I have a lab, and I cover our rug overnight and during the day with a sheet. I take it off in the afternoon when everyone is home. I wash it every few day. He knows not to lay on the rug unless the cover is on it. I have a cover for his favorite chair too.

I also like those gel pack things that absorb smells. When it’s dried up you throw it out. I also hang a charcoal bag smell absorber on his crate. I think it helps?

+1 on getting the rugs and any upholstery they touch cleaned. Labs are water dogs and have an oily coat and it rubs off on fabric. The oil then traps dirt and smells.

We have short fiber rugs and get them professionally cleaned 2x/year. In the interim they can be sprayed with a 50/50 mix of water and white vinegar. We also get our dog groomed once per month.

Thank you all for your input. These are very helpful!

The thing that has made the biggest difference in my 2-dog house is running big dehumidifiers

I do a number of the other things listed already (and agree wit them) but the game changer was dehumidifiers set to about 40% humidity

Also for your area rug, I'd purchase the strongest sucking vacuum cleaner on the market to suck out the _dander_. Any $100 vacuum will pull up hair, but it's the animal (and human!) dead skill cells that hold onto the stink And once that gets ground into carpet fibers, it's hard to get out

I use the more expensive / more powerful Dyson in areas where the animals sleep and play

Clean the rugs and fabric. We have a non-shedding dog but she's a puppy so we have large fabric pee pads covering the carpets that I change every week or two or when there is an accident. I keep the couch covered with a king blanket and wash it regularly too. Its probably the fur and dander. Wash dog more frequently and keep hair trimmed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Annoying house guests can stick to visiting outdoors.

+1. The dogs lives in your house. Guests do not. Dog gets priority.

That being said, these candles are great for pet scents: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BGZ9YXD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Was just joking the conversation to recommend the sesame candles (and I’m generally not at all a candle person).

I've found that a lot of the smell comes from area rugs and from not changing the filters on the AC often enough. We have a washable rug in our living room and that seems to help compared to when the rug was wool and was a bigger chore to clean. Also have a HEPA filter.

It helps for the dog to have a regular bath and maybe a de-shedding treatment; you're vacuuming up the hair but might be leaving dander behind.

Anonymous wrote:Annoying house guests can stick to visiting outdoors.

+1. The dogs lives in your house. Guests do not. Dog gets priority.

That being said, these candles are great for pet scents: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BGZ9YXD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Annoying house guests can stick to visiting outdoors.

Anonymous wrote:We have a HEPA filter running on the main floor.

Could you recommend a brand or provide a link? Thanks!

We have a HEPA filter running on the main floor.

Wash your dog?

We have hardwood floor and a lab. The lab mainly stays in our family room where we have a giant rug on top of the floor. I noticed the rug trapped lots of fur even though I ran my iRobot every day and vacuumed once a week. I mopped the floor and washed dog beddings on the weekend. I left the windows open every morning for an hour or so. Still the room has a dog smell. I don’t mind and honestly I am just used to it but it’s annoying to our house guests. Could someone share your experience keeping the house smell fresh? Thanks!