How do you get rid of dog smell?
7 Tips for removing dog smells from your car
This first step can seem painfully obvious but don’t underestimate the power of a handheld vacuum. Shed hair and dander can be responsible for the foul smell in your car, and you can vacuum them away. Be sure to get all the car’s seats, floors, dashboard, and seat belts, even if your dog doesn’t sit there.
Dog hair tends to float around and can adhere to the least expected surfaces in your car. The cleaning and treatments can be more effective if you have a vacuumed surface to work with. If you drive with the AC turned on, dog hair is all over the car so be sure not to miss a spot.
Baking soda is a natural odor eliminator that reacts with the acids in pet wastes that cause a foul smell. Sprinkle 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of baking soda on your car seats and vacuum thoroughly. The last thing you’d want is baking soda in your car’s air filters, so leave the windows down when vacuuming.
You probably have white vinegar in your house right now. Vinegar has more uses than baking and cooking; it’s also a potent cleaning agent. White vinegar is safe for your pup and is easy on the environment, making it an excellent choice to clean your house.
You can use vinegar before baking soda for maximum freshening properties. Mix equal amounts of water and white vinegar in a bottle and spray it on your car interior. Leave the solution for some time to allow it to dissolve mineral deposits, grease, dirt, and grime that could cause your vehicle to stink.
Sometimes the dog odors in your house are too stubborn for homemade cleaning solutions. Some of us also don’t like the smell of vinegar, and the acidity can be harsh on the car seat upholstery. If you can still smell your dog in the car, it’s time to get a commercial odor remover. Enzymatic cleaners use enzymes to destroy odor-causing bacteria in your car.
The PawSafe odor eliminator is lightly scented, leaving your car smelling fresh after use. You must be careful when choosing commercial cleaners, as some may contain harmful ingredients like chlorine. Ammonia is another substance to avoid in cleaning agents. It can add to the ammonia in urine if your dog pees in the car, making the foul smell worse.
But what else can cause excessive canine smells?
Dogs don’t exactly sweat as humans do through the armpits. Instead, canines perspire through their paws and other hairless body parts like the nose. They also sweat very lightly from their hair follicles. Although the sweat doesn’t stink immediately, you may start to notice a bad smell once the sweat builds up.
Bathing about once a month and regular grooming can help prevent the musty smell of sweat.
If your dog leaves shed hair in your car consistently, you may be left with a smelly mess. Dander refers to the dead skin that furred animals shed, which can also stink up your vehicle. Dander is an allergen that can trigger reactions in allergic people if it accumulates in your car or house.
Dog dander shed in your car can be laced with traces of feces, urine, sweat, and bacteria, which can definitely give your car a nasty doggy smell.
Your pup’s skin produces oil called sebum which may accumulate and smell in the car. Excessive sebum production, also called seborrhea, can result from over-bathing your dog. Too many showers will strip your pup’s skin of essential oil, causing it to produce even more sebum in response. Hyperthyroidism, skin allergies, and diabetes can also cause seborrhea.
It seems like dogs greet each other by smelling each other’s rears. The reason for this is the two anal sacs that emit a smell, giving each dog a distinct scent to other dogs. If your dog’s anal sacs are inflamed or impacted, there may be an overproduction of the distinguishing smells leading to an awful stench.
Dogs can suffer from secondary infections due to the overproduction of yeast, fungi, or bacteria. Secondary means that the body initially did fine in the presence of the microbes, but they simply got out of hand. Dogs with low-hanging ears like the cocker spaniel are susceptible to ear infections that can cause them to stink.
Other infections that can cause a stench include hot spots, gum disease, or skin fold pyoderma in dogs with excessive folds in their skin
Accidents happen, and it’s not unusual for a dog to urinate or poop in a car, especially if they are sick, very young, or very old. Motion sickness is another problem, and sometimes you may have some nasty vomit seeping into your car seat upholstery.
There is also the issue of a dog who rolled in something dead, or worse, while out on an adventure, forcing you to drive your new canine biohazard home. Probably with your windows open. All of this yucky organic matter can seep into your car seats and leave behind a gross residue that can be a nightmare to remove.
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Not every part of being a dog parent is a joy, and doggy smells in the car are one of the less pleasant challenges. Our furry friends leave shed hair, pet dander, and waste stains in the vehicle, which can stink over time. Yeast and bacteria molecules from your dog’s fur burrow into your car seat fabrics leading to a foul stench.
Luckily, you have a number of options to keep pet smells out of your vehicle. Some of us may prefer homemade solutions like vinegar and baking soda are effective dog odor eliminators. If the stench is resilient to the DIY treatments, a well-formulated naturalenzyme cleaner can break down the organic matter.