Some things in life are inevitable. Death, taxes, your pets making a mess on your carpet. No matter how well you train your dog, it’s only a matter of time before an accident happens. And when it does happen, you need to be ready.
At Dr. Chem-Dry Carpet & Tile Cleaning, we know how to keep your carpets neat, clean, and accident-free. Here’s how you can protect your carpet from the most awkward pet messes.
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Exercise And Playtime
The best way to prevent an accident from happening on your carpets is to keep your dogs active and outdoors. While accidents while inevitably happen, you can significantly reduce the chances of them happening by making sure your pets get lots of bathroom breaks in their designated areas. If you’ve just started house-training, keep this in mind: Your life will be a whole lot easier if you can train them to take care of business at certain times of the day everyday. Establishing a routine lets your people know exactly when and (more importantly) where they can do their thing. But if you do train your pet to go to the bathroom at the same time everyday, that means you have to be consistent with it. If you miss taking your pet out one too many times, they may end up having to “improvise” and go indoors.
Another thing to keep in mind with pets is that most of them are bundles of nervous energy, especially dogs. Playing with them and giving them lots of attention and time outside burns that energy off, which relaxes them. For dogs this is especially important, because that nervous energy can lead to them doing destructive things like chewing and scratching on your furniture if they don’t get an outlet for it.
Training Pads
Not the best solution long-term but these can work fine in a pinch. When it comes to making messes, dogs are creatures of habit: They’ll usually come back to the same areas again and again. If you’ve noticed certain parts of your carpet that your dog gravitates to, lay down some pads so they’ll absorb any mistakes that happen.
Household Cleaners
As soon as an accident happens, clean it immediately. Blot it up carefully. Don’t press down or grind on the stain with a sponge or towel: That will spread the stain outwards or push it deeper into your carpet fibers. Be gentle and thorough with your blotting. Then you’ll want to clean up the stain. Warm water, vinegar, and/or baking soda are all powerful allies in the war against pet messes. Just be careful not to put too much vinegar and avoid any kind of fragrant cleaners in general: They actually don’t do a good job of masking the pet odors.
Leave No Trace
The most important thing you need to do to prevent pet messes is to clean them thoroughly and completely when they happen. If your dog can smell where they made a mess, that sends a signal to them that that area has been marked and designated as a safe place for them to do it again. If there’s even the slightest trace of a past accident on your carpet, beware: History will repeat itself. Play it safe: When you finish cleaning a stain or spill left by your pet, go over it and clean it again. Deodorize it afterwards to kill any lingering odors.
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For more information about how to protect your carpets from your furry friends, give Dr. Chem-Dry Carpet & Tile Cleaning a call at 602-243-6379.
