My dog stinks!

[CANOPY SAM]

I gotta throw this out there and see what I get back.

Our dog, who is arguably the best dog living on the planet today, has become a chronically smelly dog.

We can bathe him in the bathtub, which he loves, and thoroughly scrub him for 30 minutes with nicely scented canine shampoos, and the next day he just smells like a sweaty, wet dog again!

He lives in our house, but comes and goes as he pleases, and he does run down to the river behind our house and plays in the water on really hot days. But the river water actually is pretty fresh, so I really wouldn't expect that this is the cause of his smell. Of course the river has some smell, but I can't imagine it's causing him to smell this bad. It's a different smell.

He just smells bad. You guys prolly know the smell. Kinda something between sweaty wet dog, and [PoorWordUsage] butt. I can't get this doggone smell out of him. After bathing and drying he's shiny, fluffy, and handsome, and he smells fairly nice for about 10 hours, but then the smell just comes roaring back in again, and I'm certain he hasn't gone out and rolled in anything.

I'm wondering, can this be a reflection of his diet? He's very happy and healthy, and seems to be thriving on what we feed him. I give him about a cup and a half of Purina Dog Chow in the morning. Then around 5:30 p.m. he gets about 1 cup of dog chow, and a half can of wet Alpo mixed in for a juicy dog hotdish. He LOVES his dog hotdish, but could this be making him smell bad? He also gets more then ample fresh clean water to drink all day long.

I've always been told that dogs do not sweat thru their skin, but primarily thru their tongues. It seems kind of hard to believe, with all those hair follicles, that they don't have at least some sweat glands around their bodies. He's a really active dog, and on these hot summer days I'd be really surprised to know he doesn't sweat profusely running around our property.

Why does he have this chronic bad smell? HELP! We love our dog, and he loves to snuggle with us on the couch, and he sleeps with my daughter in her bed, but this smell is making him kinda tough to live with!

[fishwidow]

Could very well be diet. I used to give the little liver flavored treats that come in a small milk type carton. after about two days of that the dogs gave off a very pronounced ugly odor. I'd try switching his diet gradually to see if that makes a difference. Good Luck.

[DrJuice1980]

Diet or he has a hidden carcass that he's been rolling around in.

[jmd1]

Have the glands under his tail cleaned. Don't do it yourself, it is nasty.

[Ufatz]

Did ya ever stop to think that maybe he thinks you don't smell all that great either sometimes!

Anal glands could be part of it. Expressing them is messy and truly foul smelling. That may not be it but it is a likely suspect.

It is basically easy to do. Rub some Vicks under your nose before you do it.

[Lunker]

The ol' rear end glands would be my guess as well. We had a dog years ago that had chronic issues with them.

[nofishfisherman]

Has the dog always been stinky or has it developed over time?

Diet would be the first thing I'd consider. Since he gets a wet and dry food you'll want to cut one at a time so you can determine which might be the issue. Cut out the wet food first to see if that makes a difference. If that doesn't help after a week or two try switching him over to a different dry food. Hopefully that takes care of it.

The glands could be an issue as well, does he drag his butt across the carpet? That can be a sign they need to be drained. Never had to do it with my dog but if I ever do you can bet i'll be having the vet do it. Money well spent if you ask me.

Only other thing I can think of is are you 100% sure he isn't rolling in something outside? You say he has freedom to come and go so I assume you don't have eyes on him 100% of the time. Only takes a minute for him to roll in a carcass or some other foul smelling mess. If its a new thing thats what I'd suspect he's doing.

Try giving him a bath and then keeping him contained in the house for a couple days, only letting him out on leash for walks. See if that keeps the smell away. If it does you can probably rule out diet and start your search for the rotten stuff he's rolling in.

[jmd1]

My 2 labs go to the groomer to get baths and glands expressed. I can tell when they need the glands done, not so much of dragging but they get swamp butt. My labs do not like water, have no idea why, one if born in AZ the other was born in MN. They will not get close to the pool or any body of water. In fact, when we do have rain, the MN lab will stay under the porch and not get wet. Pretty weird. Good luck.

[Pherris]

My lab got stinky and it turned out to be her ears. If your pup spends a lot of time in the water they can get a build up of some type that really emits the stinky oder. There is a solution you can get at most pet stores to squirt in the ears after they have been in the water. I took me a couple of weeks of bathing frequently but still having her smell. A trip to the vet and the ear drops solved the problem for my pup. Just something to consider. Good luck!

