The Only Thing That Worked During My Pup’s Potty Training Is on Sale
When my fiancé, Jeffery, and I moved into our one-bedroom apartment in 2021, we had big plans for painting all the walls, sourcing vintage rugs, and collecting furniture that was special to us. Then, five days later, we found ourselves riding the elevator down to hold the sweetest little French bulldog puppy you’ve ever seen … just to see.
Why Should You Stock up on Rocco & Roxie’s Pet Cleaning Products During Amazon Prime Day?
Rocco & Roxie’s Pet Stain and Odor Eliminator Spray and their Oxy Carpet Shampoo were the only products that got my fiancé and I through almost a year of potty-training our French bulldog puppy. During Prime Day, all of the brand’s pet cleaning products are 25% off, which is one of the steepest discounts the brand offers, and only occurs once or twice a year.
“We can just meet him, we don’t have to keep him,” I kept reminding Jeffery. But of course, his knowing eye roll as a response was correct. With our new living room full of boxes yet to be unpacked, we became first-time dog owners to a rambunctious little guy we named Oswald (Ozzie for short). And Ozzie sure did a number on our belongings.
French bulldogs are notoriously stubborn, something we heard but didn’t fully understand until we were faced with potty-training a very headstrong puppy. It took us the better part of a year to fully potty-train Ozzie, a situation that was certainly exacerbated by living in a high-rise building and a naively optimistic approach to dog-rearing. We’d watched our parents, friends, and family raise dogs, so it couldn’t be that hard, right? Ha!
The hardest part about potty-training a puppy, for me, was the constant cleaning up of accidents. We found that the wee-wee pads weren’t working (he’d just rip them up instead of using them for their intended purpose), so our method was to scoop him up and run out the door as soon as he started going.
This left us with a lot of urine to wipe up from the hardwood and soak out of the rugs. After lots of research, trial, and error, the best cleaning products we found were Rocco & Roxie’s Pet Stain and Odor Eliminator Spray and their Oxy Carpet Shampoo.
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What’s So Great About Rocco & Roxie’s Pet Cleaning Products?
Pet urine is a particularly difficult substance to fully remove, as the ammonia concentration and PH increases as it dries, binding to fabrics and upholstery and becoming less water-soluble at the same time. This is why pet urine odors linger long after the initial accident, and it’s not as simple to clean up as many other spills.
Enzymatic cleaners, like Rocco & Roxie’s Pet Stain and Odor Eliminator Spray, actually release active enzymes that feed on ammonia residue left behind in pet urine and other organic materials, which is a true miracle for those of us plagued by a sensitive nose.
For spot-cleaning carpets, the best method we found is to first soak up every last drop of urine possible with paper towels (yes, you’ll go through a lot of paper towels or rags). Then, spray a generous amount of the Pet Stain and Odor Eliminator Spray onto the area, and let it soak for five to 10 minutes before blotting (and blotting some more), removing as much liquid as you can. After the spot is fully dry, vacuum the area to remove lingering particles and odor crystals.
The best course of action is always to clean up an accident right away, before it has a chance to dry up and intensify, but if you’re human, you’re bound to miss an accident from time to time. In these cases, we found that the Oxy Carpet Shampoo was super helpful on our wall-to-wall bedroom carpet, as well as our area rugs for deep cleaning. We used it in both the Bissell Little Green steam cleaner for smaller areas, and borrowed my parents’ commercial carpet cleaner for full rug cleans, which you can also rent from your local hardware store, Home Depot, or Lowe’s. I’d highly recommend using cold water in your carpet cleaner, as hot water reactivates the urine smell. And don’t feel hopeless if the rug still smells after cleaning, either — often it takes a day or two for all the dredged-up stink to dissipate.
Luckily, now that Ozzie is 2, we only have to clean up an accident here and there, but we still keep the spray on hand for those times, because one sniff of leftover urine is enough to bring back all the memories. All Rocco & Roxie products are actually 25 percent off right now for Amazon’s Prime Day, which is one of the steepest discounts the brand offers only once or twice a year. My advice? Stock up on the spray and the carpet cleaner if you’re in the throes of the puppy stage or have a pet who’s accident-prone — your space (and nose) will thank you.
Buy: Rocco & Roxie Pet Stain and Odor Eliminator Spray, $14.98 (normally $19.97); Rocco & Roxie Carpet Cleaner Solution, $17.98 (normally $23.97)