Ever walk into someone else’s house and think, “Peeuw, this place smells like dogs!”? I have thought this on occasion, but recently after being gone for a few days at a conference, I walked into my own home and smelled that distinctive doggy aroma. (Jake had even had a bath while I was gone, so go figure!) With a little embarrassment I realized that if I can smell it after being gone three days, imagine how many people have been struck by a wall of gentle but noticeable eau d’ dog upon entering our home. (I guess we just get used to these scents when we’re around them enough. Why can’t they build dog-stink detectors, as they’ve built smoke and CO2 detectors?!)

By coincidence, within the next few days, I received emails from a couple of companies that make products designed to make a house smell more pleasant and less doggy. (Sacrebleu! Maybe it was not coincidence. Could they smell our house from hundreds of miles away?! How did they know?!) A few days later, I received samples in the mail to test out the products before writing about them.

The first is a product called Nose Offense, the subject of the clever little parody above. Nose Offense is an odor neutralizer. Instead of covering up a scent, the company claims Nose Offense eliminates it immediately. It’s safe, green, and has no scent. Since I’m used to Jake’s doggy scent, it was hard to tell if it eliminated his doggy aroma when I sprayed it around his chair and bed. But one day, when we had company over, Jake had some bad gas. I happened to have the spray bottle handy, so I did what any classy hostess would do and whipped out the spray bottle and spritzed the air a few times. And the stink was gone! Miss Manners may not have given this move her seal of approval, but she has never smelled Jake farkles before.

The other company, Greenleaf, sent me a great-smelling, large candle in glass, an aroma diffuser, and some room spray. The candle was my favorite, because it supplied the most gentle scent, and it tenderly masked doggy odors. People would come over and say, “Your house smells so good!” It wasn’t an overwhelming scent, just a very pleasant and peaceful one that probably disguised Jake’s doggy scent.

Does your dog leave your house a bit “doggy” smelling? Would you like a chance to neutralize or disguise those odors? Today’s your lucky day! The Greenleaf and Nose Offense people have offered some great prizes to Dogsters. So we’ve developed a contest!

Here’s how it works. You will have a choice of a 32-ounce bottle of Nose Offense (we’re giving away two) or a holiday potpourri box or holiday candle from Greenleaf (we’re giving away one of each).

1. Decide which you would like. You must choose one specific product only. If you would like Nose Offense, simply write a comment below that you would like to win Nose Offense, and why it would help your doggy household. If you want to learn more about it, check out the Nose Offense site.

2. If you would like a Greenleaf product, take a look at the Greenleaf “What’s New” page and figure out if you’d like a holiday candle or a potpourri, and which scent you’d like: Gathering, Merry Memories, Silver Spruce, or Winter Cream. Then leave a comment below, stating which product and scent you’d like, and why it would be helpful to your household.

3. Your comment is like a raffle ticket. We will randomly draw winners from the qualifying entries until we have winners for each category.

4. Entries must be made by noon PDT, Wednesday, Oct. 27. We will announce the winners on Friday, Oct. 29. Only one entry per household. As always, you don’t have to be a registered Dogster to win.

Good luck, and we hope you sniff out a great product!