As I've probably mentioned we have four dogs at the moment and and you can guess the house whiffs of dog!.

Does anyone have any tips for having the house smell fresher? I know part of it is that I dont have any windows open trying to keep heat in. I've tried Oust etc but it seems to come pack after a little while.

And no, I wont be getting rid of my dogs before any helpful suggestions.

Have u tried plug- ins we have 5 cats & i found febreeze to be the best

We use the Body Shop stuff that you drop into a bowl of water above a candle.

It's the best thing we've found and there are various fragrances to choose from.

shampoo the carpet.
wash the dogs feet before it enters the house after it goes out if its wet.
bath the dog more often.

I agree, I have 3 plugged in downstairs and they really are effective.

I used to use the plug-ins too, & scented candles, febreze etc. But I stopped when I suddenly thought how sensitive dogs & cats noses are to these very strong smells that we leave around the house just a nose height!

I don't know if these strong smells upset dogs or cats & I have absolutely no proof that they do, but I am conscious of how much more acute their sense of smell is than mine so if I find that plug-ins, candles etc are strong smelling, it stands to reason that the dogs & cats will be even more affected by them!

I could be completely wrong here & am happy if anyone else has evidence to the contrary.

My house is a lot less whiffy since, when I moved into a house with no carpets, and put laminate down rather than carpet, it really doesn't hold the dogginess the way that carpets do. Five dogs, by the way.

The one rug I do have (placed near the settee, because I know they shouldn't but the dogs do lie on the settee - again, leather, doesn't hold essence of dog like a fabric does - and they get spooked at having to jump down onto slidy floors) I hoover like mad and treat frequently with a shake n vac type mixture someone makes for me with fullers earth and cloves and spices in.

I gave up on official dog beds, because they're so hard to wash and I don't have too many old towels left. So I buy cheap fleece throws (£1.99 each, maximum) and layer them on the ground. When the top one is haired to death, I just bin it and replace. I used to wash things but it's not good for the filters in my machine, plus I got tired of ending up with washed dog hairs on all my own washing, no matter how hard I tried to clean the machine.

Fragrance-wise, I bought my first ever Yankee Candle this Christmas. Never tried them before, they seemed stupidly over-priced, but the strength and quality of the fragrance was amazing. It was sandalwood based, and really de-dogged the general atmosphere.

its the main downside to dog owning i think, i hate when my dogs make the house whiffy its very apparent after we have been out and they have been shut in 2 rooms.

i keep the windows open a little, just enough to keep the air moving, and that helps. also hoovering lots, and making sure i empty the hoover often too as that smells. i wash my westie around once per week as she really does stink the place out, out collie x isnt too bad but is becoming faecally incontinent so we have to really keep on top of cleaning etc.

I have 2 dogs, and they can be a little smelly at times. I think the main thing is air movement. Even if you open a window a crack in the room the dogs are in, it moves the air around.

I also use scented candles a lot. Im paranoid that someone will knock on the door and smell dog. So, i have a scented candle in my hallway near the front door and another in the lounge. The house smells lovely. I did try plug in freshners - but i found them too potent.

But - at the end of the day, when you get animals, you know they will whiff occasionally.

If you are keeping windows shut because of the cold weather and have radiators on, place a Bounce tissue on each radiator, it's very effective. Try and anchor them in some way so that they don't blow off when doors open, as they are not good for animals to chew on. I used to peg a corner to the bracket behind the radiator, but they all have different fixings. When our Tomcat got really old, he could be quite smelly as he couldn't groom himself properly and this was the one thing that worked.

We've got six - plus the occasional litter - but I wouldn't say the house 90% of the time smells doggie (probably when I have a litter it does once they get to about 5/6 weeks).

We tend to use scented candles quite a lot, and I have a plug in in the lounge in case we have visitors (but that's more to do with me only being allowed to smoke in that room than the dogs)

We are all laminate and tiles downstairs with a couple of rugs which I hoover daily - so this might go someway to explaining the lack of smell. Bedding and furniture throws are washed at high temperatures with biological powder regularly - dogs are bathed once in a blue moon if really needed (frequent bathing of Labs is not recommended because it wrecks their coats).

If damp dogs are coming in onto house carpets then really, there are going to be few days you can get around it

Take a wet cotton ball and put a few drops of essential oil or purfume oil (like bodyshop coconut etc) rub the cotton wool over the radiators and then place it on top. Moisten the cotten wool to refresh the smell. When your heating comes on then the scent wafts around the whole house. Place it where the dogs cant get to easily.

Peppermint is a good de odouriser and can make the house smell fresher and bicarbinate of soda is good for carpets etc.
I cant use shake and vac as both my dog and cat react to it. I have found that the neutrodol pots are effective for reducing pet odour especially near the cat litter so they might be worth a try. I also occasionally use a plug in but much prefer the cotton wool. You can always use a damp flannel if you dont have cotton wool but its not as good.

Hi all

Thanks for the responses. Sorry it took so long to get back. Well we've made some changes thanks to the suggestions on here. We have laminated throughout. What a difference that alone made. I suppose when you think how often they have rubbed their little wet, smelly bodies across the carpet it must really stink.

I bought body shop oils for the bedroom and toilet as I have asthma and some fragrances can irritate. I bought the febreeze plug ins (I got some holly ones in the reduced basket just to try) for the halland living room and the house smells much different. I wouldn't say it's a fresh smell as the fragrance smells quite synthetic but it is miles better than rank dog!

Again thank you for the ideas.

You aren't supposed to use plug ins, air fresheners or candles when you have birds either.

I always wonder why they sell scented shavings for animals too. Their little noses are far too close to want anything scented.