Living with Hovawarts, keep home and Hovawart smelling fresh! some tips and suggestions

From moulting to stomach upsets or a "little accident" living with a hovawart will make a mess in your house. All dogs, and Hovawarts are no exception, have a number of offensive personal practises. They will vomit or urinate on your carpet and break wind when you have dinner guests. They are almost duty bound to jump up on your elderly aunt and try to mount the vicar’s leg. They will grab your children’s ankles and destroy their soft toys. Exploring everything with their mouth, they will “bite” your hands, sniff and casually eat the droppings of other animals and then vomit in the car a moment or two before you get home. They will roll in dirt and foul-smelling rotten things especially after being bathed, and they will moult (shed hair) in the house, steal food and raid your dustbins.

Urine:

Dont use steam cleaners to remove urine from carpet, because the heat can bond the urine protein to the fibers of the carpet. Instead, use a wet and dry vacuum to suck up the liquid.
Avoid using ammonia-based cleaners. Ammonia is a by-product of decomposing waste, it will smell like urine to your dog, and attract him back to the same spot.
Use cleaning products especially designed to clean up after pets. These products use a variety of technologies to remove stains and neutralize odors.
Alternatively, you do not have to use any special cleaning products - paper towels, water, washingup liquid, and vinegar is all that is really needed. Blot the stain with paper towels. Clean the spot with a few drops of washingup liquid and one cup of warm water. Rinse with fresh water, and blot dry. Then add one third cup of white vinegar to two-thirds cup of water, and dab it on the stain. The vinegar neutralizes odors. Rinse with water, and blot dry. Then sprinkle the carpet with baking soda or carpet deodourizer, leave it for at least 15 minutes and then vacuum it.
It is better not to scrub or wipe the stain, it distorts the carpet fibers. Always blot and press.
Perhaps you can smell the accident, but cannot see it. Turn off the lights and shine a UV light (black light), onto the carpet or furniture to locate both old and new stains.

Vomit and poop: can be a problem because the colourant in many pet foods and medicines can stain carpets.

Using a dustpan or spatula pick up as much of the solid material as possible, the use of a steam cleaner can help cleanse the remaining soiled material.
For vomit or blood, use a cleaning agent designed to treat stains on carpets. If the cleaning agent involves the use of water, use cool water, never hot.
For poop, apply a stain and odour remover designed for this purpose.

Hair:

You will never stop the hovawart from moulting, but you can control any loose hair by simply brushing him daily to remove dead hair and to keep his coat looking good.
Use adhesive tape rollers, velour brushes, and lint brushes on dry upholstery and carpets to lift the hair. Use a vacuum with special velour brushes attached to lift hair from the carpet and furniture and before vacuuming, use one of the new antistatic deodourizing foams or sprays to break the static charge that holds the hair to fabric and carpet.
Wipe an electrostatic dusting cloth across furniture and electronic equipment, or an electrostatic sweeper across floors, and pick up hair.

Bathing: I love my dog but I hate how he smells!

Dog odour can be a frequent complaint that both vets and groomers hear from their customers. The solution is normally to give your dog a regular bath and clean your home weekly. The odour occurs when bacteria and yeast normally found on the skin start to break down surface oils. The oxidation of fat creates the bad smell. Its the same thing that causes body odour in humans, if we did not wash regularly we would be a lot smellier than we are, the same is true in animals.
Hovawarts generally do not have a strong odour, although some can smell worse than others, regardless of this, bathe him whenever he smells and use a proper canine shampoo, available from most pet stores. Rinse the coat clean thoroughly because any residue left behind can cause skin and coat problems, do not worry too much about drying out his coat, just towel dry him.  More about Grooming Hovawarts
I hardly ever bathe my hovawarts, they love water and a regular trip to a clean fresh water lake seems to take care of it

Other smelly things :- Places to check:

Mouth: Heavy tarter buildup on teeth can produce a strong odour. Make an appointment with your vet they can check for diseased gums and teeth, which can also cause bad breath.

Ears: Wax buildup can cause an unpleasant smell. First, try cleaning his ears with a proper ear cleaner. If that does not work, make an appointment with your vet who can check his  ears for an infection.

Anal glands: These two small glands, one located on each side of the rectum, contain a very pungent oil. When your dog defecates, the glands compress and release the oil. Try washing the hair around your dogs bottom. If that does not work, see your vet, The glands might be infected or need expelling.

Skin: One cause of odour can be bacterial and yeast skin infections stemming from allergies or endocrine problems. Did you know during the warmer months when fleas increase and allergies to pollen and house dust flare up, that his scratching can cause damage to the normal skin barrier. Allergic reactions may actually change the immune chemistry of the skin in such a way that microbes may grow more easily, and result in infections and more odour.

 

 

 

 

 

.    .    .    .   
 Privacy   web design MJ Oxborrow.   Design, pictures and text © 2000    kennel van de Hoevemeester