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  1. #1
    House Broken Mom4four's Avatar
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    Do some dogs just smell more than others??

    I dont mean to sound stupid with my question but Quincy stinks! I only bathed our previous lab twice a year (once in the spring and once in the fall) and she never smelled. And my house never smelled like dog. He just stinks like dog and not in a good way. Any tips/suggestions on something to help him smell better?? A good shampoo?? I hate than when you walk in our house you can smell him!

  2. #2
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    Usually the first question is: what food are you feeding him? If the stink is coming from the inside out, no amount of shampoo will fix it! (And yes, one dog might not smell at all on a certain food while another lab will be stinky from it.)
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  3. #3
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    Yes, oily coated dogs often smell more than other breeds. Labs, being a water fowl dog, do tend to have oily coats. My dogs don't stink, except for when Oban had some weird, undiagnosed issue on his back that could darn near make a person gag.

    Usually we become used to our own dog's smell so if you can walk into your own house and notice it, it is likely worse than most dogs. Though you have to remember the smell is also on anything he lies on so you'll never get rid of it till you thoroughly launder. It took really powerful laundry soap and hours bleaching in the hot sun to get Oban's weird smell out of his blankets.

    My ideas:

    • DO other people notice it as much as you? Some mild dog smell is normal, maybe you are super sensitive?
    • Could there possibly be a health or skin issue? I could pinpoint the area on Oban's back that the smell came from, can you find a source or is it all over?
    • What do you feed? Some folks notice a fishy odour when feeding fish based food.
    • Can you describe the smell? Oban was like sour milk mixed with something else horrible. Sour is the main word.
    • Shampoo can help, it can irritate the skin and make it worse too.
    • Do you dry him off thoroughly after swimminmg? You must.
    • Is he swimming in water that has higher bacteria counts this summer? Can you ask other dog owners if their dog smells after being in the same water? Hosing him off might help if that's it.


    ETA: Oban was so bad I just threw one blanket out.

  4. #4
    House Broken Mom4four's Avatar
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    He eats Blue Buffalo Lamb and Oatmeal Puppy food. And I am not the only one who thinks he stinks. My girls are always asking me to bathe him( which I dont do regularly because of the dry skin issue) He doesnt sleep on a blanket or anything yet and we dont swim. I have wiped his kennel out with a vinegar/water mixture incase its coming from there. He does smell a little sour, like a sour stinky doggish smell.
    I guess I can add that to my questions for the vet next week. We have only had one indoor dog and it was a female so I wasnt sure if males just smell more lol

  5. #5
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    I've found that lamb tends to have a strong influence on dogs, but...

    I had my chocolate male and yellow female on the same lamb food and only my male ever had any odor at all. Not too bad but the female never did.

    I have my present two on two different varieties of grain-free (same food each dog, food alternates meal to meal)....they are bison-based and salmon-based. They both have a strong odor affecting the breath...both dogs' breath is the same somewhat icky breath. But only my female ever gets body odor...not the worst by any means and not really terribly doggy...more feral. She came to us from a shelter that fed a mix of any dry food that was donated and the odor was noticeable right at first. I put her on a lamb food. Same odor. I switched eventually to the present food. Same feral odor.

    Her son eats the same food and has no body odor at all except for a very pleasant brown sugar-like smell in certain areas, like on the top of his head.

    Both dogs have feet that smell like popcorn (no corn in their diet) and that's the smell I notice on occasion in my house...mainly in the mats at the front door. I wash the sheets that I keep on their beds about every two weeks and never notice a scent on them unless a washing is overdue for some reason...and then I blame the smell on Sunnie. I prefer that Sunnie stays off my bed for this reason but Dan is always free to hop on.

  6. #6
    House Broken Mom4four's Avatar
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    I did read online that lamb can cause a stronger dog odor so I may try chicken. We only switched to lamb because the breeder said he wasn't eating the other well. But it's worth a try to see if there is any difference.

  7. #7
    Senior Dog arentspowell's Avatar
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    Excessive yeast can also cause a foul dog smell. My MILs dog has a yeast issue and he is quite stinky and greasy.

  8. #8
    Senior Dog Meeps83's Avatar
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    Yes yeasty dogs smell.

  9. #9
    Senior Dog Maxx&Emma's Avatar
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    A skin yeast issue would be my first thought. It is a very distinctive smell that is far from pleasant.
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  10. #10
    House Broken Mom4four's Avatar
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    Other than smell are there any other symptoms I should look for? A rash or anything? His skin looks fine as far as I can tell. He does have a vet appt on Monday so I will ask the vet about it too

 



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