stinky dog

[Barbara]

I have a mini-daschund. She stinks ALL the time. I give her a bath & before she goes to bed, she smells again. I can't possibly think of anything she could be rolling in. And when I hold her,my hands stink just like her. I told her vet that she actually seems to get wet under her armpits----lol front paws & THEY stink. I have to wash my hands right away or I want to gag. Does anyone else have this problem or know someone who does?

[calgal]

Generally it's caused by the food they eat, mainly meat. Just as humans who eat meat have body odor. Generally vegetairians don't have the body odor, same goes for dogs who don't eat meat. Another cause is bacteria that grows on the surface of the skin. Your Vet. will have the special shampoo to take care of that problem.

[bigdoglover]

I found that a shampoo with baking soda helps. Of course, like calgal said, check with your vet.

[rmci]

Originally Posted by calgal

Generally it's caused by the food they eat, mainly meat. Just as humans who eat meat have body odor. Generally vegetairians don't have the body odor, same goes for dogs who don't eat meat. Another cause is bacteria that grows on the surface of the skin. Your Vet. will have the special shampoo to take care of that problem.

No offense, but some of the vegetarians that I know reek like garlic
Could the wetness under the arms be from excessive licking? Could the smell come from your mini's bed? How often is the bedding cleaned? I have a problem with my dog's bed smelling bad (see my thread), which "rubs" onto him if I'm not careful.

[Boleyn]

I've always thought that dogs who eat a low quality, high grain diet smell yeasty. Sometimes hounds tend to have oilier (is that a word?) coats.
If the vet doesn't find anything-
You can also do a "vinegar rinse" after her bath. Mix 1/2 c. white vinegar with 1/2 gal. warm water, and apply it after the shampoo, let it sit and then rinse. I have not tried this, but many other groomers do. It helps cut down on bacteria that cause smells. And she won't smell like pickles afterwards!

[calgal]

When I was a little girl in grade school, and lice were always going around, my grandmother (who raised me) would always use white vinegar and water final rinse on my hair and I never, not once, got lice. I continued it on all my boys (they never got lice) and I do this with my dogs in hopes of keeping any bugs or fleas off. They never get fleas, so there must must be something to this. Vinegar also kills bacteria just as effectively as bleach, so that is probably why the dogs have no bad body odor afterwards. You don't need to let the vinegar and water solution sit on the hair. You also don't rinse it out. If the water vinegar ratio is right then you wont have a lingering vinegar smell.

[bigdoglover]

I love this forum...I learn something new everyday!! LOL

[mrsgrubby]

Are you sure her anal glands are not plugged? My Alexi stunk bad for a few weeks and bathing her only lasted a matter of hours and she stunk again eveywhere, not just on her backend.
Finally I took her to the vet and it turned out she needed to get her anal glands emptied and once they did it....no more stinking.

[flyndog]

What did your vet have to say about it? Body odor can be a symptom of a skin disease like dermatitis or yeast infection.

[gracie]

My dog reeked so bad, that we found it hard to be around her. This wasn't like her, so we took her to the vet, she had an infection and plugged anal sacs. From what I read, smaller dogs tend to get plugged anals and it is common with poodles also. Good luck finding the problem, if it becomes too unbearable and if these tips don't help, ask your vet about it.

[Mitmig]

How often do you give your dog a bath? When you bath her too much, she can smell because she excretes too much tallow (I hope this is the right english word for it).

[TribalRats]

So CalGal what is the proper water to Vinegar ratio? I would love to give this a try.