Cleaning dog wee: the best ways to do it

Cleaning up pee is a normal part of pet parenthood. We've all been there cleaning up a puppy's or older pet's pee and dealing with smells and stains.

It helps to have a cleaning plan to rely on to get stains and messes cleaned up quickly. Nobody wants to deal with lingering odours (especially with your dog's strong nose), and it's important to clean them up to get rid of bacteria and stains.

Here, we discuss why dogs pee indoors and share some in-depth tips on how to clean and prevent pee stains and smells.

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Why dogs pee indoors: understanding the root causes

It's common for puppies, older dogs and dogs with illnesses or anxiety to pee indoors. Root causes for peeing indoors include:

Behavioural reasons

• Anxiety

• Ineffective training (our housetraining guide can help)

• Lack of positive reinforcement

• Over excitement

• Separation anxiety

• Stress/fear (for example, new people visiting the home or loud noises)

• Submissiveness

• Territorial marking

Medical reasons

• Cognitive problems

• Cushing's disease

• Diabetes

• Incontinence

• Kidney disease

• Urinary tract infections (UTIs)

It's essential to seek veterinary advice if your dog frequently urinates indoors and you don't know why. It can indicate deeper behavioural or medical issues that need professional attention.

Immediate steps: cleaning dog wee quickly and effectively

Acting fast is always best. Understandably, sometimes you miss that your dog has had a pee. But if you see it, get it cleaned ASAP.

Act quickly

Blot quickly. Never rub. Rubbing can spread and deepen the stain, which makes it more difficult to clean up.

Blot with paper towels or a clean cloth.

Protect the area quickly with an old towel. You can stand on it (with shoes on) to apply pressure and allow the towel to absorb liquid.

Once dry, you can move on to the next step.

Neutralise, clean, deodorise

You then need to clean the urine. You can choose between the following cleaners:

• Baking soda - Sprinkling baking soda over the area will absorb moisture and neutralise odour. Let it sit and absorb moisture, then vacuum it.

• Pet-safe enzyme cleaners - These are highly recommended and break down components like urine and eliminate odours.

• Vinegar solution - Using a mix of water and white vinegar in 1:1 solution, applying it and letting it sit for a few minutes is a classic cleaning tip.

Using one or all of these can clean, deodorise and neutralise dog urine.

Dry

Finally, dry the area. You can:

• Allow sunlight access to speed up drying.

• Let it dry naturally.

• Ventilate the area well.

We don't recommend using steam cleaners as this can make the odour worse and possibly cause stains.

Removing the smell of dog pee: the science and solutions

Removing the smell of dog urine is hard. It's a tough smell due to its mix of ammonia, bacteria and uric acid, which are strong-smelling compounds that are hard to remove. It's common to ask "how do I get rid of dog smell" when your dog urinates indoors often.

As we mentioned above, we have three key recommendations for removing odours:

• DIY cleaning solutions, like baking soda and vinegar. They're effective cleaners, not toxic to dogs in small amounts and applicable to numerous surfaces.

• Enzyme cleaners as they're usually non-toxic and directly break down odour-causing compounds.

• Acting quickly and ventilating the space

For old, dried, or deeply set-in stains, repeat applications of enzymatic cleaner are often necessary, as the uric acid crystals can persist

How to remove pee from carpet and upholstery (and beyond)

Carpets and soft furnishing

Carpets and soft furnishings can get difficult to clean when a dog urinates on them. To clean it, we recommend:

• Absorbing the urine - use paper towels or a clean cloth to soak up as much urine as possible.

• Use your chosen cleaning solution - using either an enzyme-based cleaner or a white vinegar and water solution, clean the area. We recommend testing this first to make sure it doesn't discolour your carpet or furnishings.

• Spray and blot - Lightly spray your cleaning solution and blot the area with a clean cloth - never rub it.

• Let it sit - Most cleaning solutions need time to work.

• Deal with the odour - So, how to remove pee smell from a carpet? Apply baking soda so it can absorb it. Let it sit and then vacuum it up.

• Rinse - Rinse with clean water and then blot dry with clean towels. Make sure the area is thoroughly dried.

• Repeat if needed - You may need to repeat the above steps if the urine lingers.

Concrete

Concrete is more porous than other surfaces, so it needs a slightly different approach.

• Blot - Blot any fresh urine with clean cloths or paper towels.

• Use your desired, pet-safe cleaning solution - Use your vinegar solution or enzyme cleaner to break down the urine.

• Clean the area - apply your cleaning solution and scrub it well with a stiff brush. Allow the cleaning solution to soak in for a few minutes, especially if you're using an enzyme-based cleaner.

• Rinse - Use clean water to wash away the area.

