clean (I will get into the clean air part below as it’s an important step) in the house really makes a huge difference and is key to having your home not smell like a wet dog.

I know nobody likes cleaning all the time.

I certainly don’t like cleaning, but it’s part of being a dog owner, and if you want not to have your house smell of dog, we have to do it.

You can start with your daily straightening up and dusting, Then follow these steps.

• Vacuum every day or every other day, and also vacuum your furniture, especially under the cushions of your couch, where dog hair will get into. I then usually make a mixture of vinegar and water in a spray bottle and spray it under the cushions to keep things fresh.

• Shampoo your carpets at least once a month again using a pet-safe cleaner.

• Wash your floors regularly. I like to use a cleaner that is pet safe.

• Clean any dog bedding, crates, couch covers, and toys weekly. This laundry cleaner is good on the beds and couch covers and can be bought at a local store or from amazon for easy shopping.

• Clean dog bowls daily and Have dog food in an airtight container.

• Get an air purifier if you don’t already have one. 

• Change Air Filters in your furnace ( they clog faster from the dog dander) I like to use the ones that trap ultrafine particles and vacuum in air ducts.
• Bamboo Charcoal Air Purifying Bags are great to add to the home. They help with purifying the air naturally and are safe around pets it’s a great addition to have along with your air purifier machine, and not to mention it looks great as part of your home decor.

Favorite Tools To Get Dog Smell Out Of House

This is how I get the dog smell out of my house. Ok, I mentioned earlier that cleaning is not my favorite thing to do. So anything that will make my life easier when it comes to cleaning, I will use.

As long as it works because I refuse to waste my money are products that will break in a year, and we know there’s a ton of products out that do that.

Here are Four of the best cleaning tools that will help to keep the house clean and smelling fresh and why I love them:

The First two are Vacuums that are great for use with pets in the home.

1. Aerus Vacuum Cleaner (formerly known as Electrolux but since has changed names).

This vacuum company has been around for over 95 years. My parents still enjoy using their vacuum – The one they have is vintage. Just saying…

The vacuums they make today are modern looking and will last a lifetime, just like the ones they sold years ago.

Heck, Martha Stewart even has her vintage one still – you can see it in one of her articles in a photo( it’s gold) check out the article and see if you can spot it just for fun. (Hint it towards the end of the post😉)

I just love how easily it picks up dog hair. This is my go-to vacuum, and wouldn’t use any other vacuum when I need to do my heavy-duty cleaning.

It’s also a good idea to choose a vacuum with a sealed HEPA filter, which this vacuum has.

This vacuum can prevent the debris and contaminants when pulled from your carpet from escaping the bag or canister and reentering your air supply.

It also features a high-porosity, activated charcoal carbon filter to reduce odor and moisture effectively.

Know that this vacuum has everything you need to make your cleaning easier and safer for your health.

You can check it out by clicking on the image.

Please Note: Mention our website homesweetpups.com to receive 15% off an Aerus product.

2. Bissell ICONpet Edge Cordless Vacuum

This Bissell upright vacuum is a machine that I like to use when I need to do a quick cleaning around the house. It is very easy to take out, and it gets the job done quickly – I also have to mention that it’s a really pretty-looking vacuum, LOL… I also love the fact that Bissell has their own pet foundation to help animals. You will find that this is lightweight and does a great job picking up dog hair.

3. The Beyond Guardian Air Purifier

I think this is the most important part of getting rid of that dog smell. Having an Air Purifier running 24/7 helps with your dog’s dander and smells.

Did you know – pet dander particles are smaller than dust particles: 5 microns as opposed to 20 microns. Their small size makes dander particles especially tricky to catch, even if you’re using a conventional air purifier.

This air purifier is different than all the regular ones you see out on the market it is more like an air cleaner, and it can destroy up to 99% of contaminants in the air and on surfaces, as well as stale (wet dog!) odors.

It’s a must-have in my house.  I love how it helps us all stay healthy at my house, and it could help you as well.

The product has ActivePure air cleaning technology and was awarded a prestigious Certified Space Technology seal by the Space Foundation.

The company Aerus owns worldwide rights to this proprietary ActivePure Technology.

This Air Cleaner is the only Certified Space Technology that works to continue to clean and protect the air and surfaces (not many works to kill viruses on surfaces) 24 hours a day.

Please Note: Mention our website homesweetpups.com to receive 15% off an Aerus product.

Side Note: They also have  Pet ReFresh plug-in air purifier.

Excellent for smaller rooms up to 50 square feet in size that need targeted air purification.

Like laundry rooms, near pet beds, or other smelly objects.

It creates clean, fresh, healthier air.

And has a compact design that plugs directly into your wall outlet and fits in tight spaces.

4. LEVOIT Air Purifier for Home Allergies Pets Hair

view here On Amazon

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Ways of Getting Rid Of Dog Smells

I hope these steps on how to get dog smell out of the house have helped you.

You see, it’s pretty straightforward – nothing is perfect, but if we make a point to keep up with it, you can stop your house smelling of dog.

I think we as humans try to overcomplicate things all the time without realizing it. So just by doing these simple everyday tasks along with the help from these awesome tools that we can use every day.

It will definitely help make our life easier and healthier for our dogs and us.

The next time you want to invite friends and family over, you can feel confident that you have taken all the right steps to get the dog smell out of the house and not have to worry about it anymore.

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P.S. Let me know if this post was helpful to you in the comments and if you have any others Questions… I’m here to help. 🙂

Until next time,

Have a paw-some day!

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