Wish i could have come up with a better subject title... but here goes:

Yesterday, one of the friends I meet with for our dog walk invited me to her house for the first time.  I only know this person from our walks in the parks, and her home is on the route to the park.  When I went in, I was hit with the most pungent smell of dog.  Not wee, per se... but more like, how my dog smells if swimming in a dirty pond.  It was suffocating.  My friend made no apologies, or mention of the smell at all.  I wanted to say something, but dared not to.

It had me thinking... what if my house smell's the same and I didnt notice it?  Perhaps the person living with the smell.. just gets so used to it, they do not notice.  (My partner has a car that I can not stand to go into.. but doesnt bother him).  I do entertain company from time to time... and it would kill me if they smelled 'the dog smell' so many complained about.. but I couldnt smell it.

I realised... it may be a bit biased, given we are all dog lovers... but has anyone had to tell a friend/family member that their house smelled... in a diplomatic way of course?

My house is mopped several times a week (not everyday.. just dont have that kind of time.. thier are foums to visit on the internet, you know?).. but again.. may the smell gets embedded in the walls, floors and such?  (Like curry, in a chips shop?)

This lady did not have a carpet in the front room either.. so I guess, the smell can be embedded in the floorboards as well?

I'll be reading the answers with interest - I know a house like this, and it's the only one of the 'doggy' households I know that does, so it must be unusual. I know that people get used to the smell of their own house, but when we've been away for a few days and the dogs have still been at home being minded, our house still doesn't smell, so I think it must be all right.

My friend's dogs are only allowed in the kitchen and the back of the house, and the front rooms don't smell at all doggy - but pop your head round the kitchen door and you nearly pass out. It's horrible! :(

What sort of coat does your friend's dog have? Wiry? Woolly? (I'd ask the breed, but that might offend other people who have them!)

Hmm... i dont know much coat styles sorry.  It is a permian (?) mountain dog.  No offense to anyone who has one.. again, i don't think it's a breed thing as much as I was even cheeky enough to smell the dogs coat when no one was looking.. lol.

A Pyrennean Mountain Dog certainly has a lot of coat - is it a dog or a bitch?

Wasn't there a thread on here not so long ago, and the fact that the breed 'ponged' was mentioned more than once Forgive me if a wrong but was it the Spinone?

Some breeds definately smell more than others. I'm biased of course, but Spitz breeds tend to have much less Eau de Dog than most breeds. Years ago I knew a lady who kept OES & TTs in a very small house, If I had to go in there I used to be gagging
Still think dog is a lot more acceptable than Cat though

There is probably no 'good' way I am more than a little obsessed with this subject (my OH calls me Monica from friends)
I ask the one person who I know will tell me the truth my brother and he said "I cant smell anything" I just know he would tell me the truth !!
With my girls having such long coats (have you ever seen the length of fur on the feet of a beardie!) when we have been out to the park this time of year I always wash thier feet upon our return cause I recon the doggy smell comes from the park they get a quick dip in the bowl and towel down .....done!

A friend I know uses a product from animal health company called odor kill ( blend of organic oils which destroy bad smells) not been to her home myself but been told that her house smell wonderful and she has 2 dogs and looks after others.

I would start the conversation off with "gosh walked into my house the other day and got a really strong doggy smell I have heard about this product called odor kill heard its brilliant " this will get  the conversation going then take it from there....

Roni

Hah, Roni :D I tried that, going round the houses as it were with that friend, but when she asked me if I thought her house smelled I said 'well I can't smell anything' :rolleyes: I bottled out :P

Yes, 'twas Spinoni Liberty!  Mind you, hand on heart, I can say that mine don't smell too bad, although one of the three smells distinctly more doggy than the other two.  Mind you, they could actually be thoroughly ripe with pong and I just don't notice :D

Edit.  Bah!!  This was supposed to go in under Liberty's post :rolleyes:

It is a dog..  The coat is a pretty white color... no signs of dirt or grime.

i know someone a bit like JG does-the dogs are pretty much confined to the kitchen and conservatory through the day, and migrate to the living room on a night. When you walk in, the house smells lovely and fresh, but once that kitchen door opens, its a whole different story. I tend to fuss the dogs and say "you stink, boys". That fuss tends to be the only one they get, otherwise i honk. They're both male boxers, one castrated one entire. They really do stink. Both very doggy and fishy from their food-wouldn't be so bad if they didn't insist on trying to kiss you every two seconds!

