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Can someone suggest a baby safe carpet clearner?

post #1 of 7
Thread Starter 
Our fur baby isn't taking well to DD, and has decided to pee in her main play area. This only started once she became mobile with rolling. I'm also open to suggestion on how to get my beloved dog to stop this behavior. Any pet experts on here along with being a baby expert?! Thanks mamas!
post #2 of 7
You may want to cross-post in the Pets forum.

As a former dog trainer, I would strongly encourage you to go back to basics with housetraining. Dogs really, really, really don't pee out of spite or jealousy. It's even unlikely that it's a territory issue, though if you think it is, I'd look at getting an in-home trainer in to nip possession-guarding in the bud (that's the kind of "aggression" where dogs bite to protect "their" space, food, toys, etc, and a REALLY bad situation to have a newly-mobile babe in.)

If you go to any pet supply place, you should be able to buy a black light (about $10.) At night, in the dark, hold the light about 4-6" above the carpet to find all of the old accidents- there will likely be lots more than you think. Pee to a dog is like a neon sign saying "PEE HERE, DOGGIE!" so it's imperative that you clean all the spots.

Some have good luck with a 50/50 mix of white vinegar and water- let it sit, then, using a little handheld carpet cleaner, suck up the water and let dry. I prefer something with both bacterial and enzymatic cleaning properties- pretty much any of the cleaners with both of those properties will work well, but follow the directions.

You'll want to put the cleaner on a larger area that even the black light shows, as the pad will have a much larger stain than the carpet- liquid spills look sort of pyramid-ish in cross-section on carpet. If you clean the carpet well, but not the pad, the dog will still be attracted to pee there.

As for housetraining- for a week or so at least, pretend you just got the dog and that he/she is totally unhousetrained. That means going to the 3 Cs of housetraining:

Cleaning: clean all accidents properly, as detailed above

Containment: when you can't have 2 eyes on the dog, it needs to be contained. In a crate, in a safe room (like kitchen or bath), on a tether (I LOVE using tethers to housetrain dogs- you simply loop a 6' leash to your belt loop, and where you go, the dog goes. It helps teach them to be aware of feet, movement, and it keeps them from sneaking off and peeing in improper places.)

Consistancy: Take the dog out to the yard on a leash, and take him/her every hour, on the hour, to the same spot. Stand still, look away from the dog, and say, "Go potty" (or whatever you please.) If the dog doesn't potty within 30 seconds or so, calmly take him/her back in, put him/her back in the crate/safe place, and try again 5 minutes later. When puppy does pee, wait til he/she is done, then IMMEDIATELY offer a tiny, soft, smelly food treat. Don't wait until you go back inside- dogs have about a 3 second event-memory- if you don't punish or reward within those 3 seconds, the dog will link the reward/punishment to whatever they're doing at that second. Many people inadvertently train their dog that "going back into the kitchen" is the desired behavior, because that's where they get the treat. Treats should be about half the size of your pinky fingernail- just a taste. Things like little bits of cheese, bits of lunchmeat, etc, work really well. You want the dog to get something SO SUPER AWESOME that pottying outside is like the key to holy grail. If you use dry treats or treats they get frequently, it doesn't seem like such a big deal. Think of it as: I'll give you 1 penny for peeing outside, or I'll give you $20. Which is going to be more appealing?

Don't punish accidents- if you see them peeing, clap your hands, drop a book, say "EH-EH!" and take them right outside. You want to interrupt the behavior, but if you punish them for peeing in front of you in the house, they'll oftentimes generalize that to mean "don't pee in front of momma, ever." You WANT them to potty in front of you, so you can reward it.

Yeah, it's a PITA, but older, previously housetrained dogs usually need only a day or two of this routine to get back on track.
post #3 of 7
Thread Starter 
Thank you for sharing your expert advise. Mister, our min-pin is about 10 years old, and I think the majority of this behavior is due to his age. We would never ever punish him, hurt him, or mistreat him in any way. He has, and always will be my first baby. DH, although patient as the day is long, is miffed. He ripped up all the old carpet and padding and baseboards before we moved in, and put down six layers of primer made to eliminate pet smells (previous owners had 3 cats that sprayed EVERYWHERE). We bought new padding and carpet, but we smell pee now. I don't think it could be the cats with all the primer and new flooring he put in, so it must be Mister. We have never caught him going in the house. He has access to us all day long, and goes in/out probably 20x a day. No joke. We don't mind because this is the first house where he has had a fenced in yard, and he enjoys being outside. He has never been prone to accidents, but like I said, he is getting older so maybe, just maybe, he can't control his bladder over night? He would normally wake us up and ask us to go out (he always has in the past) but he doesn't do that now.

I just need to get that carpet cleaned and the smell up so DD can play safely. DH brought home some carpet cleaner from the grocery store. OMG, I wouldn't want to walk on that stuff! Let alone clean the carpet that baby lays on.
post #4 of 7
I would try Nature's Miracle enzymatic cleaner. It works for the insane ammonia laden disgustingness that is cat pee, so I imagine it will work for dogs too! Oh, and I say that as an owner of 4 cats.
post #5 of 7
I often dissolve a small amount of laundry detergent in warm water and use that to clean rugs/carpets. For cat pee, I also use baking soda and white vinegar.
post #6 of 7
Yeah, at 10 it very well may be age-related. You might want to look into belly bands- they're little penis-diapers for male dogs.

Sounds like you have a pretty good handle on the situation, actually!

Best of luck to you!
post #7 of 7
bioclean.
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