# Grumble grumble!



## Genipher (Aug 14, 2018)

This last Saturday (8/11) we added an 11-week-old puppy to our "pack". We already have a 3-year-old medium-sized mutt (female). We thought the older dog would enjoy having one of her own kind to play with but besides one rousing playtime in the mornings, she either ignores him or snaps at him.

To be fair, the pup will NOT keep his nose out of her, um, "private parts". If I had someone with their nose constantly in my crotch, I'd snap, too!
They're both spayed/neutered (pup was "broken" the day before we picked him up from the humane society) so I'm not sure why he keeps "getting into her business".

The humane society treated the pup for fleas 2 weeks before we got him. In fact, I happened to be there when they did it. Yet, every time (before adoption) that we saw him, he was scratching. Brought him home and he's _constantly _scratching at himself. I finally got out the flea comb today and, lo and behold, he has fleas! _Grrrr!_ 
I've made it a point to keep our older dog flea-free from the moment we got her as a puppy so I'm a tad irritated at this revelation. I immediately gave the pup half of a NexGard flea pill (based off dog size/weight so I had to cut the dose down) so  hopefully the fleas will die soon and he won't be so itchy, poor guy. 

I can't help but wonder why the humane society uses a flea product that flat-out doesn't work? I know the flea pills cost more than the squirt-on stuff but they're actually _effective_!

And then there's the doggie smell which, with one dog was slightly noticeable, but now? Ug. Last night I sprinkled the carpet with baking soda. It seems to have helped a bit with the smell but I figure it won't last long. I think when we tear out the carpets it will help a lot with the smell but while that chore is on our "to do" list, it will probably be awhile (ahem, a few years) before it gets done. Until then, I'd rather not have company (or myself!) walking into a wall of stinky dog when they come into the house. Should I get an air purifier? Any other ideas on how to downsize on the dog smell? Our older dog is indoor/outdoor (she prefers the outdoors in the summer) but the pup isn't old enough to be left outside at night and when winter comes, the dogs stay inside...

Any advice on any of these issues would be 100% appreciated!

Oh, and here's a picture of our new little guy. He reminds me of your dog, @TAH







And the two dogs, together:


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## greybeard (Aug 14, 2018)

Genipher said:


> I can't help but wonder why the humane society uses a flea product that flat-out doesn't work? I know the flea pills cost more than the squirt-on stuff but they're actually _effective_!


Funding is limited in almost all of those places. It is moot whether a product is more effective or not....if ya can't afford it ya can't afford it.

Your older dog looks a lot like a dog I used to have here.
Not very good pictures of him I'm afraid.


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## Baymule (Aug 14, 2018)

Cute pup! Dog smell.... carpet loves dog smell! What’s under the carpet? Can you pull it up and just paint the floor until you put down new floors?


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## Genipher (Aug 14, 2018)

greybeard said:


> Funding is limited in almost all of those places. It is moot whether a product is more effective or not....if ya can't afford it ya can't afford it.
> 
> Your older dog looks a lot like a dog I used to have here.
> Not very good pictures of him I'm afraid.
> ...




They do look similar. Ours is a Rottweiler/Mini Pincher mix. We suspect she might have some hound in her, too. She's SUPER submissive. So much so that it's hard to get her to play. The new puppy keeps trying to entice her to play, but she doesn't wanna. When he's not trying to play with her, he's trying to hump her. sigh. I get the whole "dominance" thing but he just won't stop!!


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## Genipher (Aug 14, 2018)

Baymule said:


> Cute pup! Dog smell.... carpet loves dog smell! What’s under the carpet? Can you pull it up and just paint the floor until you put down new floors?



You can _do_ that?? I didn't know we could paint the flooring underneath. Hmmm....I'll have to talk to the husband about this. I want to take out the bedroom carpets, too (last owners must've owned a cat — one of the bedrooms absolutely reeks of cat pee!). If we can get out the carpets and keep the flooring underneath "healthy" until we can put down something better, that would be awesome! (New clueless home owner here, can you tell? )


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## Latestarter (Aug 14, 2018)

Depends on what the subfloor is... boards, plywood, OSB... If you pull up a corner of the carpet to determine this, it will help decide on the painting issue. Maybe you'll get lucky and find hardwood flooring under the carpet. Wouldn't THAT be nice?


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## Genipher (Aug 14, 2018)

Latestarter said:


> Depends on what the subfloor is... boards, plywood, OSB... If you pull up a corner of the carpet to determine this, it will help decide on the painting issue. Maybe you'll get lucky and find hardwood flooring under the carpet. Wouldn't THAT be nice?



