# What is the black stuff on the wall?



## jamiesuzanne (Dec 2, 2007)

The wall behind my dog's crate is covered with speckles of black stuff. It's not chunks and it doesn't stink, so I know it's not poop.

It kindof looks like a kid with watered down black water color paint splattered his paintbrush all over the wall. It's extremely bad on the wall that the kennel backs up to, but it's also on every other surface close to the cage on other sides. 

I have no idea what this is, and it's kindof gross (and it's my roommate's condo, so I feel bad that he's making a mess). It washes off, but within a few days it looks the same.

Anyone have any idea what this is? I took pictures of it, so I'll attempt to post them on here. I was wondering if it's Copper spraying his "scent" around the room or something, but I've never seen it from any other dogs, so I don't know.

The last pic is of my dog w/ the splattered wall behind him.


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## AkiraleShiba (Dec 9, 2007)

Mold ... it's time to wash with bleach ... is it humid? this is nasty stuff sometimes it comes from inside the walls  I am battling it my bedroom too.

Good luck.


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## Inga (Jun 16, 2007)

This is behind his kennel? Wire? If so I would bet he it licking the bars and saliva is flicking up on the wall and it leaves a stain. You will just have to clean the wall often lol Joys of dog ownership


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## jamiesuzanne (Dec 2, 2007)

It's not mold, because it's all over everything, not just the walls. My roommate's printer is on a shelf next to the cage, and it is covered. The outlet is covered. There's those plastic bins w/ the drawers stacked up adn those have it on them. So I know it's not mold.

And yes, the cage is wire, but some of this stuff is splattered a good 5 feet from his cage. I find it hard to believe that the stuff flicks that far. But assuming this IS the case, is it dust on the bars that makes the stuff black? Because I wipe down his whole cage from time to time, it shouldn't be too dirty.

Hmm.


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## agility collie mom (Jan 26, 2008)

When you clean it is there an odor?


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## Durbkat (Jun 26, 2007)

It looks like mud to me. Like he gets dirty/wet and when he shakes it flings everywhere.


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## whimsy (Aug 19, 2007)

My first guess was mold also, sure looks like it. I'm at a loss for anything else it could be.


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## jamiesuzanne (Dec 2, 2007)

It's not mud. He's an inside dog, only out when we take walks, so he doesn't get very dirty and he gets bathed fairly regularly. 

The mold thing would make sense if it were only on the walls, but it's not. And its DEFINITELY worse on the wall closest to his cage.

There's not really an odor as far as I can tell, I mean, the whole room smells like animals but today I smelled the cloth I was using to clean and it just kindof had a "dog" smell, but nothing strong. We have two dog kennels in there, and a cage for sugar gliders (which STINK) but they're only here occasionally since they're the class pet for my roommate's classroom.

It's not hard to clean it, it's just hassle, mostly. And it looks gross.


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## 709Juggalette (Feb 21, 2008)

Looks like mold or mud to me.

My sister dealt with mold before and it did get on other things other then the walls and floor.If your house is humid or damp and hot,the mold tends to thrive.She would clean it and within a few days,it would be back.She has since moved.


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## heidiann (Feb 3, 2008)

For some reason the wall by my dog's crate would get filthy too. Not like that, but just dirty...

It may be the licking thing, but why would it be so far away? it's very strange. 

I know you've said it's not mold, but have you tried cleaning it with bleach at all?

Whatever it is, it's weird.


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## jamiesuzanne (Dec 2, 2007)

I'll give the bleach thing a shot. But if it is mold, and it's coming from inside the walls, will bleach really get rid of it, or just clean the surface?

And it's only in the dog's room, nowhere else. Can mold thrive on pieces of paper or plastic? Cuz this stuff is on everything.


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## zerolover (Apr 18, 2008)

Does he have any fleas?


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## digits mama (Jun 13, 2007)

Yea...Mold is a spore as it grows and gathers it can become airborne and spread everywhere it lands. 1 Tiny speck of spore can turn into 100s in a week if the conditions are perfect for growth. It easily spreads from AC and heat registers or simply from walking past it. Try the bleach and have carpets cleaned too. Good luck..


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## Aggie (Mar 13, 2008)

Mold is my guess too.

It could also be coming in an air/heating vent, and that would let it cover all the surfaces you mentioned...


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## jamiesuzanne (Dec 2, 2007)

He has no fleas.

Would the mold come through the other side of the wall, as well, if it were in the walls? Cuz it's only in that one room.

We're getting some bleach tonight so we'll try that and see if it gets rid of the problem.

I just assumed it was something from the dog since the majority of it was right by his cage.


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## AkiraleShiba (Dec 9, 2007)

I have very mild mold in my bedroom and it's only around the window. So you might have that kind of mild surface mold. It may come from the humidity from the dog breathing/sweating. Maybe if you can move the cage a bit away from the wall it might not come back.


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## digits mama (Jun 13, 2007)

Here in the south, We have extremly high humidity at times..I have seen where folks have the problems if they dont have "weep holes" In thier brickwork around thier home. What happens is..the humidity condenses in the wall and creates the mold to absorb through drywall..It could possibly be coming from the wall....Maybe because the crate was stationary..it "held" air moisture better? I am not an expert but, I have seen many many issues of mold problems....Witout a doubt though...Once it is growing in the room..it spreads easily. Good Luck


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## PeppersPop (Apr 13, 2008)

Sounds like its time for a science experiment!!! I loooove science experiments! 

Can you move the dog to another room, at least temporarily? Once you've moved him, clean all the black spots off the wall, and wait a day or two (or however long it takes for them to show up). If the black spots show up in the old location, but not the new one, then its not likely to be your dog.

If the black spots show up in the new location, but not the old one, then its probably the dog.

If you aren't able to move him to another location, you might want to get some white paper (butcher paper or something large and on a roll) and cover the walls where the dog is (you may want to try and rig something so that the paper is between the cage and the wall but not actually covering the wall... if you get black spots on the paper but not underneath the paper, then again, it is quite possibly the dog.

When you're doing an experiment, you want to manipulate one condition at a time so that you can tell which change/manipulation is causing whatever phenomenon you are investigating.

Good luck.





jamiesuzanne said:


> The wall behind my dog's crate is covered with speckles of black stuff. It's not chunks and it doesn't stink, so I know it's not poop.
> 
> It kindof looks like a kid with watered down black water color paint splattered his paintbrush all over the wall. It's extremely bad on the wall that the kennel backs up to, but it's also on every other surface close to the cage on other sides.
> 
> ...


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