How To Eliminate Dog Odor

Pee yew! What’s that smell? 

Your lovebug of a dog is a free spirit and might find themselves in some stinky situations. When that happens, that stink comes home with them. In other cases, there may be a reason why your dog smells that isn’t in relation to their activities outdoors or getting into those aforementioned stinky situations. 

If the odor is due to health issues, it’s more than likely some sort of allergy that’s ailing your dog, skin infections, seborrhea (scales and flakiness of the skin). The best thing you can do in these cases is to seek guidance from your trusted, local veterinarian. 

“You can kind of see where this is heading. The thick skin, secretions and infection all mix together to form a pretty stinky stew. Simply bathing the dog will not help, or at least it won’t help for long. The underlying disease or diseases need to be treated. Treating allergies is beyond the scope of this discussion, but your veterinarian may prescribe things such as medicated baths, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and primary treatment for the allergies such as a special diet or allergy shots.” - BestFriends.org

In the general scope of combating odor, you might find some frustrations at home in eliminating dog odor. At the very minimum, you can give your dog a bath and regularly groom them but 1) if that doesn’t help, that’s when you know there are underlying issues and 2) sometimes that doesn’t eliminate 100% of the odors at home.

Here are some steps you can take to combat these odors:

• Wash and/or vacuum dog bedding at least once a week.
• Vacuum your home at least once a week. If your dog is a breed that is prone to shedding more than others, consider upping the number of times you vacuum.
• Tile and vinyl should be cleaned with a safe yet strong cleaning solution paired with hot water.
• Introduce protective covers for furniture that your dog is allowed to be on and wash and clean those covers regularly.
• Acquire an air purifier.
• Use light amounts of vodka in a spray bottle. This might be known to some who performed in theater as “pit spray” used to eliminate odors. A few spritzes should do the trick!
• Lightly sprinkle baking soda on carpets and furniture and let it sit overnight. Vacuum it if you’d like, but it’s a completely dog safe solution.

When trying to fight odors, people usually jump to air fresheners and candles. Really, what you want to do is have things in your house that will absorb the odors rather than mask the odors. There are absorbing gels in the market that people use often but you’ll find products that absorb smells that come in the form of charcoal purifiers, odor-eliminating rocks, and more!

This is just a sampling of tips we offer at Pug Life Harness. You can find more tips and tricks and how-tos for caring for your dog on our blog in this section. Feel free to leave a comment with tips you’re looking for!