Dog Diarrhea Got You Down?

by Ryan O’Quinn, October 20th, 2017

It’s probably happened to you. You kiss your pup goodnight then hit the sack for a nice, restful sleep. You awake at sunrise, refreshed. That is until you walk into the other room to find your perfect pup had a bit of a “blowout” in the middle of the night. Dog diarrhea everywhere! What’s more? It’s not on the tile or hardwood floors. Nope, it’s on the carpet.

After a brief moment of “WTF” just happened in here, reality sets in along with a realization that this mess isn’t gonna clean itself. It’s definitely not how any dog owner wants to start the day, but it must be done.

You have a couple options. Deal with it now or wait until after you get home from work. There are benefits to both. Deal with it now and you come home later to a (hopefully) clean place. Deal with it after work and you will give the diarrhea time to dry. The benefit with the latter is it’ll be easier—drier, flakier—to remove from the carpet. If you try to remove it immediately, you run the risk further embedding it into the carpet as it’s  in its wetter form.

You decide to tackle the problem head-on, right now. Great! Here’s what you’re going to need to get the job done:

-Pair of latex gloves

-Plastic trash bags (13 gallon)

-Warm water

-White vinegar

-Large plastic/Tupperware bowl (x as many stains)

-Paper towels

-Fork

-Baking soda

-Vacuum Cleaner or shop vac

1. Take one of the large bowls and place it over the stain. You want the diarrhea to dry so you are not smudging it around the carpet making it worse. Placing the bowl over the stain will also confine the odor so the room does not stink any more than it has to.

2. Wearing the latex gloves with an open a plastic garbage bag by your side, begin to remove any excess dog poop you can by scooping with the paper towel. Be careful not to push the stain deeper into the carpet or drop any poop particles around you. Repeat as needed. You will likely go through quite a bit of paper towel during this step.

3. In another bowl, combine 1 cup warm water with 1 cup white vinegar. Or, for larger mixes, just make sure to use equal parts of water and vinegar. Mix gently and then let it sit until step 5.

4. Use the fork to scrape up any of the dried feces. The motion should be kinda like raking leaves. (Just remember to throw the fork away afterward. You won’t want to eat from it again, regardless if it’s been washed.) Remove as much of the dried feces as possible. Be careful. If you notice the carpet fibers pulling up or becoming damaged, stop right away.

5. Run the vacuum cleaner or shop vac over the area/stain removing any chunks, chips, or flakes that have come loose when using the fork.

6. Pour the water/vinegar solution over the remains of the stain. Blot the solution from the carpet with paper towels until you absorb the excess liquid.

7. Add more of the vinegar solution to the area if you still notice the stain. Continue to blot the area until you remove the stain.

8. Sprinkle an overly-generous amount of baking soda over the area to remove any lingering odors. Let the baking soda sit for a couple hours.

9. Vacuum the area to remove the baking soda and remaining fecal matter.

10. Lastly, spritz the area with some disinfecting spray such as Lysol to kill any remaining bacteria.

Another option to try are essential oils such as lavender and lemon oil. These oils help remove the odor from the carpet, naturally. (This would best be done in place of, or, after step 9 above.)

All that said above, it can be quite a bit of work. Dirty work at that. It really depends on what kind of a job your pup did on the room(s) in question. If you’re the kind of person who cringes at the thought, sight or smell of doggie diarrhea, you can always leave the mess to the pros. (That would be us!) We offer a 24-Hour Emergency Response service for exactly these types of situations.