Do rigs with dogs always smell?

[Narnia]

Hi everyone! I found a unit online, which I just found out that the unit has had a dog living in it for 2 years. We have been in rigs with very strong doggy odor, which made my lungs want to close up!

Do all rigs that have had dogs living in it have an odor? We are nearly 5 hours from the rig, so am asking here, to save ourselves a trip.

Thanks for your help in advance!

[mtlakejim]

Once again it is a case by case issue. I would say on average the majority of units with dogs will have at least some smell. Most especially if they have carpet still in them. It is one of the big reasons why we are putting down waterproof vinyl plank flooring.


I will say that owners tend to acclimate to the smell to some degree and really don't realize how bad it can be. I would not be surprised if an owner was to tell you the rig did not smell at all and it did. And then there is always the folks who swear their dog is house broken and NEVER has an accident. Don't believe those folks very few dogs are absolutely perfect in that regard. Accidents will happen! All you can do is not have any carpet and clean clean clean.

[Narnia]

The unit does has carpet, and it's a 2009, so I assume that it WILL have an odor.

We went to see one before, where they said that it had no odor. They had opened all the windows to air out since before we came, but we still detected the odor and when we sat in it for a while, it got stronger. The worst part of it is...the areas next to the bed under the night stand ledge was a thick layer of dog hair.

[Eagleback]

We have small dog and our unit still has that new smell because of two things. We clean our rig regularly and we do not fry food in it as we cook out side.

[Dave W]

Not necessarily will they smell. We have a couple mini poodles which my wife very carefully ensures that they wont smell by a bath every week or so. Also, poodles, like 22 other breeds have hair and not fur. Dogs with hair need to be trimmed on a regular basis while the fur cover shed - on everything.


Large dogs, i.e. goldens, labs and similar have fur that seems to fly everywhere and keeping a living area odor free is tough - even my long gone '06 truck smelled like dog in high humidity as long as I owned the truck as the previous owner had a lab that evidently spent many hours in the back seat

[BB_TX]

Really depends on two things. How well and often the dogs are bathed. And how well house trained the dogs are, or how well the owners are trained about taking the dogs out regularly to do their business rather than having "accidents" inside.


A dog that is regularly bathed has little odor. A dog not bathed for long periods will have an odor that can be transferred to carpets and furniture. A carpet that has been peed or pooped on and not cleaned quickly and thoroughly will certainly have lingering odors. All depends on the care and attitude of the owners.

[mlh]

No.
Lynwood

[padredw]

It all depends.

The short answer is "NO" Not all RV which have had dogs smell, but I expect some RVs that had had dogs do smell. Only you can detect which category that trailer fits into. No rule can guide you. Good luck. I hope you find that good unit you are looking for.

[WeBeFulltime]

My dealer won't even consider a trade-in that has had pets or been smoked in. BTW our Montana is for sale and has never had pets in it or any smoking in it.

[Russ&Reen]

We have a dog, and you can't smell him in the rv. He's bathed weekly and our floors are cleaned daily. When you open our door the rv smells new.


On the rv that does smell doggy, that smell can be eliminated with some effort. I would not immediately run away if that's the only issue. We've purchased homes with doggy/smoke/who knows what they did smells and solved the problem.

[mtlakejim]

Originally Posted by Russ&Reen

We have a dog, and you can't smell him in the rv. He's bathed weekly and our floors are cleaned daily. When you open our door the rv smells new.


On the rv that does smell doggy, that smell can be eliminated with some effort. I would not immediately run away if that's the only issue. We've purchased homes with doggy/smoke/who knows what they did smells and solved the problem.

VERY RESPECTFULLY,
Let me preface by saying we have a dog too. But let me suggest to you that your acclimated to the smell of your dog and the camper may well have a dog smell to OTHER people. Likewise you can get used to some smells in a house. Don't trust your own nose.

