How To Clean Dog Pee From Carpet – 5 Easy Steps

dog urine in carpet

I hate it when I come home and smell stale rank dog urine in my carpet. Besides being embarrassing, the smell is also very offensive to non-dog owners. No matter how well we train our furry friends, accidents do happen so when your dog pees on your carpet, you need to act quickly to get rid of the dog urine.

Dog urine penetrates deep into flooring and carpet and if left unchecked will be problematic for years to come. Luckily I have removed dog urine from carpet hundreds of times and here is what I do using my home remedy for dog urine smell.

All you need to do is use our special Odor Dude Formula by applying my premixed oxidising solution to the problem area. Allow the product to penetrate deep into the carpet to remove all dog urine residues for 5-10 minutes. Extract the area with a carpet cleaning wand or use folded towels and repeat the process until the product stops foaming on application. I usually use my knee to apply the weight to the towels.
The urine residues are broken down and destroyed, which eliminates the smell.

For full details on how to clean dog pee from carpet keep reading for my step by step instructions. 

dog-pee-neutralizer

Odor Dude’s 5 Step Process to Clean Dog Pee From Carpet

What You Will Need:

  • Rubber gloves
  • Plastic container / jug to hold the formula
  • Paper towel / Old towels to soak up the urine (old towels are better)
  • Wet vac (optional)
  • Our DIY Formula

Before You Begin

No matter what product you choose to use to remove dog pee from your carpet, always remember to spot test in an inconspicuous area first! You don’t want this pee situation to ruin your whole carpet completely.

Step 1: Identify where the dog urine is (Mission Critical)

Dog urine is often very challenging to find and depending on the size of your dog the urine contamination, it could be alot of urine or a tiny amount (small old dogs).

Not knowing where the contamination is leads to applying a urine neutralizer in the wrong areas and wasting your product. It also leads to potentially missing the spots that are affected and in doing so the smell will remain.

Here are some tips to help find the source of the contamination.
To find the area that the dog has used as a toilet:

  • Check the back of furniture and in corners of the room as dogs typically pee up against something.
  • Look in social areas such the TV room, the sitting room, any areas that have lounge suites and furniture.
  • Look also at areas where a dog is able to get behind and pee up against the piece of furniture. The urine will run off into the carpet and if the dog is doing this repeatedly then this could be the main source of the odor.
  • Look behind couches, chairs and furniture for yellow staining, or moist damp areas.
  • Observe your dog and note where he/she spends most of their time when at home.
  • Still can’t find the pee? Try using a UV light – we use this one and it works a treat. 

Step 2: Find the urine by spraying our formula on the carpet and look for white foaming as shown.

Most of the issues we have fixed over the years were caused by owners not be able to find the contaminations and missing the area where the dog has cocked his/her leg and peed.

Once you’ve tested on an inconspicuous first, lightly spray the odor neutralizer onto the top of the carpet and look for white foaming. The chemicals in the formula will react with any urine or faeces present and will foam showing you where you should treat.

This technique makes it easy to locate where the dog has urinated and will ensure you treat the correct area. Once you locate the areas mark with white chalk so you know exactly where to find them.

finding dog gland smell in carpet
Look for white foaming which indicates a contamination as shown

Step 3: Douse the area with our DIY Dog Urine Neutralizer

Now that you have located the areas where your dog has urinated you need to apply the urine neutralizer and make sure it comes in contact with all the urine.

You can pour it from a plastic container as shown or spray the product with a spray pac but either way you need to give the contamination a very generous application and leave for 15 -30 minutes so the product can perform magic.

The formulation will begin to break down the all the residues including uric acid and alkaline crystals aka salt!

Once you mix our formula the chemicals start reacting together straight away and will be live for approximately an hour so you need to work fast. Never store the product and ensure all is used on the urine contamination.

how to get rid of anal gland smell
Douse the area in Formula 2

Step 4: Option A – Remove the residues using a wet vac.

When the foaming has stopped you can remove the residues with old towels or you can suck them up with a wet vacuum cleaner.

I often flush the area with warm water and then suck that up along with the residues.