i'm paranoid about if my house smells of dogs, and i always jokingly refer to the my two as 'stinky dogs' when people come in. To be honest though, its only a bit wiffy if the dogs have been swimming, are muddy etc (if they're really pitted, or have been to the beach, they're put in the shower normally). I have very little carpet, and the sofas are leather, so theres not much the doggy smell can cling to. The dog bed in the living room is wipeable with a fleece throw on top, and thats gets washed once a week, so... I tend to have scented candles (chocolate at the mo-mmm) on in the living room on a night, and that smell wafts round all downstairs.

not quite sure how to handle your dilemma, quirky-aside of going in with an airfresher stuck to your nose!

Mmmm tricky this. When it was my mums dog, I just told her straight. When I went to a friends house, she had 2 gsds, i couldn't believe the smell. And I'm sure it was made worse because her central heating was always on, or the gas fire or both! No doors or windows open so there was no escape from the pong
The two I have now i have never noticed any smell unless they are wet, but I had a spaniel cross who ponged so I always left the kitchen window open 24/7.  I mop every single day, tiled floors, and have haze freshners - the automatic kind - in the hall and living room and I can honestly say, even if I've been out all day, there is no 'doggy' smell when I come back. So I really don't know what to suggest you say, but I'd say nothing - some people can get easily offended

Dee   :)

Being someone that is very paranoid about smells, I am constantly buying plug in fresheners, mopping floors etc...

I get the occasional wiff and call in an investigative squad of, honest, friends and they always say it doesnt smell.

I have been to a few doggy smelling houses and I must say that I have passed the occasional comment like 'oh, I'm glad I'm not the only one who uses wet dog air freshener'
Although I wouldn't try this comment on someone who I didnt know that well.

Maybe strike up a conversation with them about how they deal with doggy smells, like you respect their ideas, it might be that they know their house stinks of dog and it doesnt bother them.

Everyone has different ideas about acceptable levels of hygiene, for me (and you by the sounds of it) alot of it I judge on smells - unfortunately not everyone is bothered by yukky smells, and we do all adapt to the smell of our own dogs (well unless they've rolled in fox pooh or something equally stinky)

Good luck

Perhaps she doesn't care that her house smells? After all, its her house ;) Mine probably stinks of horse but I couldn't care less, my horses, my house - and if folk don't like it then they can just not visit :D

What does she feed her dog on? Some foods make dogs REALLY pong - and couple that with a big heavy coated dog, i can well see there being a pongy problem.

I dunno what im doing but whatever it is im doing it right because last week i had my ubercritcal estate officer in here (someone complained that my dogs were out of control which she said she could see instantly was a wind up complaint), and even she said 'blimey, four dogs in here and it doesnt even smell SLIGHTLY doggy'. Coming from a non doggy person who was looking for a problem i think thats a fairly good response!

Oh and i am NOT a houseproud person at all, being honest im a card carrying housework dodger!

Em

You keep horses in your house? :P:P

Chloe likes to give her family a stable environment to live in! :D :D

I'll get my coat ...

I'll come with ya :D :D

haha-i was actually very impressed with that JG :)

Thanks for the replies guys.  I could smell the house in my clothes i wore yesterday!  I'm not sure when i will be invited again, but i think i will mention it.  I just hate for someone not to tell me.

I didn't think my house smelled of dog but my brother came in last week and told me it was stinking (I've never liked him much anyway!).  the other people who were there said it didn't but it sets off the paranoia so I've been frantically washing bedding etc since then.

yep ...see brothers dont hold back...LOL

I live out in the country where ALL our houses smell of some sort of livestock. Well, except for some of the newcomers, that is, who are still trying to work out why their previously pristine possessions are now covered in mud. But then these are generally the sort of people who are appalled at the lack of a sushi bar in the village. Air freshener consists of opening the window here! Unless they are muck-spreading out the back of course...

But more seriously, I wouldn't tell ANYONE their house smelt of dog because I don't think it's my business. If the smell was too awful I might keep my visits short or suggest we took our tea out in the garden but that's the limit. The one exception I've ever made to this is when my mother had an appalling head cold and stuffed up nose when Eric, one of her dogs, was sitting under the kitchen table stinking to high heaven after rolling in the bog - this her peat bog we are talking about, by the way, not the lavatory!! 

mmmmmm, Tea in the rain.....intresting.

