I've never been in a cat house where I wasn't able to smell it immediately. I know all the cat owners will immediately think "not MY house." But it's really every single house I've ever been to.

Dog smell mitigated by (at least monthly) bathing, frequent brushing, a large HEPA filter fan, and frequent (every other day) vacuuming. Very little was damaged when she was a puppy because she was crated when not supervised until she was trustworthy (around 1.5 years old). When she was little I got a wet vac called a "pet spot bot" and it has been amazing. She was house trained quickly but she's a pukey sort of dog and it's made puke cleanup (kids, pets, and adults) easy.

I now have complete trust that I can leave my dog alone all day and she won't chew anything or hurt herself or have an accident- but your dog might vary. My parents' higher energy/ more stressy dog is 5 and is still crated when they will be gone for more than a short time. Both my parents' dog and mine LIKE their crates - as long as you're using the crate properly and not just caging the dog a zillion hours a day it will keep you sane, keep your house from getting trashed, and give your dog a nice safe space to hang out.

No matter how often I clean the litter box or much attention I pay to Boyfriend's cat he pees regularly on mattress, in laundry hamper, and on rug (by regularly I mean once every other month or so - but really, my dog has NEVER done that). Cat scratches furniture when it gets bored of permitted things to scratch. And there doesn't seem to be a "crate training" equivalent for cats. Also, I swear I can always smell the litter box.

I know plenty of people with smelly older labs and goldens - and I don't know if it's a grooming/aging problem or just the way those dogs smell.

Also, a previous dog I had ate a loveseat - literally. I learned that you really have to keep your eye on puppies.... I was also the six-year old who tried to carry a pitcher of cool-aid into the living room... so I guess it was karma.

Anonymous wrote:This is OP and after reading these responses I'm leaning toward a small-med size dog young adult dog. The problem with cats, as far as I can tell, is that it's harder to change bad behavior because they do want they want and you can't watch them 24 hrs a day. We tried everything with the peeing problem and are still dealing with trying to eliminate the odors long after the cat is gone.

You can't eliminate, you can only replace. Furniture is easy(-ish) to replace. Floors, you gotta rip down to the subfloor. Walls -- replace the drywall.

Ugh cats are way worse because you can NEVER rid your house of the smell of cat p*ss. I can instantly tell if someone owns a cat when I walk into their house. Plus you maintain steaming boxes of p*ss and sh*t. Gross gross gross.