How to Get Dog Pee Out of Carpet, Floors, and Couches

How to get dog pee out of carpet comes down to three steps: blot up as much urine as you can, soak the spot with an enzymatic cleaner and let it work, then blot again and air-dry. Skip steam and other heat, which Humane World for Animals says permanently sets the stain and odor.

How to Get Dog Pee Out of Carpet

The best way to clean dog pee out of carpet is blotting plus an enzymatic cleaner, and how deep the urine went decides how many extra steps it takes. The Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) says spills can soak through carpet into the carpet cushion beneath and perhaps the subfloor.

The CRI lays out this procedure for pet urine on carpet:

1. Blot damp areas with plain white paper towels as soon as you find the urine.
2. Saturate paper towels with a solution of 1/4 teaspoon of non-bleach, non-lanolin liquid dishwashing detergent in 1 cup of lukewarm water, and blot. Do not use automatic dishwasher detergent or laundry detergent.
3. Blot with a solution of 1 cup of white vinegar and 2 cups of water.
4. Lay a half-inch layer of paper towels over the spot, weigh it down with a flat, heavy, non-fading object, and change the towels often until the carpet is completely dry.

For the smell, VCA Animal Hospitals recommends a commercial product that contains enzymes to degrade the urine, noting that dogs are often drawn back to spots they have soiled before. Nature's Miracle Urine Destroyer Plus for dogs is one enzymatic cleaner made for dog urine.

From ChewyIn stock

Nature's Miracle Enzymatic Formula Urine Destroyer Plus Dog Stain & Odor Remover, 32-fl oz spray bottle

Nature's Miracle Urine Destroyer Plus for dogs is an enzymatic stain and odor remover made for dog urine.

$12.72

Buy on Chewy

Webvet may earn a commission when you click through to Chewy, at no extra cost to you.

Some stains will not fully come out. CRI says urine changes with a pet's diet, medications, age, health, sex, and reproductive cycles, so some urine stains may not be removable. A spot can change the carpet's color right away or only weeks or months later.

Area rugs need more caution. If your dog peed on a wool rug, read the label first: the maker says not to use Nature's Miracle Urine Destroyer Plus for dogs on silk or wool specialty fabrics. The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension says to pretest each cleaning agent on a hidden area for colorfastness.

Keep these supplies ready so you can treat an accident the same day:

• Plain white paper towels or white cotton towels, plus newspaper to stack on top
• An enzymatic cleaner made for pet urine
• Non-bleach, non-lanolin liquid dish detergent and a spray bottle
• Books or another flat, heavy object to weigh towels down over a large spot
• A UV black light for finding dried urine, covered below
• Optionally, a portable spot cleaner for carpet and upholstery, such as the Bissell Little Green Portable Carpet Cleaner

Repeat accidents have a cause, from a house-training lapse to illness, and a section below covers why a dog keeps peeing in the house. If your house smells like dog pee all the time, use a black light to find every spot before you treat any of them.

If urine ran onto a baseboard or a chair leg, use the hardwood steps below for the wood. Lawn damage is a separate problem, covered in our guide to dog urine killing grass.

How to Clean Fresh Dog Pee From Carpet

Clean fresh dog pee from carpet by pulling out as much urine as you can before it dries, rinsing with cool water, and then applying an enzymatic cleaner. Blotting fresh urine with absorbent towels is the step to do thoroughly: Humane World says to keep going until the area is barely damp.

Humane World's method for a fresh accident works like this:

1. Place a thick layer of paper towels on the wet spot and cover it with a thick layer of newspaper, with more newspaper under the soiled area if you can reach it.
2. Stand on the pile for about a minute.
3. Repeat with fresh towels until the area is barely damp.
4. Rinse the spot thoroughly with clean, cool water and blot it dry.

If you cannot clean the spot right away, the IICRC, a cleaning-industry certification body, says to lay a damp white cotton towel over it so it does not dry.