Hi, Roz.  What if the person, just doesn't realise the smell after satiating with the current aroma?  Would you still not mention it?

It's all down to windows not being opened for bad air to get out and fresh air to get in, and the dog obviously is not groomed enough, which would make a huge difference, as suggested by others some breeds are naturally smellier than others, but that is why a groomer is needed to cut and freshen the coat and the house is obviously not cleaned enough.

Some people's sense of smell is not very good as when you go out and come back into a house you can smell something as strong as that on return, so she obviously does not care, or can not smell it.

Unless she is a very close friend, which she doesn't seem to be, you would have to be very brave to mention it. I just wouldn't go back there, maybe you could invite her to yours and hopefully she will mention how fresh your home is, you can then drop your big, huge, enormous hints at how to freshen a home.

>and if folk don't like it then they can just not visit

Hear hear

:D :p :p

I really wouldn't mention it under any circumstances, quirky, because I genuinely feel that the state of other people's houses is their business and not mine. In fact, I'm far less comfortable in the company of the over house-proud because you can't relax when you know your host is only waiting for you to leave before they can tidy up behind you. Or indeed tidy you up...;)

And I only told my mother about the diabolical miasma emanating from Eric because I knew she couldn't smell it!!!

I dont know if my house smells of dog(or anything else for that matter) or not. If it smells a bit naff I light a joss stick. if someone told me it smelt I wouldnt mind but I wouldnt do anything about it, I live here, they dont. I know 2 friends who used to walk their dogs every day together and one day one of them came in to the others house and said, "it smells of dog in here", they never spoke again.......If I was worried about that sort of thing I wouldnt have got a dog in the first place. our house always smells of curry and garlic anyway, and dry rot. each to his own I say.

Mine smells of wet muddy SWD's at the moment, not nice I must say and I'm doing a grooming demonstration on the breed tomorrow :d Agggghhhhhhh.

Anton is now bathed and I've clipped around his private area ready for his all off clip tomorrow.  Carmen will hve a bath later and I'm just about to steam clean the kitchen because boy does it smell.

I must admit that I am also one of those people whose house is mine, anyone is invited and if they don't like it that's their hard luck as they've come to see me, though more often than not my dogs rather than me, they have come in through the door and if they don't like it they can go out the same way :d  Though I would be devestated if anyone came right at this moment after 5 SWD's have been running in the mud!

Love me - Love my dogs ;)

I am of the take me as you find me club too!

However if your friend has a Birthday/Easter etc. coming up and you would normally buy her a gift why not buy her a Yankee Candle tart burner and some wax tarts to go with it.  The tart burners come in lots of pretty designs and are meant to go on show.   There are lots of lovely aromas available in the tarts to cover up even the most stinky hound!    I've got Sheer Gardenia burning in the lounge at the moment and Country Linen in the bedroom.     You could always comment that you think these are wonderful since you found out about them and your trying to convert your friends around to them!

http://www.yankeedoodle.co.uk/x-cart/home.php

http://www.just-candles.net

Lol this one made me laugh!! I have always wondered about this myself but a very honest work colleague of my husband says he can't smell anything in our house as we can't and luckily no one else has said anything. It's just my opinion but i think if you have a wet dog on carpet that could be where the smell comes from. Damp carpet smells awful anyway but with a bit of wet dog that could be why. We always put wet doggy in the kitchen on blankets then when he has dried off he can come on the carpets, and then we wash the kitchen lino every other day so i would like to think we smell ok. Some people don't don't mind the doggy smell so i am sure they would not be ofended if subtley mentioned it, but on the other hand would appreciate it if they didn't know i think i would.

Send in a teenager. My 15 YO step-daughter, took one whiff of my dog's bed and said "This is minging". I couldn't smell a thing but it went right in the wash.

I use Oust. It gets rid of all smells very quickly. You could take her back to yours and say 'I am very concerned whether my house smells. What do you think? Do you think a plug in or something else is best. What do you use?' She may then say 'Do you think mine does?' Good Luck. Never easy, also especially if you work with someone who does. :-) We always had to spray the shop after some people had been in!