Oh, hardwood floors would be lovely! Our house is 100 years old...it should have its original floors. I'll have to sneak a peek under the carpets after the baby goes down for a nap!


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## luvmypets (Aug 14, 2018)

We had a horrible outbreak of fleas last fall. I mean the dogs were miserable and we had to wash pretty much everything in the house. They got flea baths for a while too. we tried that oil stuff they put between the shoulder.. didn’t work. Then we got a different type from the vet..didn’t work. Then finally we got two of the pups a chew that would cover them for a few months. And it worked! The other dog got a flea collar which also works wonderfully.


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## Southern by choice (Aug 14, 2018)

I like comfortis - trifexis is also good but does more than just fleas.
We don't have flea issues here. Ticks are however unbearable.  But we did have fleas get on some of the housedogs from the cat. Go figure. Always August. We gave the comfortis few 2 months and that was it.

Topicals IMO are worthless these days. of course some regions they do fine. Just not here.


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## Genipher (Aug 15, 2018)

I had been giving our dog Bravecto (lasts 3 months) but I had to get it from the vet and it was speeeeendy! $65 for one pill. 

I switched over to NexGard because I could get 6 pills (I give the dog one pill/month) for $60. She's been on it for 3 months and it seems to work just as well as Bravecto.

I like the pills. They work much better than the squirty ooze and I don't have to worry about it washing off or getting on the kids.


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## TAH (Aug 15, 2018)

Aww, cute. Yeah, which dog... Molly?


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## mystang89 (Aug 15, 2018)

That really stinks about the fleas. I hate the little buggers. I'm with southern. I like comfortis


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## Genipher (Aug 15, 2018)

TAH said:


> Aww, cute. Yeah, which dog... Molly?
> View attachment 51290



No, I was thinking of Boaz. Is he still in the land of the living?


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## TAH (Aug 15, 2018)

Genipher said:


> No, I was thinking of Boaz. Is he still in the land of the living?


Yes, Boaz is happy and well! 

Very spoiled. Laying on my bed right now. lol.


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## Baymule (Aug 15, 2018)

Did you look under the carpet to see what you have for floors? 

You could stencil the floors.

https://www.lovelyetc.com/tips-painting-stenciling-floor/

https://www.homedepot.com/b/Paint-Craft-Art-Supplies-Stencils/N-5yc1vZccct


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## Genipher (Aug 15, 2018)

Baymule said:


> Did you look under the carpet to see what you have for floors?
> 
> You could stencil the floors.
> 
> ...



Well this is embarrassing but...I can't figure out how to get a piece of the carpet up to peek underneath. It's tacked down pretty good...

Ideas?


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## Sheepshape (Aug 16, 2018)

Having a very stinky dog (an old Border Collie), I'd say that dogs smell a lot worse than bitches. It's the testosterone, I think.( Much like billy goats pong and rams reek at breeding time, whereas the girls don't smell too bad at all) If your pup was only neutered a short while before you got him, he may still have testosterone floating around......it takes a while to be broken down in the body.

The carpet......those tacks are usually very shortened fat and come out quite easily. You'll be able to hammer them back down afterwards again.

My dog has a faceful of ticks at the moment. I think they are truly gross with their fat grey bodies bloated with the animals' blood (even worse than fleas). Whereas I usually take ticks off with one of those wire loop contraptions, my dog  seems to have a quite a few tiny ones at the moment, too small to 'loop'. I'm going to get 'spot on' treatment from the vet today.

In spite of all their setbacks, dogs are great pets, aren't they?


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## Latestarter (Aug 16, 2018)

You know you can simply "pinch" the ticks off the dog, right? Even a simple pair of tweezers if you don't trust your finger nails. I pull every tick I find/see. I try to get them off before they have a chance to attach firmly and suck any/enough blood to engorge. I can't imagine being dog-less. I then crush them to death and dispose of them. Found zero ticks last year but not so fortunate this year, 2 on my house dog so far, two on my LGD, and one on me. All caught and disposed of before engorgement and even attachment is several cases. If they are that bad in your local area, I guess a chemical treatment would be the way to go.

No comprehension of how a human can NOT love dogs...   Smell and all. I mean "wet dog" smell is not very enticing, & I'm not a fan pf drool, but the pluses far outweigh the negatives.


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## Genipher (Aug 16, 2018)

Ha! Peeked under the floor in one of the carpeted bedrooms and we have good, solid flooring!! Took most of it out (exhausting work!) and besides being a bit dirty, it looks good!



