Tips on how to keep your apartment clean and smelling nice, even if you have a dog.

It has been slightly over a year since we first brought Momo to our apartment. Since then to this very day, Momo has been bringing much joy to our life even though at the beginning, if I have to be completely honest, I was secretly worried that somehow my house would turn unkempt and dirty with a dog around.

I’m lucky that Momo doesn’t shed much (he almost never shed at all!) and it sure makes cleaning easier for me. Depending on your dog breed and personality, your cleaning challenges with your fur kid may be different from mine. Even so, all dog owners still deal with other problems such as paw prints, slobber, dog smell, and the unavoidable pees and poos, just to name a few.

If you have a dog and dream of having a clean apartment that smells good, all you need is a good cleaning habit. There are few things that you should do regularly in order to keep your home in shape and enjoy your dog‘s company at the same time.

How to Keep Your Apartment Clean with Dogs

1. Do Daily Grooming

Start with a clean pet. No matter how busy you are, give your dog a mini grooming section everyday. This is VERY IMPORTANT because a little bit of daily cleaning goes a long way.

Here’s how my dog’s daily grooming routine looks like:

• I clean his paws after every walk and I do it in the entryway before he can enter the living room to avoid dirty paw prints in the house.
• I wipe his mouth after he finishes his meal with damp cloth. Your dog’s mouth will be covered with crumbs after eating so it’s important to keep it clean, especially if you’re feeding wet food to your dog.
• I gently brush his fur everyday for 5-10 minutes, usually while watching Netflix. Tangled fur may trap dirt and cause bad odour so you should brush regularly if your dog has long fur. Brushing also removes dead hair so you will minimise the amount of hair sheds on the floor.
• I wipe his pee pee and bum after he pees and poos. Dogs don’t wipe their buttocks after doing their business like we do, so please help them do so to keep it clean.
• I also brush his teeth every night before he sleeps to prevent dental health problems and bad breath.

Spend few minutes everyday observing his behaviour and inspecting his coat, eyes, ears, nails, etc. to check for any unusual problems. Prevention is better than cure. The sooner the problem is noticed, the sooner it can be fixed.

2. Bath Your Dog Every Week

Apart from the mini daily grooming, you should give your dog a bath regularly, preferably every week. You can engage a professional groomer if your dog needs special maintenance.

When bathing your dog at home, use suitable shampoo and conditioner formulated for dog and rinse with lots of water to make sure there’s no shampoo residue left. ALWAYS dry your dog thoroughly after you give him a bath because wet fur will cause unpleasant odour, itch and other skin problems.

This is also a good time to clean his ears and give a little hair trim around his pee pee and bum area. These are parts that get smelly when not cleaned properly.

3. Clean the Dog’s Stuff

Dog collar, leash, and harness get used outdoor pretty often. Keep them clean and dirt-free by wiping them with damp cloth after every use.

If you let your dog wears dog clothes, socks, or other dog accessories, wash them regularly.

4. Replace and Clean Dog Toy

Every month, inspect your dog toys and discard any toys that are heavily torn, chewed, or if the stuffings are falling out. Every dog toy is different, use your best judgment when it comes to the method of cleaning your dog toys. Follow the cleaning instruction if the toys come with it.

Generally, you can wash plush toys in the washing machine with cold or warm water. For rubber, nylon, or plastic toys, wash them with dish soap and give them a good brush with toothbrush to remove stubborn dirt and drool stain.

Make sure the toys are completely dry before giving them to your dog. It is also a good idea to sunbathe the dog toys often in between washing. Don’t forget to also clean the dog toys container while the toys are out to wash.

5. Clean the Dog Bed

Dog bed tends to accumulate dirt and get smelly pretty fast. Clean the dog bed often by sprinkling baking soda and wait for 15 minutes before vacuuming. Fluff the bed every now and then to even out the filling. If it comes with washable cover, wash the cover often.

When the weather is warm, put the dog bed in the sunlight for at least 30 minutes to kill germ and keep it fresh.

6. Vaccum and Mop Regularly

I run my robot vacuum everyday and mop the floor at least 3 times a week. Before I mop, I will run my hand-held vacuum around the house for a more in-depth cleaning and to catch dust and dirt in narrow spaces that are unable to be reached by robot vacuum.

If you have rugs or carpet at home, sprinkle baking soda and let it sit for about 15 minutes before vacuuming. Baking soda will help deodorise naturally and loosen up the dirt trapped in between the fibres, making it easy to vacuum.

If your dog is allowed on sofa, clean the sofa too regularly. You can vacuum sofa with fabric material or wipe clean the ones made of leather. It is important to clean your sofa everyday if your dog sheds a lot.

7. Clean the Dog Toilet

Living in a high-rise apartment, Momo is trained to use indoor potty tray. There are few things I do to make sure ’his toilet’ doesn’t release yucky smell inside my home:

• I change the pee pad every night before he sleeps.
• I wipe the pee tray with wet wipes every day or whenever I notice any stain.
• I wash the pee tray 1-2 times a week with soapy hot water and scrub it with brush.
• I pick up the dog poo and flush it down the toilet bowl right after he pooped.
• I spray deodoriser after every poo and few times during the day.

You can also opt to scented pee pads or pads that comes with charcoal that helps eliminate smell.

If your dog makes any accident outside his toilet, clean up immediately.

8. Use Dog Bowl Riser or Spill Catcher

Place a food bowl mat underneath your dog food and water bowl to help catch any spills and crumbs. I use this simple and cheap DIY elevated dog bowl using stckable shelf and vinykl mat that also helps Momo eating more comfortably.

Wash the dog bowls after every meal and change the water everyday.

9. Let Fresh Air In

Open your windows to circulate the air in your apartment for at least 20 minutes everyday. Choose the time when the pollution level is at its lowest for cleaner and breezier air, whether at night or early in the morning. Letting the fresh air in is the best way to get rid of trapped odour in the house.

Invest on a good air purifier to help clean the air even more, especially if you have allergy. Air purifier will also help eliminate pet dander, dust mite, and filter out the air during hazy season.

10. Doggy-Proof Your Home

Last but not least, make sure you have doggy-proofed your home to avoid any unwanted chewing or scratching accidents. Don’t leave stuff lying around on the floor that can pose a choking hazard.

Keep any cords and plants out of reach. Discipline your dog since the beginning about what is okay and not okay to play with around the house. If needed, you can also use keep-off spray that could prevent dogs from scratching, chewing or destroying any treated surface.

Let Go of Perfection

When raising a dog in a tiny apartment, a little mess is inevitable, so don’t stress yourself out if you ever found your home to be untidy after having a dog. Start small by building a good habit everyday and don’t forget to rest when you are tired.