Goodbye carpet, hello wood floors!Neighbor has asthma and has a cute little dog, but Little Dog seems to have a little bladder. Neighbor was shampooing her carpet (after the professional cleaning company had already tried getting the carpets cleaned.) She was determined to get them clean and she wondered if she had missed any areas where Little Dog may have gone to the bathroom. So we decided to look with a black light and see if any areas glowed. Well, there were more places that DIDN"T glow on the carpet. Little Dog has been very busy over the last 7 years.
After we recovered from the shock of seeing how much urine was on the carpet, Neighbor decided to pull it out. That's Hubby pulling up the tack strip and loading up the back of his truck with a load of carpet for the landfill. That should stop Little Dog from going to the bathroom on the floor. We noticed that in the areas where there the wood floors were bare, Little Dog didn't seem to use those areas as her personal bathroom.
Wood floors are actually the best choice for a home if you have asthma. (or any other hard surface material) Yes, they do require more cleaning but that's because you can actually SEE where they are dirty. Carpet is very good at hiding dog urine, dropped food, dust, bacteria, molds, etc. The thought just makes me shudder.
I am anxious to see if Neighbor's asthma will improve. She has struggled for years, and her asthma seems to be getting worse. I can hear her wheezing when I talk to her on the phone (and that's AFTER she has had a breathing treatment.) She even gets monthly Xolair injections, and even that doesn't seem to control her asthma.
So, once that carpet is gone, and Hubby can help refinish the wood floors, I would like to see if Neighbor's breathing gets better. And as for Little Dog...it's a good thing we love her so much! Neighbor takes her out on walks throughout the day, but I think Neighbor may install a small dog door now so Little Dog can go outside to go to the bathroom. Little Dog doesn't like to go to the bathroom in the backyard, she likes going on walks so she can check her "pee-mail" and see what the other neighborhood dogs have left behind.
If you have asthma but never seem to feel like you can breathe very well, talk to your doctor. Medication is a big part of controlling symptoms, but so is your environment. Hard surfaces are best for the floor (and you won't have problems with Little Dogs using carpet as their bathroom)