Pee Pee Problem

[Sandy]

Toby is 11 months old now - obviously fully house trained. We have one recurring issue that we cannot seem to resolve. When he was a little puppy, we kept him on the main floor of the house, because then he could be on linoleum or ceramic floors, and accident clean ups were easy. As he became trained he was allowed access to the rest of the house. The living room on the main floor, carpeted, he's fine. Upstairs, all carpet, he's fine. The rec room, in the basement, all carpeted, not so fine. For some reason, nine times out of ten when he goes down there he pees!!!! It's getting very old and very frustrating. We have cleaned the carpet, so it's not because of old smells. It's also not always in the same spot. I have put some "special" toys down there, so he might come down and relax with us. I don't know what to do. We have a little t.v. upstairs that I watch, but in the rec room we have a fireplace, bigger t.v., etc., and I would like to go back down there someday!!! Any thoughts? Anything at all? I just don't know what to do.....

[Sandy]

Good ideas. Tethering him would likely work. Last night my hubby was watching t.v. down there, and I was upstairs. Toby went down to see him, and then came back up. When my husband came back up, he discovered Toby had peed in a little spot. Grrrrr.

We always clean it up with a generous dose of pet stain and scent remover, and we have steam cleaned the carpet with animal formula cleaner. We'll keep plugging away....

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

There might be a few things you can do..when you say you cleaned the area throughly, I take it you shampooed with hot water, steam cleaner, along with a product to break down urine with enzymes. When you shampoo a urine stain with hot water in a steam cleaner you are actually setting the enzymes in pee to break down and remain in your carpet. So the odor still remains and why they go back...here is what I learned from pet sitting....

How to Clean Cat or Dog Urine From Carpets and Upholstery
For new wet stains, soak as much of the urine up as possible. The more you can remove, especially on carpeted areas the easier it will be to remove that odor and prevent staining. Use old towels, newspaper, or paper towels and place them on the wet spot. If possible place some under the area also. Stand on this padding to help absorb as much of the urine as you can. Remember the urine spot you see, actually spreads up to 4 times that size under the carpet. Be sure to use plently of product to effectively treat the whole stain.


For old stains, apply water first, allowing it to soak through the affected area. Then treat as a new stain (above) absorbing as much of the wetness as you can. I will put cold water in my steam cleaner and soak the area...than it also sucks it back up really good....

Apply a high quality bacteria/enzyme product. These type of products neutralize and remove pet odors and stains. Be sure the product contains bacteria though. Enzyme only products will only break up the protein found in urine, but not consume it completely. Bacteria produces more enzymes making it much more effective than enzyme only products.


Hot water or heat can permantely set odors and stains in man-made fibers found in carpets. Unless used with a bacterial/enzyme type product.
Vinegar and ammonia will not effectively remove or cover up the urine odor. You might find them returning to the same area.
Bacterial or enzyme products are not as effective if regular cleaning or chemical products have been used on the area before. Try and remove as much of the old cleaner out as possible. Apply water to dilute the chemicals found in these products. The bacterial/enzyme removers will go after the other cleaners instead of just the protein stain and odor your trying to remove. You might have to apply the bacterial/enzyme product a second time to be effective.

After you have cleaned the area again...tether him to you when down in that area, if he repeats going pee (he should'nt be smelling any pee now, so he really should stop peeing there, but....), its now because he thinks the basement is his bathroom, give him a stern "NO" and take him out right away. Try and remove the urine stain as soon as possible, hope these suggestions help.

[Adina P]

Does he go there at a certain time of day or night? Is it possible to put a baby gate across the entrance to that room or close the door when Toby is wandering the house? Have you ever caught him?

I have heard it helps to feed the dog in such an area so they don't view it as a potty area...not sure if that would make a difference, though. It has for some, but Thule has had accidents within inches of where she eats.

I know with Rosco, my peeing monster, if he's had a ton to drink and we leave him home for too long (think 2 hours not 8) after drinking ... he would have a pee accident undoubtedly. And dogs typically prefer to pee on absorbent areas like rugs, carpets, etc.

[Sandy]

He does it mostly in the evenings, because he's not really down there during the day. He would follow one of us down, or we would call him down to try and include him in the evening. He's not consistent - it's not necessarily because he has to go, but just seems to.....go. What we would like is if he could come down and relax with us in the evening. Right now we are sitting in the upstairs living room, watching a small t.v., instead of downstairs with the fireplace and entertainment centre.

Toby doesn't go down there when no-one else is downstairs. He's really interested in being with us. There is a door at the top of the stairs, and a lot of times I keep it closed. If it's open the lights are off, so he doesn't wander down. There is no food or drink downstairs for him. He eats in the kitchen.

[Adina P]

So let me make sure I understand:

1) he ONLY goes there when someone else is there 2) he's NOT sneaking down and peeing while unsupervised.

Does this mean you SEE him go? Or did I misunderstand?

You know, despite all the claims about enzymatic cleaners, I'm starting to wonder if they REALLY work. Thule has had some accidents (almost exclusively when we are out of town and have people coming in to take care of them) and ALWAYS in the same general location. Not sure if she likes that spot best or if she goes back there simply because of the leftover smell. The stuff that comes out of Thule is ranker than any rank thing ever. The smell is never gone 100% (even if it is only smell-able up close).

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I swear by Nature's Miracle, but I have not had to use it for a long time. I wonder if they changed the formula. It used to be fool-proof for getting out the smell so that even the dog couldn't find it. But you have to pour it in so that it saturates all the way through the carpet pad to the floor. Spraying is no good.

[Adina P]

Believe me...I poured! I doused the area with half a gallon...scrubbed the carpet with my gloved hand and left it there for about an hour before I got out the Bissel carpet cleaner! Barely made a dent. Clark then carpet cleaned again 2 days later...better, but not 100%. Finally we used a Dollar store pet odor remover spray in one specific area and that has got it to the point I don't notice it just being in the room. Sometimes I think Thule pees out pure ammonia...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Are you blotting up all the urine before you use the odor neutralizer?

[Adina P]

Oh absolutely! This last accident I have to assume was blotted (don't know as we were on vacation).

Rosco is the biggest pee-er and his has never caused such stink. Thule doesn't even need to pee much volume...it's just that hers is like Super Pee Concentrate. Our friend and dog sitter said it was "thermonuclear" in appearance. I need to actually take some in to the vet as something about it just doesn't seem 'right.'

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree with that last sentence wholeheartedly.

[Wendy and Eddie]

I found a product called "Urine Off" that finally worked! Some vets sell it, but I ordered it online. It's the only thing that really got the smell out, even out of old stains!

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

I used Nature's Miracle in the past with puppies, and it did not work, but that is also before I learned to use cold water instead of hot on all stained areas, and to treat areas more than 1x to be sure there are not past pee problems still in the carpet. I have used Urine Off since, and cold water, bloting, repeating and the Urine Off worked great in removing the pee smells, it did not remove previous stains that have been there for years because of past tenants with their dogs...but it has removed the ordor to stop mine from going there. I would probably retry the Natures Miracle, but I do like the Urine Off...my Vet also said there is a great spray out by Natures Miracle that helps kill Parvo in homes, other viruses and germs that can be spread in Kennels, Vet Offices, and other Medical places, including some use in hospitals. I have also tried their laundry detergent for my dogs crates and bedding, I like the way it cleans their comforts, and crates.