help: pee on wood floors

[shimmy]

Shimmy is a 2 year old dachsie that lives in doors. She goes on the pad when I am gone but also on the wood floors. I am wondering if there are any suggestions in getting rid of the stain on the floors and to make sure that she only stay on the pads. I have a feeling that the pads may not be big enough during the day. She goes on the balcony first thing in the morning and once before bedtime. She is already in an enclosed area. I am thinking about getting her a cage with a plastic tray underneath so the floor doesn't get any worse. Any size suggestions? Any suggestions would help.

[lotsadox]

My suggestion would be to confine her in an area that doesn't have wood floors, like maybe the bathroom or kitchen. It you can't do that, you could possibly cover the floor with a plastic mat. They have some at Home Depot type of places. How big an area are we talking about?

[Lauri Gengor]

What I did was go a roll of cheap no wax flooring (you can get it at Home Depot) cut it down to the size I needed and put my pads/newspapers on that. As far as water/urine damaged floors, if the urine has damaged the finish where it will not clean up with a good wood/floor cleaner, you will have to lightly resand it, stain, and poly the floor.

[shimmy]

she is in a regular pen where her two feeding bowls, pads and bed fits. the problem with plastic is that it smells. that is what i originally did when i had a carpeted room. i may just have to move her to a tiled area? i just think it is unhygenic to have her in the kitchen. the other room would be the bathroom.

[Lauri Gengor]

Do you have a room you can sacrifice an area carpet? You can put down a peice of poly plastic (as you use for painting) and then the flooring. That's what I did in my pup's room. The wood floor showed no damage, I just clean under it regularly and sanitize it.

[FOREVER A DAXIE]

I have Maple hardwood flooring on our entire main floor, including the bathroom & kitchen. Charlie has peed on it plenty of times but there has never been a stain. Has the finish on your hardwood already come off and maybe it's soaking in?

[TessieMom]

I have hardwood with a polyurethane sealer on it. It is really easy to lightly sand if necessary and reapply polyurethane. What I found at Lowe's is a polyurethane sealer that you apply with a mop and I do that 3 to 4 times a year to keep the floor sealed. As long as you clean up the mess in a reasonable amount of time, it should not stain. However, if she is resoiling the same spot, that is a different matter! I use a floormate floor cleaner on the hardwood and the tile. I have also found that the area carpets work well in my washing machine.

Rena and the Waco crew

[shimmy]

yep she is a tough one. some times she prefers to go on the carpet instead of her pad cause i think it is softer to her bums. i think i'll try using area carpets cause i'd hate to have to cage her. a pen seem to give her more area.
i rented the place and the wooden floors weren't done very well. they are in tiles. so i think they should be easily replaced. so how big are the areas u use and do u add flooring underneath it too? thanks! also...the pen never stays the same shape cause she pushes it around...

[TessieMom]

I have a solid wood floor that was installed when the house was built 50 years ago. There are 2 types of wooden floors that are used today: laminant with a plastic coating and solid wood with a sealed coat (older ones were waxed). You should not have to replace the subfloor! The new floors fit together with a tongue and groove so that they snap down rather than using glue. I would check and see if you can match the tiles before you think about replacing them. Sounds like a "parquet?" floor which might be hard to match.

Rena and the Waco crew

[Roobyrocks]

Just wondering... I leave Rooby & Lexie in the kitchen - a big area with ceramic tile and doggy gates across the 2 openings. I put their beds in there and leave water, but no food (they eat their food as soon as the bowls hit the floor!). Once in a blue moon one will have an 'accident', but they generally go all day (8-9 hrs) with no problems at all. For the occasional accident I have a Eureka 'Envirosteamer' that does a great job of sanitizing the floors.

[Heide]

that putting her on tile or such would be alot better. Also if you dont have that option then area throw rugs would be easy to throw in the wash.
You have got some wonderful suggestions.
Let us know how is works out.

[shimmy]

she is usually left for 8- 9 hours alone. i crate her at nite and she goes to the bathroom on the balcony the first thing in the morning. but she soils the floors once in a while. i think the problem may be that i leave her food out for her all day. she always take nibbles and never finish the food by the time i leave for work, so i leave it out for her. (i give her a set portion everyday to maintain her weight).
but urine is mostly the problem. so i don't really see how leaving food out may be a problem and she definitely need her water. I think I'll try moving her to the kitchen area and also using some area carpet. shopping this weekend!