In the last couple months I’ve become somewhat of an expert on the subject of "poo". Dog-poo that is. Yuck! Although it’s not exactly a subject I’d like to stake my claim to fame on, I have, in the last while, become educated on what works and what doesn’t, both in keeping my dog fresh and sweet smelling and doing the same for my house (and office), too. Now, nearly 15 years old, my pooch Kaya is intermittently incontinent, her problem arising from arthritis and nerve degeneration in her hips. She tries to pull herself up to a standing position from her bed and in so doing, the strain will, at times, cause her to have a bowel movement. Her bed (or floor) then becomes soiled. Sometimes she isn’t aware that she’s had an accident, lays down again, oftentimes soiling herself in the process.


Other times, she just can’t hold it. Like the time I left her for a few hours one evening to go to a house party. Fantastic food, incredible wine and a super-enjoyable time mixing and mingling with friends and family had me in high spirits until I came home and opened the front door. It was a disaster. A diarrhea disaster. The only saving grace was that Kaya, due to her arthritis, couldn’t climb the stairs to other areas of the house, so at least the mess was contained on the main floor. Usually I know when Kaya’s suffering tummy troubles (she wants to eat grass, is off her food…), but there were no preliminary signs. Upon opening the front door the smell alone nearly knocked me over and the messes all over the floor and on Kaya quickly replaced the wine and merriment for making that evening memorable.   It took me a good two hours to clean it all up, but the smell lingered. Far from being isolated incidences these episodes are becoming more frequent and I’ve come up with some solutions that I’d like to share with you should you find yourself in similar situations.


When you’re cleaning up poo, protect your hands, wear a pair of rubber gloves, also have an ample supply of paper towels to gather and wipe up the mess and then garbage bags for easy disposal.


Here are some environmentally friendly cleaners that work for me:
1.    Anti-Icky Poo, removes pet stains and odours from carpet and fabric;

2.    Zoomies Stain and Odor Remover; Zoomies All Purpose Cleaner
3.    Ryo Pets, Purely Pets Spray used with Drylettes Pads (or pee pads) and weight to assist in siphoning up wetness in carpets or upholstery (works like a charm!);

For deodorizing here are some good ones to try:
1.    Pure Ayre, rids any undesirable odors simply by misting the air and I like the natural, light minty smell. I also added some Pure Ayre to water with detergent then scrubbed the grout lines in my slate floor which quickly vanquished the lingering odor that had seeped into that porous cement-like material, something I was surprised that bleach couldn’t do.
2.    Nok Out. It’s odorless and can be sprayed directly on the smelly surface.

3.    Urine Gone. Spray it on and let it dry and the enzymes in the product get rid of the stains and odor.

No matter what product you use for carpets, if you’ve got a repeat-offender, you’ll eventually want to use a steam cleaner. I’ve got a Bissell Steam Cleaner for our office carpeting. It’s super-easy to use and does a wonderful job. I was surprised that they are relatively inexpensive when purchased online at Bissell US or Bissell Canada.

 To see the Cleaning featuring in our spring issue, click here

As for keeping Kaya fresh and clean and also minimizing/preventing clean-up disasters, stay tuned.