 

Now I need to find out if the living room has similar flooring...


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## Genipher (Aug 16, 2018)

Sheepshape said:


> Having a very stinky dog (an old Border Collie), I'd say that dogs smell a lot worse than bitches. It's the testosterone, I think.( Much like billy goats pong and rams reek at breeding time, whereas the girls don't smell too bad at all) If your pup was only neutered a short while before you got him, he may still have testosterone floating around......it takes a while to be broken down in the body.
> 
> The carpet......those tacks are usually very shortened fat and come out quite easily. You'll be able to hammer them back down afterwards again.
> 
> ...




Ew. Thankfully we don't have any tick concerns here. Lots of ants and spiders, though, (my 5-year-old came in covered in black ants a couple days ago, after going on "dog poop patrol") so I want to get chickens to take'em out.

Gotta love those stinky dogs! 

Hopefully, then, when pup's hormones level off, the stink will go away, too!


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## Latestarter (Aug 16, 2018)

Not sure if hard or soft wood but pull out those tack strips (for holding the carpet down) and putty the holes. Then sand a small section to see what you're working with. You might be able to just sand them and refinish them with new stain. That would be one huge lucky break for you!


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## greybeard (Aug 16, 2018)

The painters and/or sheet rock mud guys sure weren't worried about spatters and drips were they?


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## Genipher (Aug 16, 2018)

greybeard said:


> The painters and/or sheet rock mud guys sure weren't worried about spatters and drips were they?



No, they weren't. 
I also found a board that has a big chunk missing from it. It'll take some work to get all the floors "nice" again but it'll be worth it in the long run.

I can't figure out why previous owners covered such nice floors with carpet. Also, it looks like the folks that sold us the place put new laminate floors over the original hardwoods. Why would they DO that?!?


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## Genipher (Aug 16, 2018)

Latestarter said:


> Not sure if hard or soft wood but pull out those tack strips (for holding the carpet down) and putty the holes. Then sand a small section to see what you're working with. You might be able to just sand them and refinish them with new stain. That would be one huge lucky break for you!



I spent a couple hours pulling tacks and staples from the floor today. Got about 1/2 done. Whew, I'm slow!


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## Sheepshape (Aug 17, 2018)

Genipher said:


> I can't figure out why previous owners covered such nice floors with carpet. Also, it looks like the folks that sold us the place put new laminate floors over the original hardwoods. Why would they DO that?!?


 It's called 'taste' Genipher........or to be accurate, the previous owners complete lack of it. Show off those lovely hardwood boards, even if you have to patch them.'Slow and sure wins the race'.

 Latestarter, you amaze me with your breadth of knowledge....not only animals, but buildings, too.

I live in an old house....late 18th or early 19th century (records lost), made from local stone. Most places were carpeted (even the side of the bath!). Stripping up those carpets revealed a LOT of old woodworm. We removed the worst affected bits and patched up with new boards, sanded etc. The effect is fine (to me, anyway).....patches, stains from old nails and tacks, little holes from centuries-dead woodworm....but lovely old boards rather than tacky cheap carpet hiding all the house's scars.


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## Latestarter (Aug 17, 2018)

Some folks pay a lot of cold hard cash for such "character" wood Sheepshape  The older the boards and more distressed, the better!


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## Sheepshape (Aug 17, 2018)

Latestarter said:


> The older the boards and more distressed, the better!


'Terminally distressed' is probably an accurate description for some of them, but safe to jump up and down on (I've tested them all).....but clearly very old and in character with the place.

 I bought a triangular corner cupboard as a medicines cupboard for the (woodwormy) bathroom.....described as 'more woodworm than cupboard' by the seller on eBay. The description did it no favours, so mine was the only bid......I love this cupboard. A few little patches and a precautionary further woodworm treatment and it was a wonderful buy for £20. I couldn't have bought a chipboard box an eighth of the size for that money!


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## Baymule (Aug 18, 2018)

@Genipher what lovely floors! Aren't you glad to get that carpet up and gone! You might be able to get by with a good scrubbing and some paste wax for now. Paste wax; apply with pad, you on hands and knees, buff off with towel. Unless you have attachments for vacuum, then it isn't so hard.


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## Genipher (Aug 18, 2018)

Baymule said:


> @Genipher what lovely floors! Aren't you glad to get that carpet up and gone! You might be able to get by with a good scrubbing and some paste wax for now. Paste wax; apply with pad, you on hands and knees, buff off with towel. Unless you have attachments for vacuum, then it isn't so hard.



