Urine, wee, pee, no matter what you call it, and no matter the age of your dog, we have all experienced our puppies or dogs having accidents in the home.
Pet urine is a combination of ammonia, hormones, Bacteria, nitrogen and uric acid. It’s the uric acid that causes a lingering smell even after you’ve cleaned up any areas urine may have gotten on to.
Now, I'm not going to talk about toileting training in this blog, but I do want to point out is that you should NEVER tell your puppy or dog off for toileting inside.
Telling them off or even a firm “no” does nothing to teach your puppy or dog where you would actually like them to toilet, instead, it shows them that if they toilet when you are present they are likely to receive reprimands, its highly likely to increase the chance of your dog urinating in hidden places.
If your adult dog has suddenly started to urinate in the house then you should initially seek medical support and get them checked out by your vet for any possible health issues, if nothing medical is found then I would recommend you speaking to a reputable Behaviourist as your dog may be having accidents due to struggling with something emotionally.
On antoher note, it's also worth considering that urine can enter our homes without any accidents happening at all, it can be walked in on our dog's paws or even our own shoes.
Putting aside the reasons why accidents are happening inside, what can we do when they happen to make sure we are cleaning it away and reducing any odour?
So firstly the quicker you find it and clean it up the better, its much easier to et rid of fresh urine then dried.
But fear not as we shall be looking at some do’s and dont's for cleaning up those accidents wet and dry!
Avoid
1) Using Bleech, Antibacterial wipes or sprays, and Household Disinfectants – These household detergents soak into the stain and the proteins left behind that are invisible to the naked eye. Household cleaners can even increase urination as the ammonia in products soak into the stain and can increase the urine smell and repeated toileting in that area can occur.
2) Be careful, many products you may find are lablelled 'Pet Odour Remover', this is not the same as an Enzyme Cleaner that removes the proteins that can be left behind in urine. Companies are clever at marketing and fooling many people into buying a product that doesnt do what they think.
3) Don’t Steam Mop – It's easy to reach for a steam mop as it only uses water and so we often see it as a safer and more natural way to clean up any accidents. However, the high heat can actually set the stain in permanently, so if you like to use these mops I would always sanitise a floor first with an enzyeme cleaner.
What you can do
1) If it’s a fresh stain, blot up the fluid as much as you can with some kitchen towel, if it's on a rug or something that you can lift try and blot from both the top and bottom the more you can blot up the better. Then clean with a cool damp cloth.
2) Depending on where the accident has happened, if it’s a place where you can keep your dog out of for a while you can sprinkle baking soda over the area and leave for about 24 hours before vacuuming away, this is great for carpets and rugs.
3) If you can put the item in the washing machine, your dog’s bed for example, then use a BIOLOGICAL washing detergent as this also breaks down the stain
4) To neutralise odour, you can use white vinegar or baking soda. I have seen many sites recommend mixing the two togther, however, Vinegar is acid-based and Baking Soda is Alkaline so putting them together means the baking soda neutralises the acid in the vinegar. So its best to choose one or the other.
5) You can purchase a Pet Safe Urine Enzyme Remover from local pet stores or online. Many come in small spray bottles but as I mentioned, we don’t always see what we bring in, so I personally do prefer a solution I can make a bucket up of and I regularly give all the floors a clean ( Be sure to test an area first before you use the product, I have never had an issue but better safe than sorry)
6) Go all CSI Crime Scene if you want and purchase a black light, these can help locate urine stains you cant see with the naked eye. The light when used in a dark room picks up the proteins left behind in the stain, but it's worth mentioning, that the light can pick up other stains such as milk and honey so don’t go blaming your dog for everything the light may pick up ;)
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