OT QI's

I have my carpet cleaned once a year. The guy who cleans it uses a pet stain and smell eliminator that he told me he gets from a janitorial supply store and it has a really good smell. I've seen something similar at Home Depot The rug cleaner man told me that it is good to use as an every day type room deodorizer to kill smells that I probably get used to and no longer smell, but that others smell when they walk into the house. (Does that make sense?) I try to keep some around and spray it where the dog usually is, when I am going to have company. I also spray the clothes hamper and the dog bed. I've heard that you shouldn't bathe the dog all that often, but my dog loves to roll in anything that smells bad, and he gets a bath as needed, or every 1 or 2 weeks. HTH Barbara in Florida ----Dog gets a bath today, after dark

I don't think your house smells, I think your brother and SIL are rude.

The dogs live there, they don't.

Pay no attention to 'em.

Cindy

I use the enzyme stuff for the few accidents around here. We keep windows open a lot too. Some folks like a lot of candles and sprays to give a fake smell that they think is a clean smell. I am not so much for that. I bake and cook a lot from scratch so if I know anyone is going to show up they usually are nosing around for cookies or cake not stinky animals. I wash area rugs a lot and doggy beds too. Dyson vacuum makes me crazy but it does a great job and is used often. Except Maki cat on one spot of the sofa or Lilly on the rocking chair no animals on the upholstered furniture. (I have a piece of fleece where Maki likes to lie and wash that often) If your house is clean just don't worry too much a your bro or SIL. TAria

I could send you a few gators. Then brother and SIL would never even notice the dogs. Polly

LOL!!! go Polly!!! awesome, simply, awesome....

amy in CNY

Howdy!

Speaking of pets and other quilt inspectors:

Gosh Michelle.......... I just don't think it should matter! I have 2 large dogs, and they are kept very clean, de-flea'd, I wash their blankets AND toys every week, and I have a Dyson Vacuum cleaner that works wonders on the dog hair. Kaz has eaten a couple of frogs since we've moved to Florida - he finds them fascinating - and has promptly thrown up on the rug. I've cleaned it with soap and water, then baking soda. I think if you own ANY kind of animals, your home will just have a certain scent. To me, it's the sign of a happy home! Don't stress - bake some cinnamon muffins next time they come over.........

Patti (formerly) in Seattle

I really don't understand dog smells. Ours can smell doggy a day or two after a bath (and make the house smell funny, too). Or not at all, weeks after a bath. The only thing that seems to correlate is their diet. We were feeding them Bravo (a frozen prepared raw) in NY, but couldn't get it except monthly here. We tried a couple of other things, but one has a tender tummy and was not making happy poop. The vet had us give him a rice diet, slowly adding back chicken. Now they're both on chicken and rice (plus probiotic and vitamins) and smelling great. (We'd alternated Bravo turkey and chicken with an occasional beef, and now I'm wondering whether the odd times they smelled doggy then was when they were getting the beef. Hmm...)

--Heidi

Omigosh Sandy - that's hilarious!!! How on earth did you find it???

Patti (formerly) in Seattle

I just saw that on tv for the first time today!

We have a LARGE (or maybe, considering your description, I should say EXTRA LARGE) chocolate lab (120 pounds of him!), 2 cats, 2 kids, hubby, me, and fish.....when I vacuum, I put down baking soda on ALL the carpets and walk away for at least 30 minutes, sometimes an hour. Then I go back and vacuum the carpets. I only steam clean them every couple of months (when the soda and coffee stains are actually noticeable). I have a great candle that I bought at bed bath and beyond (NAYY), not the yankee candle (again NAYY), and I don't even have to light it for it to star making the house smell good. So far, nobody has complained about the house smelling like anything other than the candle.

HTH

Larisa

Shoot, Polly, she probably wouldn't have to worry about them visiting if you send gators!

G> I could send you a few gators. =A0Then brother and SIL would never even n= otice

Yeah, you're right, of course. I'm just used to disapproving relatives who think I'm terrible that I keep dogs IN THE HOUSE!!!!

I'd rather smell dogs than fried cabbage or boiled potatoes which is what my disapproving aunt's house smells like.