Yes! And I'm grateful for the push to tear'em out, too!

Still have a lot of work before all the carpets are up. I'm still working on the one bedroom, pulling out staples and the tacking strips. 

I've noticed a strange smell in the room now. Can't quite describe it. Just doesn't smell "right". I'm hoping once I get everything swept, dusted, etc. it'll smell better. Paste wax sounds like a good temporary solution. I'll look into that.


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## Baymule (Aug 18, 2018)

It may be that the stank seeped into the wood. I have seen some real pretty pictures of design painted floors. If you’re going to refinish them anyway, why not paint them. Or just clean them real good and coat with polyurethane. That would seal the floors for now.


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## mystang89 (Aug 22, 2018)

Yeah, those are nice looking floors. There come out real nice. I've restored a couple of floors like that and have really liked the outcome. Only thing I still have a real problem with is sanding the sides and corners next to the wall down and getting them to look the same as where the drum sander stopped lol. Wave City next to the walls.


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## Mini Horses (Aug 22, 2018)

You can use a flat hand held sander at the edges...powered is available, LOL.  Lot of hand & knees work but, doable.

Some people do not like hardwood.  Many reasons.  They can sure show dirt/dust more than carpet!  In winter, I add rugs over mine as it retains heat better. Summer they come out as the floor stays cooler.    Alas, mine are not real wood but laminate, installed when I built almost 20 yr ago now.   I love the old houses.  Alas, found none in my area when I bought my property that were available, salvageable and/or affordable.  Often the upgrades made cost impossible.


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## Genipher (Aug 22, 2018)

Baymule said:


> It may be that the stank seeped into the wood. I have seen some real pretty pictures of design painted floors. If you’re going to refinish them anyway, why not paint them. Or just clean them real good and coat with polyurethane. That would seal the floors for now.



So I scrubbed the floor with soap and water over the weekend and last night I noticed the bad smell is finally gone.

I don't think I want to paint them, I'd like to sand them and seal them. I love the natural color.


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## Genipher (Aug 22, 2018)

Mini Horses said:


> You can use a flat hand held sander at the edges...powered is available, LOL.  Lot of hand & knees work but, doable.
> 
> Some people do not like hardwood.  Many reasons.  They can sure show dirt/dust more than carpet!  In winter, I add rugs over mine as it retains heat better. Summer they come out as the floor stays cooler.    Alas, mine are not real wood but laminate, installed when I built almost 20 yr ago now.   I love the old houses.  Alas, found none in my area when I bought my property that were available, salvageable and/or affordable.  Often the upgrades made cost impossible.



I'm planning on getting a rug for the winter months. We only have wood heat in this old House and the floors get COLD.


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## Genipher (Aug 22, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> Yeah, those are nice looking floors. There come out real nice. I've restored a couple of floors like that and have really liked the outcome. Only thing I still have a real problem with is sanding the sides and corners next to the wall down and getting them to look the same as where the drum sander stopped lol. Wave City next to the walls.



I did discover a few bad spots. One board in the middle of the floor has a big chunk missing from it. And near the closet it looks like someone replaced the wood with plaster...? That'll have to be fixed.


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## Donna R. Raybon (Aug 23, 2018)

Yay!!!!!  You are so lucky to have wood floors!!!  Do a section at a time with hot water and Murphy's soap.  Use a wet/dry vac to slurp up water, rinse, repeat.  Then have a fan to move air and dry fast.  That should get all the dirt up from cracks between boards from years of carpet.  Once clean and dry a good paste floor wax and buffing will make you proud!!!  So happy for you !!!


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## Baymule (Aug 23, 2018)

I laid wood floors when we bought our place. I rented the sander and did a pretty good job. But the only sand paper they had was very rough. I would have liked a finer sandpaper. It was the drum type sander and it didn't get up to the walls. I wound up going over the whole house with a fine sandpaper, I taped it to a Swiffer sweeper. LOL 

I made the mistake of using a water based polyurethane. Big mistake, the floor is scratched and I need to redo it. Not a job that I'll tackle any time soon, but it's on the radar.


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## mystang89 (Aug 23, 2018)

The drum sander only goes up to 150 from the rental places around here. What I did was take 200 then 220 with a hand sander on a pole and went over the floor. They've come out with some durable water based polyurethane but I never trusted it and only use oil based. Actually with flooring I last used duraseal polyurethane and the finish was nice.


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