Getting Urine Smell Out of Carpet - Works for Kids and Puppies

My best friend S and my other best friend, her hubby E, had their eyes set on a miniature Austrian Shephard puppy all the way to their visit to a breeder last Saturday, where they came home with a 7 week old GoldenDoodle. Their kiddos are still bouncing like SuperBalls (remember them?) and they've named the puppy "Lucky."

E can't bear to crate the baby.  Lucky might get scared, it's mean, says the Tenderhearted E.  And, E is the pack leader here, so he's calling the shots and S is readying herself for the 1,304,356 pee-pee spots that are going to hit their carpet before Lucky is housebroken. 

Meanwhile, my pups are so well-trained that they'll go pee-pee in the pouring rain during a thunderstorm. (Dear Reader, do I sound proud?  Fine.  I am.  Disgustingly so.)   So the new parents asked my tricks of the trade to handle Lucky's leaks over the next few months, as well as how to limit this training period.

As for housebreaking a dog, I'll leave that to another post.  For the immediate issue of urine in the carpets, here's what worked for me:

1.  The smell comes from the urine crystalizing once it's dried.  You want to break up those crystals, get them to dissolve and go away.  There's the goal.

2.  Cheap and easy way to break the urine crystals up is plain old white vinegar.  Yep, that miracle stuff.  Don't be dainty here, pour that vinegar onto the carpet spot -- depending on the size of the spot, this could be up to half a gallon.  Yes, that much.  You want to make sure you're putting enough in there so it soaks down to the urine crystals that have formed in the padding.  Go crazy with the vinegar.  Crazy!!

3.  Be patient.  Leave that vinegar alone for 2 or 3 days.  If this bothers you, don't invite Prince Charles over for dinner till this process is done.  You're cleaning carpets here, it's a process.  That vinegar WILL work, but it needs time to do its job. 

4.  Okay, after the 2 or 3 days, spread a big, old towel down there over the wet spot and do the Mexican Hat Dance on it.  Go crazy with your bad self.  Use another towel if the first one gets really soaked.  Put on Beyonce, Single Lady, and stomp all over that second towel, tell it all about putting a ring on it. 

5.  After two towels, then rest yourself.  Next, it's time to clean the carpet.  I know, I know, this is a Big Enterprise.  You need it to be a Big Enterprise, because the puppy will come back and pee where it smells urine.  Dogs have an ability to smell that's like 45 times as great as ours.  Hence, Big Enterprise.

Me?  I use an OxyClean product with a Hoover Steam Vac with Clean Surge, model F5914-900.  You can get one for around $100 at Amazon.Com.

6. Now, here's the good news.  This process really DOES WORK.  It's worth your efforts here, and they aren't really all that harsh.  Dancing on the towel is fun.  However, getting the puppy not to pee-pee in the house, or the toddler not to wee-wee on the rug ... that's a different story.