Cindy

Well, I'm going to follow everyone's advice and just enjoy my house and my dogs! I will try the baking soda on the carpet before vacuuming, that sounds like it would work. Also, I'll keep those gators in mind! Smells are funny, like wearing the same cologne for a long time, soon you don't smell it at all. The dogs are like kids, when it's hot outside (I'm in south Texas and it's usually hot) and they go out, they come in smelling like dogs. Otherwise they smell like their shampoo or grooming spray. Thanks for all the advice! Michelle

Michelle, I think you need to tell your relatives to stay in a motel next time they visit. I have dogs. My friends have dogs. I can assure you that I have never smelled a "dog smell" when going into a house where a dog lived except for a woman I used to know who had really serious mental issues and she allowed her dogs to just go in the house and then left it there. Like I said, serious mental issues. Cats, I smell. I can tell even if a person has an indoor/outdoor cat and no litter box. BUT, I would never, ever, ever complain or say anything. How rude that would be.

I'm thinking that you should worry less, and entertain these rude folks not at all. Send them a list of motels and tell them that last time they came for a visit, the dogs complained that the house smelled of rude relatives for weeks afterward.

As an aside, two years ago when I went to visit my sister in Phoenix, it was hotter than blazes middle of the summer. They have a really small house and I was sleeping on a blow up mattress in the floor of the baby's room. They had two cats at that time, and while I was there I ended up rescuing an abandoned kitty that they took in but had to keep in the bathroom while the other two kitties got used to him.

I am allergic to cats. Horribly. And not really fond of them. So for the entire two week visit, when I used the "extra" bathroom (where the cat was housed), I had a kitty in my lap every time I sat on the throne. Yeppers, I peed with a cat on my lap for two weeks. And every night, when the house was quiet and I was drifting off to sleep, the biggest and most bossy of the cats -- a huge male named Mahler -- slunk into the room, climbed up over my feet and settled full length on top of me. He reached from his head on my chest to his feet just above my knees. Huge cat. And started to purr and fell deeply asleep right on top of me. As hot as it was, as hard as my nose ran, there was something comforting about that big old cat on top of me, purring in his sleep. He got up and left just as the house started to move in the morning. My sister couldn't believe he would sleep on top of me. Seems he never, ever would sleep with anyone. I guess I was special. LOL.

Moral of this long shaggy cat story: if these people love you, they won't give a rip if they sniff a little Labrador and they sure won't complain about it.

Sunny -- who is quite rigid about such things

I'm with you Sunny. If my dog's odor bothers you, don't come over. My sister-in-law once made a comment about our previous dog smelling - we just ignored her. Someone was in our house recently - (he's a volunteer for a volunteer program my DH & I volunteer for) and as soon as we opened the door, he said "keep the dog away from me" - just like that! No apology - just keep the dog away from me. If he had said he was terribly allergic or something it wouldn't have come across as rude as it did. Our dog is a 45 lb. Brittany - not exactly Killer! To be fair, the guy has absolutely no people skills, but he is the IT person for this area & he had delivered some hardware that he had configured incorrectly, so that's the only reason we let him in the house!

Love your cat story Sunny! I love cats & dogs - unfortunately DH isn't crazy about cats - otherwise, I would have both. And cats always go to my husband when we visit someone with a cat! Funny.

Pauline Northern California

Sunny, What a funny story. I don't know if I could take a huge cat sleeping on me! We had cats at different times when the kids were growing up. One was 'Charlie' a half Siamese, so he howled like one. My son's friend's mother had a Persian cat and one day my son told me her cat was a "sissy" because all it could do was "meow, meow". LOL. We had four children, two boys and two girls; so, we had all kinds of pets, hamsters, rabbits, snakes, gerbils, guinea pigs, fish, cats, and dogs. The gerbils were the worst; they had to go when I discovered they were little cannibals!

I really enjoy my family's visits, and they are not really rude, but just have the opinion that "animals don't belong in the house." And they see dogs as dogs, not furry, four legged people. My Lab was never in the house until my husband passed away and then I wanted him in. The Maltese we bought for my husband when he was ill, so he could have a little lap dog. His name is "Mugsey" and he thinks he is the boss of the house. The Lab is "Pete".

As you will see from the date/time of this post, it's almost 3:00 AM, my days and nights are fairly mixed up and since I'm retired I can sleep when I want; but, I think I probably should go to bed now. Thanks for sharing,

Michelle

I second Barbara's suggestion. I get the carpet professionally cleaned at least once a year. I'm fortunate in having a Boxer, though. Short hair, very little grooming necessary. It could also be that no one has loved me enough to tell me that my house smells like a dog (-: knowing that there's not much more I can do. JJ also gets a dog food that has no animal or corn byproducts in it - sometimes the bulk food from the grocery store causes an animal to smell different.

Musicmaker, who can't advise you on anything to do with cats, who are a bigger mystery to me than men!