Anonymous wrote: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!

Folks have given great advice and it works to find the right mix for you that helps you and house guests feel comfortable without it becoming too much of a burden. But as a PP said, at a certain point, your family has a dog. If your house guests are rude enough to continue to express annoyance with the smell, after the mitigation efforts you're able to do, the best thing would be for them to find another place to stay and visit your house for the amount of time they can handle.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Impossible to have a fresh smelling house with a dog. The only way would be to get rid of the dog.

You’ve never met my mom. We had hard tile floors, mopped and vacuumed daily. No curtain except in bedrooms, and no dogs in bedrooms. Dog did not play with other dogs (dog spit on their coat is actually a big cause of the smell). Dog brushed daily outdoors and bathed fairly frequently outdoors. All hard surfaces dusted daily. All rooms have fans that run all the time. No smell at all!

Yep. This is the amount of work it would take for your house not to smell like dog. Everyone I know with labs, their entire house is completely covered in dog hair and they don’t even see it anymore.

Our house doesn't smell but it requires work. We have a lab (previously lab and golden). At least once a week bath. Bath anytime they go out and play and get wet or roll. Wipe paws when coming in from outside. Vac daily with good vac (miele hepa or central vac, etc.). Never on beds or furniture. House floors mopped 2x per week. Crated at night. Multiple beds throughout house. Towels covering beds changed 2x a week. Not interested in the house smelling like a kennel, multiple members deal with allergies, so need to handle. Dog seems pretty happy. Don't tell dog others get to be on the furniture.

Buy a rug cleaner. They're only about $150 at Target and are no harder to use than vacuuming. Use it once a week or so.

Anonymous wrote:Impossible to have a fresh smelling house with a dog. The only way would be to get rid of the dog.

You’ve never met my mom. We had hard tile floors, mopped and vacuumed daily. No curtain except in bedrooms, and no dogs in bedrooms. Dog did not play with other dogs (dog spit on their coat is actually a big cause of the smell). Dog brushed daily outdoors and bathed fairly frequently outdoors. All hard surfaces dusted daily. All rooms have fans that run all the time. No smell at all!

Might sound silly, but wash your walls. Not something that needs to be done regularly of course, but use a mop, fill a bucket with powdered tide and hot water, and wipe them all down.

Anonymous wrote:Ruggables. I love them.

I was going to recommend this (or a similar washable rug).

Ruggables. I love them.

I'll offer two non-helpful comments just to add a different perspective:

1) Has the dog complained about your perfume ?

2) Woof !

Impossible to have a fresh smelling house with a dog. The only way would be to get rid of the dog.