Letters to the Editor
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Published Letters: 86 Editor's Choice: 7
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A few practical suggestions...
[Read the article: I'm living in filth!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Before you completely replace the carpet, contact a professional steam-cleaning company and let them assess the damage. A professional cleaner may be able to disinfect the carpet and remove enough stains so that your apartment becomes liveable and non-stinky. And - cleaning your carpet will be far less expensive than ripping it up and laying down a new floor. However, if the carpet is already past the point of no return, find out what your legal responsibilities are as a tenant and fess up to the landlord. Your landlord isn't going to let you off the hook and replace your floor for free, but they'll probably be a lot more willing to work with you if you let them know about the situation now and take responsibility for it. Work out a payment plan and a budget.
If the floor does have to be replaced, and if you plan to stay in that apartment for a while, ask the landlord if you absolutely must have carpet or if you can have some type of hard floor. Good choices are stained concrete, tile, or some type of laminate flooring like Pergo. My husband and I have Pergo flooring throughout our whole house, and we love it. (Hardwood floors are are prettier, but they're also harder to maintain.) Two outdoorsy people and one very large dog can track in all kinds of dirt, fur, mud, and other messes; it's great to have a floor that is easy to clean.
And by the way: even with only one dog - completely house-trained - we have to sweep the floors every 2 or 3 days and mop at least twice a week. We track in dirt, and our dog sheds a TON this time of year. He also loves bringing things in through his doggy door.
Speaking of dogs, you have to house-train yours. It doesn't matter how old they are - they can learn that they must do their business outside. Start out by crate-training them. Leave them in their crates whenever you cannot supervise them. Take them outside as soon as you let them out of the crates. When they pee or poop outside, make a huge deal out of giving praise and treats. If you catch one of them start to go in the house, take him/her outside immediately. If you're consistent, they'll get the idea that they have to go out. And, look for signs that they need to go out. Do they stare at you? whine? make other noises? Do the pee-pee dance? Also, make sure that someone can let them out during the day when you're at work. Either go home during your lunch break or hire someone to stop by your place for a few minutes and take the dogs out to. Even a well-trained dog cannot hold it all day long.
Make house-training a top priority. Don't put yourself in a position where the lack of house-training forces you to give up your dogs or find another place to live. There are plenty of resources to help you and your husband house-train your dogs. Well-behaved dogs didn't magically become that way - they have to be taught what is or is not acceptable behavior.
Hopefully you'll be in a position to get out of your apartment and into a house before too long. Then you'll have the luxury of choosing your flooring and putting in a doggy door!
Finally - good for you for getting help with your depression and finding a new job. Hang in there.
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One more thing....
[Read the article: I'm living in filth!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Sorry if 30 other people have said the same thing already. Whether you are able to clean the carpet or whether you have to replace it, be sure to use an enzymatic cleaner to get rid of the pee/poop residue. even if you clean the carpet or floor well enough so that you can't smell the past accidents, the dogs will be able to smell it. Go to a pet supply store and get one of the cleaners designed to break down the pee/poop and thoroughly clean your floor (carpet, padding, tile, whatever) with one of these cleaners.