Old towels does just as good a job but you do need a lot of them as they soak up the residues pretty quickly. If it is a hot summers day then the area will dry quite quickly.

If it is cold and wintery use a lot of towels and then put a dehumidifier in the room to assist in the drying process. 

wet vac to extract dog urine residue
Use a wet vac wand to extract the area and suck up the residues

If you’re looking to buy a wet vac, read my wet vac review first. 

No time to read the full review? To cut to the chase, this is the wet vac that I recommend. The WORKSHOP Wet Dry Vac WS1600VA due to value for money, quality of the manufacturing, very good suction, 20 foot power cord and robust clips for holding suction hose to the body.

best-vac-dog-urine
The Workshop Wet Dry Vac - super effective in cleaning up dog urine from carpet.

Step 4: Option B – Removing the residues using towels. (If no wet vac available)

Use folded up towels to soak up the residues placing a weight on the towel such as your knee or a heavy weight. Change the towel once it becomes sodden and keep changing until you have soaked up all the residues.

You can stand on the towel or kneel on it what ever is easier for you.

fold towels to soak up dog odor residue
Use towels to soak up the dog urine residues

Step 5: Leave the area for one week and then reassess the odor.

Although you have extracted and soaked up the dog pee, the product will continue to work in the carpet for one week. One of the components will stay in the carpet and continue to work on any remaining residues that the oxidizer has not destroyed.

This is why it is important to leave for a week and ensure your dog can not get back to the same spot and pee again.

How To Find Pet Urine Smell In Carpet

*Insider Secret* so please read on.

Us saying to you “find the source of the odor” is not always as easy as it sounds. We know this as 95% of pet urine removal jobs we have done, the owners had already tried to treat the odors themselves and had missed the contaminated areas. Dang!

So today we are going to give you my best techniques to find ALL of the pet urine odor contamination. This method stopped us from getting call backs from clients because the smell remained (very expensive in our business, we hate call backs lol)

What you will need is a PET DETECTIVE (This is such an amazing technique!)

WHAT I hear you cry, Are you serious?

Yes we are, very serious. We have used this technique over and over again and it is very effective.

Cats and Dogs are experts in finding other animals urine spills and they will take you to the exact spot.

Cats and Dogs will find areas you did not locate and all you need do is place a dog or cat in the room and watch where they go and sniff. This is a great way for removing dog urine odor from carpet. Make sure you have your piece of chalk ready to go and where ever the cat or dog starts focusing on (It is really obvious when they do so) mark that spot with your chalk for treatment. You can guarantee there will be faeces or urine residues there that you may have missed.

cat sniffing carpet urine odor
Cats have a brilliant sense of smell and will find the source of your problem
dog sniffing for urine odor in carpet
Dogs also make great Odor Detectives

Tips to Prevent Your Dog From Peeing On Your Carpet

There are many reasons why your dog might pee on the carpet. Some can be considered an accident (oops we slept in and forgot to let the dog out) but others might be a cause for concern. 

Here are 3 toilet tips to help prevent further doggy pee on the carpet.. 

  1. Consistency: if you have a puppy, of course you expect accidents to happen but being consistent is the key. Potty training requires consistent, regular attention. The work you put in now will pay off in the long run! For adult dogs, a consistent schedule of being let out to pee can also go a long way. 
  2. Remove Odors: Pet odors that hang around in the carpet will only attract your dog further to that spot. It’s like a welcome patch to pee there again. Make sure you get on top of any pee accidents fast!
  3. Consult a vet: Speak with your trusted vet if your dog continues to have accidents. There might be an underlying medical issue that could be the source of its problem.

In Summary:

Yes dog pee in your carpet is not ideal but it isn’t the end of the world!

If you follow these 5 easy steps you will be able to locate the dog pee and treat it effectively.

So now each time your dog has an accident you will know exactly how to clean dog pee from the carpet!

Craig - The Odor Dude

Craig - The Odor Dude

Hey guys! Craig here, the Odor Dude. I have over 12 years of experience in the odor removal industry removing all sorts of odors. Now it's time to share what I've learnt so you can solve your odor issues fast!