When I came home tonight, my puppy (5 mo GSD) had been very sick. He had diarrhea - a mix of cowpile and liquid squirt - and had vomited up white liquid. The whole deal was very nasty and awfully sour smelling.

I'm taking care of him and keeping watch on him now based on other info I found on the forums but I wanted to ask this: how do you deal with a terribly nasty mess like this in the house? Yes, it happened in the crate but it naturally gets on the floor too. I had to take the dog outside and the crate too which meant dragging them both through the house and out the back door.

Now I'm no neat freak but I can't stand for anything to be filthy like this and I do have a strong aversion to feces on this scale. The odor throughout my house was unbelievably horrible and I've been battling that and scrubbing stuff all night. I haven't even begun to clean up the crate or the dog. I feel very overwhelmed. Bites and scratches, I can handle. Rebellious dog, I can work with. But explosive poo that's nasty enough to be used as a weapon? Nope, not so good at that.

Any suggestions or maybe tell me how you've dealt with this in the past?

....toilet paper, plastic bags, water, vinegar.

i dunno, i just clean it up.

I clean my crates with just hot water. I run a hose from the hot water hookup in my laundry room(washer hookup) to outside and spray away. I do this every other week for normal cleaning. A combination of the hot water and pressure and they come out very clean and it is easy.

Could you slide the crate to an outside door before opening so puppy can go directly outside without leaving a trail through the house?

If I had to leave a puppy that I knew had diarrhea, I would try using an x-pen or blocking in a more cleanable area so the puppy would not have to stand or lie in the soiled area. Controlling diarrhea would be very hard if not impossible for a puppy to do.

Good luck,
Shannon

If the crate isn't too big you could just move it to the bathroom and do any clean-up of crate and pup in the tub??? Keeps it contained to one, easily washable room.

As for odor, diluted bleach will work and disinfect. I'd just be sure the solution is completely wiped up and the odor is not too overwhelming before pup goes back in his crate.

The only time I had a real problem with this was on the ride home from picking up my pup. Little pup, little crate, little car and one very big smelly mess...and we had another hour to go. My dog's introduction to his new home was via the bath tub. Not quite the homecoming I envisioned.

This is why I have all hard floors.

I am so sorry you both have to deal with this.

I would first go out and clean the pup, poor guy is probably even more miserable than you.

For the cleaning in the house, I have used with the most success Nature's Miracle . Use LOTS of towels and if you have a steam vac, mixing the Nature's Miracle into the rinse water helps too.

It works for me, but not everybody loves it.
Here is how it rated on epinions...
http://www.epinions.com/content_21571997316

 Quote: Sarah Morris

As for odor, diluted bleach will work and disinfect.

Be careful with bleach on a plastic crate as the bleach will breakdown the plastic and in the process release a gas that is not so good for you or your puppy to breath. Diluted vinegar would be a better choice it you want to use something besides just hot water. If you don't like the vinegar smell, a few drops of essential oil in the diluted vinegar is nice. My preference is for lemon essential oil.

Shannon

Fabreeze helps with the smell after you have cleaned it up and it is still lingering...
Diluted vinegar probably best for the crate...

Reminds me of my human kids being sick...they have bunk beds and I went in in the middle of the night...the one on the lower bunk was throwing up...and then the one on the top bunk hung over the edge and did the same thing...I hate surprises like that.

Hope he feels better soon...do you know why he is sick?

I didn't know that...Thank you, Shannon.

Personally, I've always liked Nature's Miracle but not everyone has it on-hand.

i use enzyme remover like nature's miracle if there's a pee mistake (i have a foster cat who's a high pee-er....bane of my life) but i don't w/poop upsets.

does feces leave the same sort of smell/enzymey stuff that urine does?

I personally love baking soda for helping with keeping the poo smell down enough for me not to barf. Basically pour on, it absorbs some of the more noxious liquids (eww) .... and do the job and it cuts the smell almost instantly. Most grocery stores have large containers of it but I personally keep the 10 lb costco box in my pantry for such occassions.

for the vile ich liquidy stuff on tile/plastics I use a combo of cat litter, dump kitty litter into trash, and then nature's miracle.

My final clean up always involves nature's miracle with a followup of febreeze no matter what the material.