Then apply the enzymatic cleaner as its label directs, since wait times differ. The Nature's Miracle label says to soak the area at full strength, wait 15 minutes, and blot. Rocco & Roxie's directions on its CRI Seal of Approval certificate say to let it stand at least 1 hour for deep odors.

From ChewyIn stock

Rocco & Roxie Supply Co. Professional Strength Pet Stain & Odor Eliminator, 24-fl oz bottle

Rocco & Roxie Professional Strength Pet Stain & Odor Eliminator is a liquid stain and odor remover for pet messes.

$17.94

Buy on Chewy

Webvet may earn a commission when you click through to Chewy, at no extra cost to you.

What draws urine out of carpet?

Firm pressure on absorbent layers draws urine out of carpet. Humane World says to stack paper towels and newspaper on the wet spot, stand on it for about a minute, and repeat until it is barely damp. The Ohio State University Veterinary Hospital cat urine page adds weighing fresh towels down overnight.

How to Get Old Dog Pee Smell Out of Carpet

Getting old dog pee smell out of carpet means reaching urine that may have soaked below the surface. Treating old stains that reached the padding takes more product and more time, and Humane World says that in some cases you may need to replace portions of the carpet and padding.

Repeated accidents go deeper still. A guest column in Cleanfax, a carpet-cleaning trade magazine, says urine voided on the same spot again and again soaks the backing and fibers and can damage a wood or unsealed concrete subfloor, which may make the odor hard to remove.

Use this dog urine cleanup table by surface to match the steps to where the urine landed. It is a surface-by-surface table matching carpet, padding, hardwood, couch, and mattress to the cleaning steps and what to avoid on each.

Old stains can also leave lasting damage. In beige carpet, CRI says urine attacks the blue dyes and leaves the red and yellow ones, so the stain looks red, yellow, or orange. The IICRC adds that aged urine weakens some fibers and that full restoration is often impossible, especially after the wrong products or methods.

Old spots also pull dogs back. The ASPCA notes, on its page about older dogs, that once a dog has used an indoor spot while alone, that spot can become a preferred toileting place even after a thorough cleaning. If an old dog is suddenly peeing in the house, see the vet guidance below.

How do I get old dog pee out of carpet?

Find all the dried spots under a black light, then soak each one with an enzymatic cleaner deeply enough to reach the padding. The Rocco & Roxie directions on file with CRI say to use enough to penetrate both carpet and pad, pouring if needed, and to wait at least 1 hour.

Then fold a towel over the treated area and set a weight on top to wick the liquid out of the pad, as those directions describe. For set-in urine, Nature's Miracle's label says to re-treat tough odors.

Will dog pee smell ever go away?

Dog pee smell can seem to go away once a spot dries, but it can return while urine is still in the carpet. The Cleanfax column says the odor can come back when the carpet gets wet again, such as during cleaning, and humidity can increase it.

Getting the urine itself out is the reliable fix. Writing about cat urine, CRI says complete odor removal is unlikely unless the urine is completely removed, which is why the enzyme and padding steps above matter.

How to Find Hidden Dog Urine Stains

Hidden dog urine stains show up under ultraviolet light, so finding hidden stains with a UV black light is the way to locate dried urine you can smell but not see. The IICRC says cleaning professionals use a black or UV light because not all urine stains show to the naked eye.

Humane World suggests using a black light to find soiled areas and outlining them lightly with chalk, so you can treat each spot with the old-stain method above.

A guest column in Cleanfax by a longtime carpet-industry educator explains how to read what the light shows:

• Long-wave UV around 385 nanometers is the most effective for locating urine.
• Dog urine typically glows yellow and cat urine greenish, and the shape of the spot helps separate urine from other things that glow.
• A bluish glow may mark urine that someone already treated with a cleaner containing an optical brightener.
• Even when 80 to 90 percent of the water is extracted from a spot, 10 to 20 percent of the water and of the glowing contamination stays behind.

