I suppose this may drift into IMHO territory, but - here goes.
Is there any way to actually reduce the amount of cooking (and dog and people) odors in a small apartment? Not a masking agent, which most “air fresheners” are. We now have 2 adults and three dogs living in a one-bedroom “casita,” while our main house is being worked on. My wife cooks a lot of fish, and the exhaust fan doesn’t actually exhaust - it recirculates into the house, so that’s no help.
Do any air purifying devices actually work? Ozone? Carbon filters?
Anything? Anything? Bueller?
Since I don’t know where you live I have to assume that opening all the windows and airing out the place every few days isn’t an option. One suggestion would be to fix the exhaust fan and stop cooking fish. That’s not helping the situation any.
People and dog odors can be managed by said people and dogs having good hygiene. Some dogs do stink more than others, but washing said dog with a good dog shampoo can help a lot - if doing it yourself is a problem that’s a reason to find a dog groomer not so much for the cutting and styling but rather for getting the dog washed.
Contain dirty laundry. You might have to dry wet items before putting them in a hamper, but keeping the dirties in a hamper also helps.
Eat only in the kitchen and promptly dispose of food waste, preferably in a covered trash can with a good fitting lid. Then put said trash can where the dog can’t get into it. Get dishes and cooking pots/pans/etc washed promptly after dinner.
Chefguy’s suggestion of a good air purifier with HEPA filters will also help.
I’m assuming ya’ll like fish, but cooking something other than fish will also help with fish odors. Of course, that could easily lead to other cooking odors.
Anything that catches particulates is going to help, particularly if it’s HEPA-grade. A portable air cleaner will fit the bill nicely here.
I suspect your range hood fan just has grease-trap type of insert, which is a coarse metal mesh intended to catch larger droplets of grease. This leaves a lot of smaller particles of smoke and grease, along with gaseous odor molecules, to get exhausted back out into your room. If you can find the outlet of that system and cover it with activated carbon filters, it’ll probably help a lot.
Other than that, basic household and bio-hygiene rules apply, especially if you have 5 large animals (3 of which are non-human) in a small space.
I got an air purifier with HEPA and carbon filters and it makes SO much difference. I live in a 500SF tiny house with several dogs and during the winter when it’s difficult to bathe them things can get a little doggy and the purifier helps a lot. Also removes cooking smells with a quickness–I sleep in a loft and previously if I roasted a meat item the leftover smell would give me a headache all night but this year, no problem. I love this thing, I’m never doing without one again.
No problem, it’s this one. It’s a little cheaper on Amazon, the filters run about $35-40 each and my first filter lasted almost six months before needing replaced. They sell two kinds of filters, one that’s for pet hair/smells and one that’s targeted more toward mold/mildew.
I clean with cleaning-strength vinegar. Yes, it smells strong while cleaning but the scent disappears afterwards, taking the bad scents with it. I’ve been told that warming some vinegar in a pan will do the same but haven’t needed it yet as I don’t cook fish at home. However, I do have cats that sometimes need a cleanup in aisle 4 and the vinegar works well. So does a product call Bac-Out.
Now, due to said cats, litter boxes, and my tendency to overbuy food that will go bad before I can eat it, have invested in charcoal filters for my trash bins (one in the kitchen, other by the litterboxes. Purchased at The Container Store, they have plastic cases that stick to the inside lid of the garbage can. You change the filter every three months (garbage gets removed weekly). They do an amazing job.