Help! We went away last week and came home to find our carpet destroyed!?

Question

We had to unexpectedly go out of town last week due to an illness in my family. My sister-in-law volunteered to house sit and stay with our two dogs while we we gone. She ended up getting mad at her b/f and then decided after we had left that she didn't feel like staying at our house and taking care of our dogs...all because she was mad at someone else. Well, we found someone to come over and let them out and play with them for a little while each night but one of our dogs is 10 minths old and still has accidents if she's not let out a few times during the day. She is a 100 pound Saint Bernard and her messes are big! Then our male 3 year old Shih-Tzu would go over and pee on top of where she went at. When we got home it smelled so bad in here. It's terrible! I can't afford to have the carpets cleaned right now and she also wet on three of my children's beds.
Are there any products out that REALLY work on pet stains and take away the oder so that they don't go in the same spot again?

Answer 1

I am so sorry your sister in law is not a responsible person!!
We too have a saint Bernard, he is more then 100 pounds though but I feel your pain!! I can just imagine how your house smells right now!!
Not only will you have to rip up that carpet to get to the padding underneath to replace it and seal the floor, but you will have to get that carpet either cleaned or replaced. I used to be a professional carpet person (cleaned,replaced,lade,fixed, water damage etc).
You can waste your time and money on those "over the counter" products that they push off on home owners (laughing all the way to the bank). Best to do it right! Dogs can smell past and present urine. Urine being the worst of it all! Hence why pets go in the same spot even after one has cleaned it. Being a owner of big dogs (we have four dogs one the saint Bernard, another being a huge mastiff then our cow dogs) all indoor/outdoor dogs (if they want in they come in, you know how it is). One can just imagine how much cleaning I do just to keep up with the dogs (slobber ug)....
next time you go out of town it might be best and cheaper pay someone to stay at the house?
If you can not afford to do this with your carpet then you will have to use those products that to me are a joke. You will also have the dogs still going in the spots but will hopefully understand why they are doing it and not get so mad at them....
SMELL - smoke takes out smell. Smoke also takes out smoke. Incense are still sold and will take out the smell after you get up what you can of the urine. Those oil candles are a huge no no, specially around electronics. After a time a nasty film is all over everything, oil settles and after cleaning up after both smoke and oil I would rather take smoke over oil any day!
I was thinking there are those plastic covers you can put over carpet, on the bottom they have "grabbers" you may want to get several of these (Walmart sells these I would think?), after you clean up the carpet the best you can where the dogs usually go on the carpet. Put these over those spots, maybe the dogs wont be able to smell the urine so easily? Until you can do the job right?
Not only will you have to deal with the immediate problem (the urine) but you will have to deal with the long term effects this has caused to the dogs. Behavior problems.....
I wish you luck and again I do feel your pain!!

Answer 2

You can rent an industrial carpet/uphostry steam cleaner from most retail stores for about $20-25. They do come with uphostry attachments you can get for an additional charge around $5. The cleaning products they use are the same that the professionals use and they can be purchased for around $10. So, for about $40, you can rent a steam cleaner and do the work yourself. It is a lot cheaper than hiring someone at an hourly wage an spending hundreds. The equipment is really easy to use and comes with really simple and clear instructions.

Good luck!

p.s. I would get my sister in law over to help. It's her fault anyway and cleaning can be therapeutic.

Answer 3

Hope your relative is better! Sorry to hear about the sister-in-law. This is one of the reasons I rarely go away. With seven dogs and four over one hundred pounds its tough. I personally found out years ago you cant depend on family to care for your dogs. I pay a young man in my neighborhood to care for them. I found out as you are now, it is cheaper to pay someone in the long run. Also, My side yard is my dogs run. It is 30' wide and 62' long surrounded by 6' privacy fence. I installed a doggy door right from my living-room wall. I don't know if you could manage this type of setup but, sure makes it easier for me when I do have to go out for any period of time. The neighbor comes over three times a day to check on them. PS... I also have a nosy neighbor that makes sure he does. Now about your carpet, unfortunately you will probably have to pull it up if the urine soaked through for days. Even a steam cleaner wont get all of it. Sorry and Good Luck.

Answer 4

Her crying like that sure pushed your guilt buttons didn't it?! Look, it's your house, it's your time with the baby comming. YOU KNOW BEST! If she's going to do more harm than good by being there then send her packing, and put the guilt up on a shelf somewhere until after the baby's born and the carpet gets replaced. I have to admit though, I am having a little trouble understanding your not wanting mom around. Most new mothers to be want their moms there with them. But if you are sure, then DO IT!

Answer 5

You can rent a steam cleaner. It's a lot cheaper then paying someone to do it. You may want to pull up the carpet and cleant he padding too. The people you rent the steam cleaner from can recommend what cleaner to use.

In the future, I wouldn't ask the sister-in-law to dog sit anymore. I would also ask her to help cover the cost of the carpet. Wonder if the dogs made a mess and she just didn't want to clean it? Did your friends clean the mess at all or leave it?

Sorry this happened to you.

Answer 6

You can rent a Rug Doctor machine and steam-clean it yourself, or go over the stain with Spot Shot and then go over again with a mixture of 1/2 white vinegar to 1/2 water to neutralize any odor. I do this latter method whenever my puppy has an accident. We have new home and no odor or stains.

Answer 7

If it was me I would take up the carpet and throw down rugs if the areas they went are everywhere. Then I would take the kids beds down to the car wash and use a high pressure hose to clean them the best I could with every cleaner possible. It will take a long time for them to dry out but nothing beats a high pressure wash.

I would also be supper bent at the sister in law. shes really a very unreliable person.

Answer 8

Yes. A strong bleach solution will do that if you use a rug cleaner to suck the liquid out after cleaning. However, this will also destroy many things. For example, this WILL clean your carpet. But it will also strip the color out of your carpet.

Nothing else will work though.

Answer 9

Apple Cider Vinegar it's cheap and should remove any of the old smells. Regular vinegar would work too, but the apple cider smells a little better. It's what I've used when my dogs had accidents on the carpet. They do not repeat.

Answer 10

Your sister-in-law sounds pretty irresponsible, I agree with the first poster but have her spend the money to clean the carpet.

I use a Bissel - pet odor and stain remover formula - works great

I hope your mattresses had plastic covers on them....