A glow after cleaning does not always mean urine is left. The IICRC says a cleaned spot can still fluoresce from phosphorus left over from the breakdown of phosphocreatine, not from urine.

If a cat shares your home and greenish spots turn up, our guide on how to get rid of cat pee smell covers that cleanup.

Pet urine detectors are handheld UV flashlights. The Vila Pet Urine Detector UV Black Flashlight is one sold for finding where a dog peed; its listing does not state a UV wavelength.

From ChewyIn stock

Vila Pet Urine Detector UV Black Flashlight for Dog Urine & Stain Detection, 7-in, Black

The Vila Pet Urine Detector is a handheld UV black-light flashlight for spotting dried pet urine.

$14.99

Buy on Chewy

Webvet may earn a commission when you click through to Chewy, at no extra cost to you.

How to Get Dog Pee Out of Hardwood Floors

Cleaning dog urine from hardwood floors starts the same way as carpet: blot up as much liquid as you can, then use an enzymatic cleaner. Ohio State's veterinary hospital gives that method for hardwood on its cat urine page, and it is the best place to start when a dog has peed on the floor.

Discolored wood means the urine has reacted with the finish. Humane World says the varnish or paint has reacted with the acid in the urine, and you may need to remove and replace that layer of varnish or paint.

These flooring and label instructions apply to wood:

• The National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) consumer fact sheet says to clean spills on wood floors with a soft damp cloth; it gives no pet-urine procedure.
• Rocco & Roxie's instructions for wood say to spray or pour the product on, let it absorb, and use it sparingly to avoid swelling, because it is water-based.
• The label for Nature's Miracle Urine Destroyer Plus for dogs says not to use it on untreated hardwood.

For laminate flooring and concrete, blot up the urine quickly and check the flooring maker's care instructions before using a liquid cleaner. The Cleanfax column lists wood and unsealed concrete among the subfloors that repeated urine can damage, so a spot a dog uses again and again needs attention below the surface too.

How to Get Dog Pee Out of a Couch or Mattress

Cleaning couches and mattresses uses the carpet method, adjusted for the cushion underneath: blot, then treat with an enzymatic cleaner that reaches below the fabric. The Rocco & Roxie directions on file with CRI extend their deep-odor method to upholstery and the underlying cushion, using a weighted towel to wick out the leftover liquid.

To clean dog pee off a couch, work through these steps:

1. Blot up as much urine as you can with white towels.
2. Take off any removable, washable cushion covers and launder them as described below.
3. Treat the spot with an enzymatic cleaner, using enough to reach the cushion, and let it stand as the label directs.
4. Fold a towel over the treated area and set a weight on top to wick liquid out of the cushion, as the Rocco & Roxie directions describe.

A portable spot cleaner is another tool for upholstery. Chewy describes the Bissell Little Green Portable Carpet Cleaner as a compact, lightweight machine designed for spot cleaning carpets, upholstery, and car interiors.

From ChewyIn stock

Bissell Little GreenPortable Carpet Cleaner

The Bissell Little Green is a portable carpet and upholstery spot cleaner.

$99.99

Buy on Chewy

Webvet may earn a commission when you click through to Chewy, at no extra cost to you.

For blankets, slipcovers, and other machine-washable items, Humane World says to add a one-pound box of baking soda to your regular detergent, wash as usual, and air-dry if possible. If you can still see or smell the soiling, it says to wash again with an enzymatic cleaner.

If your dog peed on the bed, strip and wash the bedding first. For the mattress itself, Rocco & Roxie's label says to spray or pour its cleaner on the mattress and leave it to work. Treat that as the maker's instructions, not a tested method.

Three limits apply to couches and mattresses:

• No steam: Humane World says not to steam-clean urine from upholstery, because the heat permanently sets the stain and the odor.
• Check leather first: The label for Nature's Miracle Urine Destroyer Plus for dogs rules out leather and suede, so read any cleaner's label before treating a leather couch.
• Know when to replace: The Cleanfax column says the cost of odor control should not exceed the cost of replacing the item.