To be honest I do'nt think it's possible to live with dogs through the winter and not have some days when the house smells - especially when you've got pups around or -in my case- an ancient 14 year old with stress incontinence My breed is not a particularly smelly one - not having the type of greasy flat coat that I think pongs the most ;) and I do what I can to minimise the canine BO such as laying down slate flooring not having any carpets, repainting all the dog areas every spring, washing down the floors everytime theyve come in from a walk , burning candles etc and confining them to the  dog room and kitchen except for the evenings when everyone piles into the living room to cuddle up and snooze on the sofa. But with 7 dogs I KNOW that my house does sometimes smell doggy - but hey my house IS doggy - To be honest this is the road I've chosen to go down - when I 'm not working every moment is spent doing dog related stuff - most of my friends and those who visit are other dog folk ( am I sad or what ?). My feeling is that you get one shot at life - do what makes you happiest and causes no harm - other folk live their lives in different ways - if they're not comfortable with my lifestyle then DON'T VISIT  :D :D :D

Yvonne

It had me thinking... what if my house smell's the same and I didnt notice it?  Perhaps the person living with the smell.. just gets so used to it, they do not notice.

that's always been a big worry of mine...and I uaed to keep the house and dog very lean..but now I have two dogs and outside it's fust soo muddy I'm fighting a loosing battle cos I don't want to bath them each day! lol!  o our house is more yuk now to anti dog people....which is all my extended familt!  I know a few people who have bad doggie smelling houses but I think it is because they never bath their dogs and the dogs are outdoor dogs most of the time...and they never wash the dogs beddng.  After one dog died the owners later mentioned he had been the smelliest dog they ever owned...so they could smell him...but he always had needed a brush and a bath when we saw him. I guess they are a lot older then us and just did what they'd always done in how they kept him...and although he was kept outside he had the use of the  conservetory...which was the size of our whole house and had acres of land and he did have lots and lots and lots of love and good dirty woodland walks several times a day all through his life and was quite happy with his smell.

With good shampoos these days and flea prevention then most people have indoor dogs and can keep them relatively clean...so there is less risk of smells building up to such toxic levels.

We have a nasty smell of damp in our house when it's rained and that stinks so bad even if our house stank all dog you wouldn't notice. If we ever find out what the stink is caused from and cure it maybe then we will smell dog!  :(

Hi,
I know what you mean I make sure mine doesn't, I've had many comments,
"A!!   you've got all these dogs and your house doesn't smell"
Tell her there is a new fresh air spray you have purchased that helps will the smell
of dogs I have brought a battery operated one that sperts itself ever 1/2 hour or hour.
Got it from Asda. Have it in the veranda, as it gets a little hot in there. I would be
sooo embarrassed if anyone could smell my dogs.
Yes! people do get used to the smell.

I bet ours smells - didn't notice it when we came back from holiday yesterday, but then the dogs hadn't been there for a week either! :-D

Having been reminded about Yankee Candles by this thread, I decided to go out and buy a few of the tarts today. Wow, they are fantastic aren't they.

I've had them before, but I'd forgotton just how lovely they are. I like a fragrance to be obvious, and these Yankee products are just the ticket.

I'm burning Sage and Citrus at the minute....mmmmmmmmm wonderful.

Dawn R.

I went to a colleagues house with some others colleagues for a get together,the house was in an awful state.Someone accidently tipped over some cream on the carpet and dog hairs floated to the top YUCK. I stripped off in the kitchen when I got home,say no more.

I decided not to mention anything.  Guess no sense falling out over it, but I won't be too quick to accept a tea invite.  Shame really, tho'.  The fact that someone's house can put other's off. 

I'm thankful that my house smells pleasant.  My house is up for sale at mo, so obviously important for it to smell nice.  However I've had people viewing mentioning that our house smells nice, even though we have a dog & 2 cats, whereas other houses they've viewed smell foul.

I think it's all to do with cleanliness, wet dog always stays downstairs where floor is laminated till she dries, floors are mopped frequently & carpets hoovered frequently.  I also have those 'Air Wick' things plugged in around the house, & turn those on whenever I think there might be a whiff in the air.

My mum came round yesterday, & commented that it smelt lovely in my kitchen/diner, so I'm obviously doing something right.....

Dawn,

Sheer gardenia - it's lovely!   I'm waiting on a batch of the 'new fragrances' only available in the US at the moment from a very generous friend in NY!

mabe you could buy her a odor remover spray and say you bought one got one free :)