Urine smells can be very difficult to eliminate inside your home. To make things worse, dogs will tend to return to an area they’ve already soiled. The good news is, there are products that can help reduce dog odors, depending on what kind of surface you are dealing with.

Unsealed concrete floors (like those in a garage or unfinished basement) – Unfortunately, the urine may have seeped in and absorbed. You will need to clean with a disinfectant and allow the disinfectant to sit and seep into the floor. Once you’ve rinsed with water and allowed the floor to dry completely, you’ll want to seal it so that liquids won’t be absorbed in the future. Concrete sealant is widely available at hardware stores.

Linoleum and sealed concrete floors – Use disinfectants that you can purchase from your veterinarian. Carpet – Can be more difficult to remove the smell completely. You will probably have to pull up the carpet and replace the padding. You can then clean the carpet with an enzymatic cleaner, available from professional carpet cleaners.

Preventing accidents – Once you’ve cleaned the odors out of your floor, your best option is prevention. You may want to consider crate training for your puppy. Crate training gives you control over where and when he is eliminating, and it often housetrains dogs quickly and effectively.