To stop a dog from peeing on the couch or your bed again, Humane World advises making the cleaned area unattractive or unavailable and the right bathroom area attractive. Closing the bedroom door while you retrain is one way to make the bed unavailable.

Do Vinegar, Baking Soda, or Hydrogen Peroxide Work?

Veterinary and cleaning references do not show that vinegar, baking soda, or hydrogen peroxide removes dog urine odor, so treat these home remedies as helpers and use an enzymatic cleaner for the smell. Here is what vinegar, baking soda, and hydrogen peroxide can do on carpet:

• Vinegar: Cleaning groups disagree. CRI's procedure rinses with 1 cup of white vinegar in 2 cups of water after the detergent step, while Humane World says to avoid vinegar and ammonia, because strong chemical odors may encourage a pet to re-mark the spot.
• Baking soda: Use it in the laundry. The one use Humane World describes is a one-pound box added to the detergent for washable items, and references do not show it removing urine odor from carpet.
• Hydrogen peroxide: Treat it as a color remover. The IICRC lists 3% hydrogen peroxide only for lifting color left after dish-soap blotting, which may take several hours or a few attempts, and not for wool or natural fibers without extensive testing.

If you use a vinegar and water rinse, ASPCA Animal Poison Control says vinegar is generally not a problem for pets if it is diluted, rinsed, and allowed to dry first, though it is acidic and can cause stomach upset and irritation.

Whatever natural cleaner you try, test it first. The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension says to pretest each cleaning agent on an inconspicuous area to check colorfastness.

Does Dawn remove urine smell?

Cleaning references do not show that Dawn or other dish soaps remove urine smell; they use dish soap as a stain step. The IICRC mists a few drops of liquid dish soap in a cup of water onto the spot and blots, and CRI uses a weak detergent solution. Neither names a brand.

For the smell, follow up with an enzymatic cleaner. CRI's Seal of Approval program also says independent testing has shown that some detergents and spot removers clean no better than water and can leave a sticky residue that attracts soil faster.

Enzyme Cleaners vs Regular Cleaners

An enzyme cleaner is made to degrade urine and regular household cleaners are not, which is why soaking the spot with an enzymatic cleaner is the step that targets the smell. VCA recommends a commercial product that contains enzymes to degrade urine as the best way to eliminate as much of the odor as possible.

The Cleanfax column by a cleaning-chemical formulator describes this approach as seeding the spot with non-pathogenic bacterial cultures, which it says are incorrectly called enzymes, that consume the urine. It says the area must stay moist and warm for 24 to 48 hours within a narrow pH range for that approach to work.

Check these points when you choose the best enzyme cleaner for dog pee:

• Made for pet urine: Pick a product labeled as an enzymatic or bacteria-based urine cleaner rather than a fragrance spray, since CRI says some odor products simply mask the smell.
• Independent testing: CRI says products with its Seal of Approval are tested at an independent laboratory for cleaning, pet stain and odor removal, resoiling, pH, optical brighteners, and colorfastness.
• Surface limits: Read the label's restrictions, such as the untreated hardwood, leather, suede, silk, and wool limits on the Nature's Miracle dog formula.
• Wait time: Labels differ, so follow the stand time on the bottle.
• Pet safety: ASPCA Animal Poison Control says most enzyme-based cleaners tend to cause mild stomach upset, so let them dry before your pet returns to the area.

CRI's Seal of Approval certificate lists Rocco & Roxie Stain & Odor Eliminator, the ready-to-use formula, as a pet stain and odor remover through March 31, 2027, so look for the seal on the bottle you buy.

In 2010, CRI's Seal of Approval manager told Floor Covering News that a pet product must score three performance levels better than plain water on odor, in a test with cat urine repeated 72 hours later.

A deterrent spray is a separate product from a cleaner. The section on why a dog keeps peeing covers what helps stop repeat accidents.

What kills the smell of dog pee?

