Serious Dog Urine Cleaning Products from a Surprising Source

Nobody enjoys thinking about dog urine stains and odor, but it happens. Even older dogs have accidents. (And let's also admit that dogs sometimes do it on purpose in order to mark their territory - no accident involved).

I'm thinking about this unpleasant subject at the moment because I just moved, and a very distinctive stain showed that a medium-sized dog recently lifted his leg on my new porch. To prevent my own dog from re-marking the house when I moved him to his new home, I had to find a good dog urine cleaning product, and fast.

With the help of my local pet store owner, (who also runs a house cleaning service), I found a great product - but not at her pet store.

So where did my friendly pet store owner take me to find a serious dog urine cleaning product? She led me next door, to the auto supply house. She asked the proprietor to search his shelves for a product that would be good enough to remove the smell and stain from my porch wall, but which would not be so strong that it would remove the paint. The product he had in stock was called Unbelievable!, from CORE Products Co., Inc., (but the man at the auto parts store said there are other brands that work as well).

The product was developed for professional cleaners, and works to remove pet and food stains (and odors) from a car's upholstery and carpet. The product costs far less than the enzyme product I recently purchased from a veterinarian, and it worked immediately. I just sprayed it on the siding where the dog lifted his leg, and the stain disappeared instantly, along with the smell. I'll be trying it on that suspicious spot on the carpet in a few minutes.

The first product that most people turn in these situations is enzyme-based cleaning products that can be purchased at grocery and pet stores. I recently had an opportunity to use an enzyme product on a borrowed cat carrier that had been sprayed by the owner's cat, and most of the odor did go away, eventually.

However, the enzyme product, which I purchased from a veterinarian, was expensive. It also took a long time to work, and my cats could still tell that the carrier had been sprayed, even though my own human nose could no longer detect it.

The product I purchased from the auto parts store worked better, and faster. And it cost less. So, the next time you have a need for a dog urine cleaner, don't head for the pet store - go to the auto supply store, and ask for a product that works on urine stains and odors. You'll save money by not buying an expensive enzyme product from the pet store or vet's, and you'll be happier with the results.

Copyright 2006 Jonni Good

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About Jonni Good

Jonni Good is the owner of a large and popular website that is totally devoted to helping you adopt an older dog at your local humane society. You'll find a list of local animal shelters, and many articles about selecting exactly the right dog for your family. http://www.older-dog.com


And here is another random article you might be interested in...

The Right People On The Bus Stays The Company's Course

What makes a company great? Jim Collins, author of the book "Good to Great," says that great companies "first get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats. People are not your most important asset. The right people are."

The right people are those who fit into your organization and help you to accomplish your future goals.

You might think this is a topic you don't have to worry about at the moment, especially if you are a startup. But many companies fall into this classic case. One person has a great idea and draws in a friend with whom he has worked in the past. They then hire a friend of a friend who is an expert in a desired technology. Six months down the road, things haven't progressed as planned, everyone has a different idea about the direction of the company, the original passion is missing and the dream dies a slow death.

So who are the "right" people, and how do you get them on your bus? There are three things you must consider: job descriptions, the interview process and team design.

Job descriptions

Where do you get your job descriptions? Competitors' websites? Monster.com? Do you even have them?

Most companies put little thought into them. Traditionally, jobs are defined as a certain set of skills and experiences, and prospective candidates are screened for those skills and experiences. But even if a candidate meets these requirements, you might still encounter turnover and poor performance.

The reality is that although a job requires a person to have a certain background and set of skills, it also requires the person to have predictable behaviors, talents, motivators and communication style. These are all unteachable qualities.

The job, in other words, has a personality. To get the right people on the bus, companies must first correctly define the personality of the job and then assess people with respect to the total job personality. Only then can a good fit be achieved.

When developing job descriptions, first think about what skills and experience a candidate will need today and in the future. Then identify those critical components that are unteachable. Keep in mind that you should have diversity on your team(s). Have a balance of detail-oriented people and "big picture" people, Ph.D.s and MBAs, fact-checkers and cheerleaders.

The interview

The second thing you need is a solid interview process. Companies are often formed because founders have a passion for a technology or idea, but those people are not necessarily expert interviewers. It would be comparable to expecting your salespeople to code your software. Invest in some training for your staff or hire someone to help with the hiring.

A good interview process employs behavioral interviewing. This is a method of asking probing questions about competencies based on a candidate's past and present performance in order to predict future ones. In today's market, most candidates have become expert interviewers and will tell you exactly what you want to hear. Going with your gut won't work.

Designing the team

The last element to consider when getting the right people on your bus is team design â€" picking the right people and placing them in the right seats on the bus.

All of us can adapt to situations that aren't a perfect fit, but 99 percent of the time we will resort back to our normal way of doing something (i.e., once a disorganized person, always a disorganized person).

Don't set your people up to fail by putting them in roles that don't match their personalities. Examine the total employee and determine which role would best fit each person. Don't simply promote employees into manager roles because they have tenure and you want to prevent them from leaving. Place them in manager roles only if they possess the great manager qualities.

This will absolutely help you to retain employees, keep them motivated and increase their performance.

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About Lori Dernavich

Lori Dernavich is President of Step Ahead Consulting. Helping executives who are experiencing frustration as they try to bring great talent into their organizations but then face the problem of this talent not meeting expectations or fitting into their roles/environment. Specializing in team assessments and coaching and job candidate assessment for fit. She can be reached at www.stepaheadconsulting.com.

lori@stepaheadconsulting.com