[CANOPY SAM]

Wow! This is all really helpful information. Yep, swamp butt, that pretty well describes it. But he does also have a periodic waft of ear wax stink too, so I'm gonna look into that as well. From what I can tell there is no ear infection at all, but he does have a slight ear wax smell.

He doesn't drag his butt on the ground, but he does look agitated quite often, and quickly swings his head in that direction as though something has bitten him. I wonder if these glands are causing him discomfort?

I'll be taking him to a vet for this inquiry. I do love my lab, but not enough to be pinching his foul smelling anal glands! Yeesshhh!!!!

Anyway, thanks everyone. I find it really interesting and encouraging that, on a "fishing" HSOforum, I can always count on this "hunting dog" thread for terrific advice. You guys rock.

I'm gonna look into all of these possibilities. Thanks again.

[MNHunter65]

I use the skunk removal formula when my dog gets the "wet dog" smell. It works great for stinky collars too if you let them soak in the solution.

1 quart of 3-percent hydrogen peroxide

1/4 cup baking soda

1 teaspoon liquid dishwashing soap

Rub the solution into the dogs coat and then rinse well. It wokrs better than any dog shampoo. I have had to use this after a skunk spray as well on 3 dogs and it works awesome!

[CANOPY SAM]

MnHunter. That sounds a little like a concoction for bleaching one's hair? Can you use this on a black Labrador?

There are three options here that I am leaning toward.

1) Diet. Taking away the wet food for a couple weeks and monitoring results. If that doesn't change anything, switch out the dry food for something perhaps better quality and see what that does.

2) Ears. I tend to not wash his ears too regularly. I believe if one does this too often it actually causes more infections then it prevents. An animal's natural immune system is quite remarkable, and I believe, left alone, it does very well on it's own. However, in this situation I will do a simple flushing of his ears with an over-the-counter ear wash, and see if that eliminates some of the smell.

3) Anal glands. Without question the most repulsive of possible issues I will minimally have him looked at by a vet to see if this might need doing.

As he lay in my lap last night, all 100 lbs. of him, all four legs in the air, completely happy and oblivious to his foul emanating odor, it dawned on me that a dog, like most animals, NEVER wipes! I have had labs that drag their backsides on the grass, carpet, or wherever, in an effort to scratch and clean the back door, but this dog has never done it. Also, like other labs I have owned, this one emits astonishing bad gas. It was worse when he was younger, and lately it hasn't been all that bad, but there have been times when he can peal the paint, and wilt the flowers.

I have to assume that never washing beneath his tail is going to eventually cause a little unpleasant build-up. And admittedly, when we bathe him, I don't intentionally wash that particular piece of exposed skin, as I myself would feel rather awkward having anyone else do it to me! Yes, I know, I know. I suppose I'm just being a bit too empathetic, but coming from Scandinavian decent, there are some things that one just does not do! Thoroughly scrubbing anyone else's "brown eye" is one of them!

Never-the-less, I will look into each of your suggestions, and MNHunter, I will probably give the shampoo mixture you offer a try, as long as you

can confirm it won't turn our black lab white!?!?

Thank you to each of you again. I will report back what ends up solving the smell problem.

On an interesting side note, yesterday, while my wife and I were running into town to do some errands, we came across a large white Golden Retriever mix breed running alongside the highway in the middle of nowhere. I just couldn't leave this nice looking dog to starve, or die alone, so I stopped and coaxed her into the truck. She was pretty dirty, and very hungry, so we took her home and are trying to contact her owner via radio ads and fliers locally. What was interesting is this dog, having not been bathed or cared for for who knows how long, has no odor what-so-ever. She doesn't smell at all!

Perhaps this whole issue is simply a "boy dog" thing?

[nofishfisherman]

I would think you'd be able to tell if the ears are the culprit by giving them the smell test. Is the smell stronger in the ears?

I have an ear wash for my dog but don't use it too often. I just check the ears from time to time and clean as they get dirty. Although my dog isn't in the water all that often. If he is then I'll clean his ears more often.

Never even considered proper butt "wiping" habits for dogs. Although my dog seems to have that problem taken care of in a unique way. He's got this weird obsession with kleenex. He steals them from the box and eats them. He passes clumps of them more or less whole. Maybe he's got it figured out so that he is able to wipe from the inside out?

When you take him to the vet make sure not to bath him for a couple days so that he's stinking it up pretty good. Ask the vet to take a whiff and suggest a cure.

