Smelly Dogs & Shedding Dogs

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  • Keeping a house with a pet nice to live in.

    – Aug 5, 2017
    (7 replies)

    We have a 70lb German Sheppard mut. Our house smells like a kennel. There's pet hair everywhere. Despite our families hard work vacuuming, keeping the dog clean and being super good pet owners, our house is still smelly and covered with pet hair. It's starting to impact our social life, quality of life etc.

    I'm looking for recommendations for house cleaners that specialize in de-pet hairing house and getting rid of pet smells. OR if you're a family with pets and are living pet hair and smell free, can you recommend your house cleaners?

    Thanks so much,

    Covered in Pet Hair

    Aug 5, 2017

    Try switching your dog to a raw diet. It's amazing how little my dogs shed when they were on it. They also stopped getting ear infections. It takes time to make it yourself and it's really expensive to buy it premade. But I swear that i recouped the costs in the first year because we got to stop going to the vet all the time.

    Having said all this, we stopped the raw diet and there's black dog hair everywhere I look. I think that dogs are shedding right now in preparation for their winter coats to grow in. My house looks bad within a few hours of the housekeepers leaving. But I'm motivated to get them back on a raw diet!

    Dogs shed more in the spring/summer than in the winter.  They should be gently brushed everyday which makes the dog shed less.  As far as the smell, you would need to be more specific.  Some dogs smell because of the food they eat.  Dogs that eat human food smell more than dogs that eat dog food.  Some dog foods make dog smell more than others.  Also, dogs should not be bathed more than once a month because that causes skin problems for them over time.  I would also recommend using air fresheners.  Carpets and curtains absorb more smells than other type of flooring or window covering.  If you can give more specific information and you want to email me I can help you some more.

    Have you tried regular brushing and more frequent baths? I'm not an advocate of baths but if it's a quality of life issue, go for it, or hire a groomer. We keep flannel sheets on the sofa, remove them for guests, and launder them weekly along with the dog bed covers. Lastly, discuss with your vet if hairloss is excessive. Maybe a change in diet or exercise would help?

    I don't have a specific house cleaner rec. but I have a few thoughts.
    We've had various dogs for at least the past 15 years. None of them smelled bad (unless 
    they rolled in something gross or got skunked). You didn't say if your dog smells bad only that you keep her/him clean.
    Some dogs smell bad...not sure if this is genetic or some kind of internal inflammation. So....is it possibly an allergy? Dogs
    can be allergic to their food, particularly grains....so that would be something you could look into. I'd talk to a wholistic vet, or
    talk to the woman who owns "Holistic Hound" in Bkly (I think her name is Heidi). Our dogs have always been fed raw meat and grain free kibble.
    My house never smelled bad unless as I said above, someone got skunked or a rodent was brought in and left somewhere
    we didn't know about.  Do you brush your dog?  I find regular brushing really keeps the  shedding down. 
    As far as house cleaning....our house cleaners come every other week and use vinegar to clean the floors. They also vacuum the
    furniture (we do allow them on the couch and my little terrier sleeps with me). Ultimately, unless you have a dog with hair rather then fur
    there is going to be plenty of dog hair around. I hope this is helpful. Good luck.

    I have 2 large furry dogs so I know exactly what you're taking about! It takes a lot of upkeep but we have a  fairly fur free home that doesn't smell too doggy. We have carpet and hardwood and vacuum every single day. We have a "dog" loveseat  where the dogs sleep, it's always covered by a sheet and they're not allowed on any other furniture. We leave the windows open once in a while to air out the house. And the dogs spend a good amount of time outside during they day. If your dog smells particularly bad it may be due to a skin infection or food allergy. My mom's dog used to smelled horrible until she discovered the dog was allergic to grain and had a chronic fungal skin infection. After treating the skin ailment the dog not longer had a strong smell. Hope this helps. 

    German Sheppards are known for shedding - they have a double coat. That said, I have a 70 lb lab who sheds like a fiend, and I don't have this much of an issue. 

    I do keep the doors and windows open as much as possible to air the place out every day, even in winter. The dog doesn't have full run of the house - he's in the main living areas but not the upstairs bedrooms. That helps with cleanliness. He's officially not allowed on the furniture ... but he does get on when we're not there. I've had some luck with putting cozy dog beds in a couple of places and that seems to anchor him. We have very few carpets - mainly sisal and jute and hardwood floors. Carpets are dreadful and getting rid of them will help on many levels! 

    I don't use special sprays, though I've heard Febreeze works. I don't have a cleaner who comes regularly, maybe once every 6-8 weeks. We just sweep often and vacuum once a week. I wipe the sofas once a week, with a damp cloth. I encourage the dog to be outside. I think that there are air cleaning devices that might work. And have your ducts and vents cleaned.

    Good luck!

    One simple thing to avoid that smelly dog issue is to get rid of carpets. Keeps the hair problem down to a damp or dry mop through every day. Good luck with all these suggestions. I used to take care of 3 large dogs in my small apartment with 2 cats too. Having no carpets kept life sweet smelling and easy to clean.