• Dry and deodorise - Thoroughly dry the area and apply baking soda to the area.

• Sealing - Some pet parents decide to seal their concrete afterwards.

Hard floors

Hard floors are usually easier to clean, assuming you get to it quickly. To clean dog urine from hard floors, you should:

• Act quickly - While hard floors are easier to clean, they can stain over time.

• Blot - Blot up as much of the urine as possible with clean cloths or a paper towel.

• Apply your chosen cleaning solution - Spray your vinegar solution or enzyme-based cleaner on the affected area. Leave it for a few minutes to get to work. Blot it away.

• Neutralise smells - Use more enzyme cleaner or baking soda to remove smells. Baking soda can help remove excess moisture too.

• Rinse the area - Use clean water to wash the area away.

• Dry thoroughly - Make sure the area is dried well with towels.

Make sure you test your cleaning solution in a different area first to make sure it doesn't stain your floors. We'd recommend not using abrasive or harsh cleaning chemicals.

Mattresses

Now, dog pee on the mattress is a bit of a nightmare. But you can get through it. To clean dog urine from a mattress, we recommend:

• Act as fast as possible - Try to blot up as much fresh urine as you can, but don't panic and accidentally rub it in.

• Apply your cleaning solution - Apply your cleaning solution, like a vinegar and water solution or enzyme-based cleaner, and really saturate the urine with it. Allow to soak for 10-15 minutes.

• Blot the area - Use clean cloths or paper towels to dry up excess moisture.

• Apply baking soda - Sprinkle a lot of baking soda over the damp area so it absorbs moisture and odour. Let it sit for a while.

• Vacuum - Thoroughly vacuum up the baking soda and allow to air dry completely.

• Repeat as needed - Mattresses are difficult to clean, so you may need to repeat the process.

Walls and baseboards

Dogs can pee on walls and baseboards, too, which can get awkward to clean. To clean it up, we recommend:

• Blotting - Blot, don't rub, the fresh urine with old cloths or paper towels. Try to clean as much as possible.

• Using your chosen cleaner - Use your vinegar solution or enzyme-based cleaner. Soak it and allow it to sit and work its magic.

• Re-blot the area - Once the cleaning product is soaked in, re-blot the area.

• Apply baking soda (if possible) - Sprinkle baking soda on the baseboard and let it dry. It'll be very hard to do this for walls. Let it sit for a while and vacuum it up, and make sure your dog doesn't eat it.

• Rinse - Rinse with clean water and dry thoroughly with a towel.

• Repeat as needed - Repeat the above steps if it still isn't clean.

You may need professional help with baseboards and walls as they're pretty difficult to clean properly.

When you'll need a professional cleaner

We recommend getting a professional cleaner if you've tried to clean the area and it hasn't worked. It's really important to get it cleaned up properly as it can cause bacteria build-up and potentially make your dog unwell.

Alternatively, if there's a lot to clean up and you're not sure you're up to it, getting a professional in is fine; they're the experts and can get things done efficiently.

How to remove dog smell from your home overall

If your dog frequently urinates indoors, you may worry about a general smell building up in your home.

Some long-term, proactive steps include:

• Keeping up standard grooming and cleaning routines even if your dog hasn't urinated indoors.

• Try air purifiers or natural deodorants, like charcoal bags. Keep the deodorant well away from your dog.

• Use UV black lights to find old stains and urine sources.

• Wash dog bedding regularly.

Preventing future accidents: training and environmental management

We've discussed how to keep things clean reactively, but how do you prevent urination proactively?

Well, sometimes, if your pet is dealing with a chronic health issue, it may be difficult, but generally, there are steps to prevent dog urination indoors long-term.

Behavioural treatment

If your dog is urinating indoors due to behavioural problems, you should follow the treatment plan of a qualified behaviourist and/or vet.

Ensuring your dog gets adequate enrichment, mental stimulation and has quiet spots to rest in can reduce anxiety-related accidents like frequent indoor urination too.

Routine toilet breaks

Your dog may be urinating indoors because they aren't getting enough toilet breaks. You should test and tailor toilet breaks to your dog's needs.

Thorough cleaning

Thoroughly cleaning the area regularly can prevent your dog from remarking the area. If the scent of their urine lingers, they have a strong canine instinct to mark and remark the area with their pee.

You can also block access to these problem areas assuming it isn't in a key place in your home.

Some pet parents have seen success with natural, safe deterrents in common peeing spots to disguise the urine smell.

Training and retraining

Our housetraining guide discusses step-by-step guidance, but consistent, positive training can help a dog to pee outside. Of course, this assumes there isn't an underlying health issue causing this behaviour.

As always, use positive reinforcement training principles. Never shout at or punish your dog for peeing indoors; it just makes things worse.

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