How to rid your home of puppy pee smells!

Puppies bring an abundance of joy into our lives. They are cute - often fluffy - balls of wonder. However, there’s one less joyful thing you can count on. Puppies pee a lot!

It doesn't matter how well prepared you are, accidents may happen. Having a clear plan for toilet training will reduce the number of puddles in your home but you may still find them. Making sure the area is properly cleaned will help prevent repeated wees in the same spot.

Even at a young age, puppies have a much better sense of smell than us humans. They are able to detect very small amounts of the scent left behind. A good cleaner is one that destroys all trace of the scent. A bad cleaner is one that contains the smell of ammonia. Ammonia-based cleaning products may make the smell disappear for you, but increases the smell for your dog - as ammonia smells like urine! This makes it more likely for the puppy to repeatedly toilet in that area.

There are a number of products out there specifically designed to remove all traces of urine from carpet and laminate/wood flooring. Available as sprays, foams, and shampoo for carpet cleaners, there is a product out there if you need it. Steam cleaners may not be the best as they don't always have a way of removing the molecules from the area.

Not everyone wants to rely on chemical cleaners. If you're struggling with toilet training, continually buying bottles can be an extra expense you weren't expecting. There are some good options for homemade cleaners. It is important to note that the area should be fairly dry before cleaning. Removing as much of the liquid as possible makes the rest of the process easier. It helps to use kitchen roll to absorb the urine and blot it dry. Scrubbing at this point will wreck the kitchen roll and spread the pee around. You definitely don't want that! So soak up as much as you can before moving on.

Bicarbonate of soda is one of the best natural cleaners for removing odours. Pop on some gloves and sprinkle the bicarb over the area, working it down into the fibres of the carpet. Once the area is dry, vacuum the bicarb and that should be that. You could even add some dried lemon peel and lavender buds to the bicarb before sprinkling! This is a great option if you come across a fairly fresh puddle.

Should you find a spot that's more dried in, use some warm water and kitchen roll or j cloths to gently agitate the stain. Again, you don't want to spread the smell but loosen it from the carpet. Once you're happy that the area is slightly damp and you've got a rather smelly cloth, try the bicarb trick. You may need to repeat this if you can still smell urine. If you can smell it, your puppy certainly can.

Whichever method you choose, make sure it is suitable for your flooring. As you've no doubt heard before, test the solution on an inconspicuous area. You don't want to make the stain more noticeable! One last thing before this ends, strong perfumed cleaners may just mask the smell to you (and cause havoc for your dog's nose). Make sure you are removing all traces of urine instead of covering up the smell. In the long run, you may be left with one or more big, dried-in patches, instead of a lovely clean home.

If housetraining your puppy is driving you to distraction, you’re not alone. Join our Positive Puppy Programme to help your dog feel confident in your house rules - as well as many other puppy parenting lessons.