An enzymatic cleaner made for pet urine kills the smell of dog pee by breaking down the urine instead of covering it. VCA recommends a commercial enzyme product to eliminate as much odor as possible, and CRI warns that some odor products simply mask the smell.

What breaks down dog urine in carpet?

Enzymes, and the bacteria that make them, break down dog urine in carpet. Nature's Miracle describes its dog formula as bacteria-based, producing enzymes when it contacts urine. The ammonia smell is a breakdown product too: the Cleanfax column says urease-producing bacteria degrade urea into ammonia, and free ammonia carries the odor.

Some cleaner makers explain pet urine odor with uric acid, but that framing does not fit most dogs. The Merck Veterinary Manual says most dogs convert uric acid to soluble allantoin in the liver; Dalmatians are the exception, excreting most of it as relatively insoluble urate.

What Not to Use on Dog Pee

Do not use heat, steam, ammonia, or bleach on dog pee. Heat and steam make stains worse because, Humane World says, the heat permanently sets the stain and odor by bonding the protein into man-made fibers. Humane World adds that strong chemical odors such as ammonia may encourage a pet to re-mark the spot.

Leave these products and methods off a dog pee stain:

• Steam cleaners and other heat: Humane World warns against steam cleaners for urine on carpet and upholstery.
• Ammonia-based cleaners: Urine contains ammonia, and the ASPCA, writing about cats, says cleaning with ammonia can attract the animal back to the same spot; Humane World gives a similar warning about strong chemical odors.
• Chlorine bleach: The IICRC says it causes complete or moderate color loss on most textiles, and oxygen bleach spotters can do equal or greater damage if not fully rinsed and neutralized.
• Dishwasher or laundry detergent: CRI's urine procedure rules out automatic dishwashing detergent and laundry detergent.

A strong ammonia smell from an old urine spot calls for the enzymatic method above, not an ammonia cleaner.

Why Your Dog Keeps Peeing in the House

A dog keeps peeing in the house because of a training gap, a health problem, anxiety, or marking, so stopping repeat accidents takes house training plus a vet check to rule out illness. VCA lists four main causes of house soiling:

• Incomplete house-training or a lapse in house-training
• An underlying physical illness
• An underlying behavioral illness, such as fear, anxiety, or frustration
• Communication or marking, covered in our guide to urine marking behavior in dogs

Many medical problems show up as accidents. VCA names diseases and medications that make dogs drink more water and urinate more, including kidney or liver disease, infection, diabetes mellitus, diabetes insipidus, Cushing's disease, and corticosteroids such as prednisone. See our guide to a dog drinking and peeing a lot.

The Merck Veterinary Manual lists urinating in inappropriate places as a sign of bladder infection, along with frequent, painful, or difficult urination and sometimes blood in the urine. Our guides cover UTI in dogs and UTIs in female dogs.

Merck's professional manual adds that house soiling can come from pain, impaired mobility, sensory decline, or cognitive dysfunction, or from any condition that increases urine volume or frequency, makes urination painful, or causes loss of control.

Retraining runs on a schedule. Merck says taking a dog outside 15 to 30 minutes after eating, and right after play or waking, can help speed housetraining. VCA says a healthy adult dog can usually hold urine for about 3 to 4 hours when inactive, and active dogs go more often.

Humane World says the retraining period may take a week or more. For a young dog, see how to crate train a puppy, and for short-term floor protection while you retrain, see dog diapers for potty training.

For marking in particular, VCA says studies report that neutering can reduce marking behavior by up to 80% in male dogs. Getting rid of the smell matters too, since VCA notes that dogs are often drawn back to spots they have soiled before.

What scent will make a dog not pee?

Veterinary and humane references do not name a scent that stops a dog from peeing in a spot. Humane World warns that strong chemical odors, such as ammonia or vinegar, may encourage a pet to re-mark the area, and it advises making the cleaned spot unattractive or unavailable and the right bathroom area attractive instead.

Dog Pee Cleanup FAQs