When taking care of a puppy or an untrained dog, you may have to frequently clean up your home as you may encounter them leaving a pool of urine in random areas of the home. Not only is it icky, but it also leaves behind an unpleasant odor that you have to take care of, so your home won’t smell like dog pee all over. Of course, no one likes to live or enter a house that smells like dog urine.
To clean these up, you don’t need harsh cleaners; you just need natural, environmentally-friendly ingredients that can keep your home smelling fresh. Once you see your dog pee in the house or find a wet urine stain, wipe it immediately with a cloth to soak up as much urine as possible. Then, you can use a cleansing and/or odor-removing product. Here are some things you can use to get rid of the smell of dog urine naturally:
1. Water
Perhaps the simplest thing that can dilute and prevent the pesky smell of urine from staying is water. Once you saw your dog peeing in the lawn, dilute it immediately with water. Watering down the urine does not only eliminate the odor; it also helps unleash the fertilizing effect of urine on the grass instead of a burning effect. In carpets and fabrics where a urine stain has set for a time, you have to dilute the stain with warm water and clean towels. Dampen and blot the stained spot with water before having your carpet or fabric washed.
2. Water + crushed citrus rinds
Adding 1 to 2 tablespoons of crushed citrus fruit rinds to a water spray bottle infuses the water with a pleasant aroma, plus, it dilutes the urine smell without harming your grass or being harsh to any surface. It can also serve as a deterrent to dogs from peeing in the same areas.
3. Baking soda
Baking soda neutralizes the acid in urine and its odor. Once a fresh urine has been wiped away in a surface, let’s say your floor, cleanse it in soapy water. Then, sprinkle the damp spot with a few tablespoons of baking soda to absorb the liquid and remove the odor. Leave it overnight and vacuum it up the next day. If your dog peed on the carpet, use a full-sized vacuum to clean up all the baking soda powder in it.
4. Water + baking soda
If the dog urine smell is in your lawn, use baking powder with water. Mix 1 teaspoon of baking soda per liter of water in a spray bottle. Spray this solution into areas with pesky urine scent, and make sure to spray lightly so you would not saturate the soil. Besides getting rid of the odor, the baking soda solution helps burned and dead patches recover and prevents fungal pathogens and diseases from entering your lawn or garden.
5. Water + white vinegar
Water and white vinegar make an all-purpose cleaner that can also help neutralize the odor of dog’s urine on any solid and fabric surfaces in your home. Simply combine one part water to one part vinegar and place it in a spray bottle. If your pet peed on your hardwood floors or linoleum, rinse away the urine and spray the vinegar solution unto the surface. Allow the solution to sit in for 10 minutes then wipe the solution with a clean, dry towel. The smell of vinegar will be gone overnight.
6. Oxygen bleach + water
Oxygen bleach cleanses and disinfects fabrics and surfaces that have been soiled by dog urine. Combine 4 ounces of oxygen bleach powder with 1 gallon of warm water and use the solution to wipe down solid surfaces the dog has peed on. This solution can also be used to soak in fabrics like carpet and upholstery, which would be let dry under the sun. If the stain is tough, mix 1 teaspoon oxygen bleach with 8-ounces warm water, and use a scrub brush to remove it from your carpeting or upholstery. For washable items, add 3 tablespoons of oxygen bleach on your laundry wash solution.
7. Grapefruit seed extract
Grapefruit seed extract is a natural and non-toxic cleaner that can kill odor-causing bacteria. Mix 15 drops of grapefruit seed extract with 1 gallon of water. Use the solution to wash surfaces and let it dry naturally. It doesn’t need to be rinsed and leaves no residue nor unpleasant odor behind.
8. Essential oils
Essential oils have antibacterial properties that help remove the smell of urine. Combine 5 to 10 drops of essential oil to 1 cup of water in a spray bottle. After rinsing away the dog urine, saturate the stained area with the solution. It eliminates the odor while leaving a pleasant scent behind. If you use essential oils like eucalyptus, sour apple and cinnamon, it can keep dogs away from going there to urinate again.
9. Tea tree oil + baking soda
Tea tree oil has the natural ability to sanitize and deodorize surfaces and fabrics by killing bacteria. Mix 1 teaspoon of tea tree oil with 1 cup of water to make a spray solution. Rinse the urine stain with water and spray the tea tree oil solution to the stained area, then allow it to dry naturally. For washable items, you can mix ½ teaspoon of tea tree oil with the detergent solution as you wash the fabric.
prevent cleaning up dog pee, especially indoors, you need to prevent your dog from urinating in inappropriate areas. One way is to walk your dog out frequently, especially when it’s still a puppy. It can be tiresome, but you will save yourself from a lot of hassle if your dog learns where to properly pee. Make sure you are taking your dog out to pee at least four times a day, or more frequently if your dog is young, very old or infirm. Also, give your dog praise for doing its business where it’s supposed to.
If it gets hard to train your dog to urinate outside, get a dog trainer to work on its potty training. If you failed to train your dog as a puppy or you adopted your dog while it’s already a grown-up, call a dog trainer to diagnose and treat your pet’s problems with its potty behavior.