Moved into new house and... Dog urine stench

arthurfowler

Just moved into new rented home and so many problems...

But the one which is really affecting me is the stench from next door. When we first moved in I thought we had a mouse problem as there was this horrible odour which I associate with mouse urine/poop.

However after a couple of days, noticed that it was just in the lounge and when you open the lounge door (to the garden), there is this overpowering stench coming from outside.

The neighbours have two cute dogs. Their garden absolutely reeks of dog urine. It is horrible. And in this heat it makes it so much worse. I think the dogs have a kennel there.

It's making the whole move a misery to be honest.

I have heard them spraying the area and today I heard her scrubbing the floor.

But the smell is terrible still. Actually smells worse.

I don't know how to approach this. We have JUST moved in and don't want to make an enemy with our neighbours.

I hate confrontation and how would I tell them that their garden stinks? Would the council help?

I really can't stand it and even if we don't open the door we can smell it.

Please offer some advice

Davesnave

Get advice from Environmental Health at your council.

You don't need to identify the property until you hear what they have to say. It's possible they've dealt with this or similar matters in the past and so there might be mileage in their suggestions, or even the offer of a visit.

However, as a person who lives in a place where farmers spread literally tonnes of animal faeces on the the surrounding fields each year, I don't hold out too much hope of a resolution, except for the one which familiarity brings. After a while, most people become de-sensitised to particular smells which surround them.

jimmy_cricket

Why is it smelling so much? We have a dog who uses the garden as a toilet but never any unpleasant smells. I can understand a smell from indoors if the dog has been messing on the floors, but not from the garden

tonyh66

if you can hear them scrubbing, then they are trying to deal with it, what else can they do, give them a break.

paddy's_mum

I suspect that it is your sense of smell that is the problem.

An infestation of mice does not, in my opinion, smell anything like urine - dog, cat, human.

What often does smell very sharp and acrid is cheap disinfectant and so I wonder if your neighbour is swilling out the (supposed kennel) area with something rather pungent.

If you plan to go to the council or to your new landlord, it might be worth risking a quick peek over the fence as darkness falls to see what actually is in their garden as I find that being sure of my facts saves me making a bit of a fool of myself :-)

Good luck with resolving this and do let the forum know how things pan out as it may help someone else in your shoes further down the line.

PS Just a thought that it may be the hot weather that is making a minor problem much, much worse and that will resolve itself in due course, given the Great British Weather!

arthurfowler

Thanks for your replies and I have no idea why it's smelling so much. We used to have a little dog who used to pee in the garden all the time and never had any such problem either Jimmy.

Tony, I haven't given them anything yet, and I am just asking what I can do.

paddy, thanks for the advice. It's definitely not just me. We have had a couple of friends over too and they could also smell it. It's really overpowering.

I'll try peek over the fence tonight

martinthebandit

Bit left field but it sounds like it's either a Tom cat or a 'smelly hedge' it's unlikely to be dog pee.

Davesnave

martinthebandit wrote: »

Bit left field but it sounds like it's either a Tom cat or a 'smelly hedge' it's unlikely to be dog pee.

That's a point. Viburnum tinus is one shrub which I know can be smelly at certain times of the year.... and there may be others. The hedges in our local park really honked, but I cannot remember when; probably summer.

jenny-wren

Is there any possibility it could be foxes? We have foxes living in a park behind our house and the smell of their urine is very strong.

Our neighbour has a dog and uses diluted Jeyes fluid to disinfect and clean where it's been ... the smell of that fills our entire house if I leave the windows open. Ewwwww.

arthurfowler

I've just had a peek over the fence and there is a kennel, a basket etc for the dogs.

When peeking over, the smell was even worse.

It's definitely coming from next door. I'm sorry if some think it's my sense of smell, but our lounge is right next to the garden and it's an overwhelming smell of ammonia.

Do I speak to her? I used to own a dog until last year and brought up with cats in my home etc - i'm not a pet hater lol.

lstar337

Maybe they are cleaning with Amonia?