I utilize baking soda a lot. I sprinkle it in the kitty litter box. I use it on my carpets before I vacume. Plus, I keep them clean. The only time you really smell pet in my house is if my beloved doggy comes in from the rain (nothing you can do about wet doggy smell...LOL), or directly after the kitty uses her litter box and has made a little piggy out of herself during the day. Other than that...no odors. :)

We've got a dog and a cat. Vacuum at least once a week and steam clean the carpets twice a year help for us. Also leather couches help since the hair can easily be vacuumed up.

We bathe the dog at least once a month so she doesn't stink.

Since the cat likes to sleep in between the wife and I, we change sheets weekly. I do use fabric softener on them and that helps keep things smelling fresh.

I don't notice the smell of the pets when coming home from a weekend or vacation where they are staying with family.

We have four labs. The way we keep our house smelling fresh is:

Vacuum at least 3 times per week.
Dust twice a week. A lot of that dust is dog dander!

We have an Honeywell Electronic Air Cleaner on our furnace which also kills odors.

Keep the dogs clean. We bath ours once per month or every month and 1/2.

Wash their pet beds at least once per month and use Fabreze on the foam part of the bedding.

One dog, two cats. No carpets, vacuum regularly, leather sofa, & wash pet bedding weekly in hot water.

"Some dogs, however, are inherently stinky."

So true. You really need to talk with Westie owners and do more research. Some breeds have more of a doggy odor than others.

I don't own one, but I think they'll need a bath at least once a month, possibly more often. The white hair will look dirty if they go outdoors for more than a potty break.

I meant to say we don't own a Westie. We do own a dog.

Well, I've got four labrador retrievers in my house, so I'm a bit of an expert on this subject.

I think the biggest problem with "doggy smells" is carpet. The houses that I have visited that smell of dogs pretty much all have wall to wall carpet. I have hardwood floors throughout my house, and my area rugs are made of wool, which I think doesn't hold smells like other fabrics. I have predominantly leather furniture. Slipcovers are also a good idea with dogs. I vacuum often - really often - 5 to 7 days a week. I also wash my dogs when they start to feel greasy or dirty. I wash dog bedding weekly (in hot water). Also, my house is fairly large, so even though I have four big dogs we are not all crammed into a small space.

The bottom line, I think, is to keep your dog as clean as possible, have hard floor surfaces in your house, and have either leather furniture or washable slipcovers or a combination of both.

As a rule we have nine or ten cats and (currently) two bunnies living in our house.

That's a lot of litter boxes to clean! Which is the probably the main cleaning chore. The most annoying thing about that number of litter boxes is the associated dust they generate. I loathe that! Then there's the windrows of fur, of course. That takes daily vaccuuming. We have no wall to wall carpet, only a few oriental rugs. At present all the rugs are up because a recent cat placement is an unrepentant needler of rugs. We also have had cat urine marking issues from time to time when a new cat comes to us. It's a vexing problem which often takes a while to get fully extinguished. At any one time we have about 20 sleeping beds or pads out for the cats and each is covered with a towel. I do at least 3-4 loads of pet bedding every week - in very hot water (190F). Cats are "allowed" but not encouraged to be up on furniture. I have slip covers on everything. Cats are excluded from the bedrooms, except in very unusual circs. I don't use any sprays or chemical coverups.

We had a wonderful dog, once, who had absolutely no dog smell, even when wet - she was a Rhodesian Ridgeback. I think some breeds have very different amounts of smelliness.

L

Get a poodle. They don't shed and they don't smell.

I might also add...make sure you wash any bedding or pads that your dog uses regularly. I bathe dog every 2 weeks and change out the pad in his crate. I also clean out his crate...vaccum and spray with a cleaner, wipe down, etc. Plus, vaccum and have carpets/rugs cleaned 2X a year or at least 1X/year...HTH

1 cat and 1 dog. The key is to vacuum and clean regularly. If you have a dog that sheds a lot, you will need to vacuum more often. Dogs can smell, and loose dog hair smells like the dog it came off of. Bed sheets or other similar material over couches or chairs where the animals sleep keeps their oil and dander off your furniture. I wash all animal covers and dog beds once a week. My cat likes to sleep on the piano bench, so I put an old towel on that to help keep it clean. My dog (a Boston Terrier) likes to sleep on the foot of my bed, so I put an old bed sheet over the foot of the bed. Little tings like this help keep dander, fur and fur oils off your furniture, and make life a little easier.

As someone who has been around dogs and cats since I was an infant, these things I mentioned above were done by my parents. Once I got my own place and pets, I just did what they did. It sounds like a lot of work, but it really is not that bad. Vacuuming twice a week and doing an extra load of laundry is not an insurmountable task.