If you’ve recently got a puppy or adopted an older dog, there’s a good chance that you’ll have to deal with more than a few mishaps over the coming weeks and months. Dogs peeing on carpets is a common problem until they’ve been properly trained and are familiar and comfortable with their new surroundings.
Pet urine stains are something we encounter an awful lot as carpet cleaning professionals in the Arvada area. They smell strongly and it can be very difficult to fully remove them if you don’t have the correct equipment, as they penetrate deep into the carpet very quickly. The best solution? To stop your dog from peeing on your carpet in the first place!
To that end, we're going to talk through a number of things you can try to prevent your four-legged friends from doing their business on your carpet.
Four Ways to Get Your Dog to Stop Peeing on Your Carpet
Not all of these things will work, so don’t just rely on one or two. Try each of the suggestions until you find one or a combination of things that help your dog to understand that the carpet is no place for pee.
1) Increase the Frequency of Toilet Breaks
It could be that you’re not taking your dog outside often enough to give them the chance to go to the toilet, and consequently, they’re going inside, on your carpet. They don’t actually want to, but as they can’t open the door and trot outside themselves, they have to go inside.
So in the coming days, make a conscious effort to take them outside more and see if that makes a difference to the regularity of their accidents indoors. And when they successfully pee outside, make sure you reward them with a treat and give them lots of fuss to positively enforce that behavior.
2) Restrict Access When You’re Not Home
A pet urine stain becomes more problematic if it is left for hours and allowed to dry. The only way that is being cleaned up effectively is by using professional carpet cleaning equipment. One thing you could do is to restrict your dog’s access to the carpeted areas of your home when you’re not there. This way, if they do have an accident, it’s much easier to clean up.
Most homes have hard floors in the kitchen and bathroom areas, so maybe these are rooms where you could leave your dog when you’re not home.
3) Use a Crate for Short Periods
If you don’t have a room with a hard floor, a crate is another solution that you could use. When you go out, leave your dog in the crate, and place a pee pad on the base to help soak it up if they have an accident. As the crate is quite a confined space, this solution shouldn’t be used if you’re going to be away from home for longer than a couple of hours though, as it may make your dog become anxious.
4) Watch Like a Hawk
This is especially true if you have a puppy that’s peeing on your carpets and don’t want to be calling your floor cleaning guy every 2nd day. You need to supervise them pretty much all of the time and keep them close by wherever you go. You can use a training tether to achieve this, attaching it to the chair, sofa or piece of furniture that you’re next to.
Then the trick is to be extra vigilant. If you see signs that your puppy might need to pee (starting to circle, getting fidgety or squatting are the main behaviors to watch out for), then scoop them up before they can do the deed. Take them either outside or directly to their pee pad. And remember, once they've done their business there, make sure to reward them and heap praise on them.
Other Recommended Steps When Trying to Protect Carpets from Dogs
Managing to prevent accidents from happening is the best possible protection you can give to your carpet when you have a dog, but there are also a few other things you should do to ensure your carpets stay in great condition.
1) Apply Stain Resistant Spray to Your Carpet
The best thing to do would be to have a stain-resistant carpet installed, as they come with a stain-resistant coating that helps to repel things like urine and make it much easier to clean up. But having a new carpet fitted is likely going to set you back quite a bit.
The next best thing is to buy a stain-resistant spray and apply it to the entire surface area of your carpet. If you don't have time to do that, concentrate your efforts on the areas where your dog is most likely to spend time and pee.
Remember though, this is not a solution to stopping your dog from peeing on the carpet. It'll help when there's an accident, but it won't change your dog's behavior (that's what the above tips are for).
2) Schedule Regular Professional Carpet Cleaning
Spot cleaning and vacuuming will only go so far when you have dogs running around the house. Arranging for deep carpet cleaning at least once per year is a must, as the commercial-grade equipment that is used cleans right down to the base of the carpet, extracting any stains that are present and completely cleansing the carpet pile. This greatly helps to extend the lifespan of carpets that are used by dogs on a daily basis.
Steve’s Carpet Care & Restoration has been providing carpet cleaning services to residents of Arvada, Boulders, Broomfield and Westminster for over 40 years. Call 303-530-4900 to book an appointment today.