About all you can really do is not have carpet and clean clean clean. Then occasionally ask someone to be honest with you that you know for sure will. But lets face it, even the most fanatic cleaning owners are still going to miss something and in the relatively small area of an RV it really matters.

[MARK A]

There is a product called Hydrocide Extreme, mix in a one gallon sprayer and spray everything down that might smell. It adds a molecule to odors instead of covering them up. It's used on skunk and dead animal smells, it's great stuff!


Mark

[WeBeFulltime]

Originally Posted by mtlakejim

VERY RESPECTFULLY,
Let me preface by saying we have a dog too. But let me suggest to you that your acclimated to the smell of your dog and the camper may well have a dog smell to OTHER people. Likewise you can get used to some smells in a house. Don't trust your own nose.

About all you can really do is not have carpet and clean clean clean. Then occasionally ask someone to be honest with you that you know for sure will. But lets face it, even the most fanatic cleaning owners are still going to miss something and in the relatively small area of an RV it really matters.

I also respectfully submit that SOME dog owners think THEIR dog never barks when they're away or never poops on someone else's lawn.

[Russ&Reen]

I checked with the kids and friends before I posted to be sure that my nose was not deceiving me. All would have willingly and happily told me if our rv smelled. Our eldest son said our S&B couch could use some leather cleaner. lol

When we sold our '15 the buyer thought it had never been used because it smelled new and the tank monitors were accurate.

[jeffba]

Originally Posted by Russ&Reen

I checked with the kids and friends before I posted to be sure that my nose was not deceiving me. All would have willingly and happily told me if our rv smelled. Our eldest son said our S&B couch could use some leather cleaner. lol

When we sold our '15 the buyer thought it had never been used because it smelled new and the tank monitors were accurate.

So you sold it with the tanks full---gross

[dadnjesse]

Animals and smoking, the smell never goes away unless you change the carpet, and drapes maybe even the mattress.

[mtlakejim]

Originally Posted by WeBeFulltime

I also respectfully submit that SOME dog owners think THEIR dog never barks when they're away or never poops on someone else's lawn.

We have a Chihuahua. He BARKS, a lot! We do everything that we can to minimize him disturbing the other campers but it is just a fact that some dogs WILL bark.

AND he seems to love to have an audience when doing his business. Yeah you can walk him 10 miles and he will wait till you get back in the most public place possible to do his duty........maybe that was too much information to post here LOL......

[mtlakejim]

Originally Posted by Russ&Reen

I checked with the kids and friends before I posted to be sure that my nose was not deceiving me. All would have willingly and happily told me if our rv smelled. Our eldest son said our S&B couch could use some leather cleaner. lol

When we sold our '15 the buyer thought it had never been used because it smelled new and the tank monitors were accurate.

Well there is always that one exception to the rule and y'all may be it. BUT I will bet that most folks can tell that 99 out of 100 campers that had an animal in it or smokers do smell to some level (some really bad). Especially to non pet owners and non smokers.

Maybe you did have the perfectly behaved dog that never ever not even once had an accident. As for us, our dog is not perfect and I will be the first to admit it. We make accommodations because we know this. Like changing the carpet out for supposedly waterproof vinyl plank flooring. And expecting we will get a little less when we sell it.

I'm not saying that having a dog is a bad thing or that buying a camper that was previously had a dog in it is a terrible thing. There just has to be a realization that it can affect the price of same on resale. And if the buyer is like the original poster on this thread they may pass on it because of the smell.

But lets be honest, in most cases the smell will dissipate with time so unless it is just an extreme case it really isn't that big a deal to the vast majority as long as it is priced accordingly.

[mazboy]

of course not. like stated above, it just depends on how the owner of the dog has dealt with the dog issues.


ask the owner about smells and then decide if it is worth going to see. and if not, just caulk it up as a road trip.

[CaptnJohn]

Not all dogs have accidents in the 5er. The current and last one never did. Current 5er is all vinyl except under the table. They need bathed weekly too, Now, cat odor is a different story.