[MNHunter65]

The peroxide/baking soda formula won't turn your black dog white. Just rub it into his coat well and then rinse with water. Works like a charm.

[CANOPY SAM]

LOL!!!! Indeed, possibly the new "lazy man's" wipe technique! That actually did make me laugh out loud!

Thanks MnHunter! We'll give it a try, after we have the vet do the old whiff test!

[corncob]

ANAL GLANDS!!!!!!!

[CANOPY SAM]

You really think so, corncob? I really hope not. Especially if it becomes a chronic issue.

So tell me guys, if and when a dog gets these anal gland issues, does it actually make the dog generally smell like (p o o p) all over their body? That's really the issue here. We wash him very carefully and thoroughly, and the very next day he just gradually starts to smell like poo again!

It's not super strong, smells like he just rolled in a big fresh wet one. Just kind of a nagging, subtle, combination of wet dog and "did you roll in something?" smell. Not intense. Just kinda won't go away even when we clean him really good.

I'll be making an appointment with the vet shortly, but if you dog gurus can tell me definitively that this is the issue at least we'll have a pretty good idea that a vet is indeed needed.

He's healthy as a horse otherwise, and just as happy as a dog can be. Although he's moderately annoyed that this other dog is in our house right now.

[ESSGuy]

My wife is a vet tech and she expresses our 3 springers anal glands about once a month.smells horrible.the quick turning around biting at rear end is a giveaway.

[DaSwede]

Anal glands. If I'm in the neighborhood of my vet, the black lab and I stop by. I WILL NOT EXPRESS THEM MYSELF. I'll pay the $38 to have them do it. It STINKS!!!! No way.

Anyhow, that's where I'd start!

[B-man715]

If it turns out to be the glands, they really aren't as bad to express as everybody makes it out to be. A glove, a couple paper towels, and a couple seconds is all it takes.

I would honestly clean 20 dogs butts rather than dress a gut-shot deer LOL

All of you can bring your dogs to my house and I will do it for half price I could probably make $2000 an hour

[B-man715]

Sounds silly, but Sam just lift up the tail and get a whiff. If that is the same smell then you know the problem

Just don't let your neighbors see you do it LOL

[mwal]

As others have said have you looked in the ears and smelled up close? Also what about his mouth? My dog gets an ear yeast /infection every couple of years and they smell horrible.

Mwal

[CANOPY SAM]

Well...here's the update guys.

Last weekend we had some friends stay with us. Ironically, one was actually a former vet assistant, and she said without question our dog needed his anal glands expressed. She even offered to do it herself, but I simply could not allow one of my friends to do this to my dog. She insisted it was no big deal, but I wouldn't allow her to do it.

I kept thinking what a memory that would be for the future. "Sam, remember that great weekend we had at your place when we expressed your dog's anal glands!" Yeah, that would be great!?!?

Anyway, I took Bones to the vet confident of what needed to be done. The vet quickly did the procedure, and lo and behold, nothing. His glands were fine. So the vet then asks me, "Does he swim in the river everyday?" I say, "Well, not every day, but pretty close on these warm summer days." That's it!

The vet goes on to say that if the dog rolls in anything unpleasant then swims in the river and eventually dries off it's essentially the same as letting a blood stain dry on your clothes. It's near impossible to get the smell back out of his skin and hair.

I purchased a bottle of cyclohexine canine shampoo, but the vet basically said it wouldn't make any difference as long as he continues to swim in the river.

I have no intention of preventing our water dog from swimming in the river. As many of you know, it's automatic for these guys to run and splash in the water. They love it! And I don't blame him a bit. If I was covered with black hair on a hot summer afternoon you better believe I'm gonna dive in the water every chance I get!

So...once again, thanks for all the advice and suggestions for where to look, and what to do. I'm actually kind of relieved it wasn't an anal gland issue as some of you said it can become a chronic problem and that doesn't sound like any fun at all.

I guess we'll just have to get used to bathing him more often during the summer, and perhaps accept that we have a somewhat smelly dog!

[123fish]

Kind of jumping in here late but have you done the peroxide, Dawn, baking soda bath? My late black lab was sprayed by skunks four different times in her first year of hunting and twice more after that. That bath flat out works. Your dog would have to be rolling in something every day for the smell to come back even if she was swimming in the river after one of those baths.

[MNHunter65]

123fish, the skunk bath does work awesome. I use it for my dog if he gets too smelly. If it can take away skunk smell (which it does), it will for sure take away other smells.