Older Dog Smells!

[FluffyStuff515]

My older dog, Benji is about 5 or 6. He's a great dog, aging quicker since we got our new dog, but besides that he's doing fine. What we've noticed though is that he smells really bad! Its just him, too because Lucy our new dog doesn't smell bad at all. Could this be because he's getting older, or even he's a male? It's nothing he's rolled or gotten into, you can tell its body odor! Please help!

[FluffyStuff515]

Sorry everyone... I just realized I put this in the wrong forum! I hope its ok to just leave it here....

[Giny]

Is he neutered? Intact dogs give out a stronger odor then neutered dogs. Also check to make sure he doesn’t have an ear infection or that his anal glands aren’t impacted. They both can give out an offensive smell.

[elegy]

what smells? his ears? his mouth? his bum? what kind of food is he eating?

[calgal]

If the smell is from his skin & coat you may want to shampoo him in an anti-bacterial soap or shampoo for dogs. Check with your Vet.. Chances are he may want to do a skin scrape and also look in his mouth and ears. Age has nothing to do with bad odor.

[GSD4me]

fluffystuff515,

I have the same situation in my hands. My boy Stewie smells pretty bad also. I just got him from the shelter 3 days ago, and they were feeding him 'Ol Roy dog food ( <-- crap food ). The vet said that the smell may be due to his diet and he said that once he is completely (i'm weaning him off 'OR) on a better diet such as Nutro dog food, the odor may disappear. He also recommended a bath if the diet thing didn't help. What kinda food do you feed your guy?

[Kelly]

I agree, try a nice bath and a exam at the vet. his teeth may need cleaning. you'd be surprised at how bad they can smell!

If it is coming from somewhere else, he may have an infection.

[Boleyn]

If there is nothing underlying causing it, and it's just "dogginess", you can bathe him and follow with a vinegar rinse - 1 cup white vinegar to a gallon of warm water. I have not yet tried it but it's supposed to work wonders - and no, they won't smell like pickles! Or as an alternative, you could toss some baking soda in with the shampoo.

[FluffyStuff515]

Thanks to everone's replies. My dogs eat IAMs, if thats any help... the vet told us its the best option. But we feed both dogs that, so if it did make 1 smell, wouldn't the other smell too? We also give them each a packet of wet dog food, Mighty Dog everynight. After hearing something in here about ears, Benji's are all dry and red and he itches every once in a while. Could it just be a rash or something thats causing the odor?

[WingedFoal]

It sounds like he has an ear infection and needs a round of antibiotics. He needs to be seen by a vet, of course, to determine if this is the cause of his smell, so be sure to take him in as soon as possible! You may also want to ask about allergies, and if it could be caused by what he eats. He may have a food allergy (or any kind of allergy for that matter - dust, plant, grass, etc.), while your other dog doesn't.... Just like humans, dogs all have different allergies too.

[linnie]

My old girl emma stinks real bad and I have to regularly bathe her in an anti bacterial shampoo
wish I could get the teeth to smell good to lol

[Barrett]

Smell your dogs ears, if they have a yeast infection that could cause a really bad oder. One of my dachshund is prone to ear infections and I have to clean her ears out with a special cleanser once a week to control yeast. I always stick my nose in her ears for a good sniff to make sure they stay healthy. I can tell when she get an ear infection right away.

[Kelly]

LOL, I can just picture it Barrett. Nose way in the ear snooping out an infection.

It does sound as if he has a yeast or staff infection. An ear flush and some ear meds will probably help. Don't let it go too long because it can get really bad to the point where the ear can close up and get VERY infected (I'm talking oozing puss out of the ear hole)

[JackLover]

You should also change the food iams is not a good food, i has been known to cause a lot of problems, vets are not nutritionists so they dont know everything

[gracie]

The next time you go in, you may want to get the vet to check for impacted anal glands. Recently my dog started reeking. She had an infection but also full anal glands which they expressed while she was in. The vet recommended that we bring her in every 3 months to get them expressed. We use to have a dog named Benji, and he had a constant problem with ear mites. This would give off a bad odor as well. Does your dog have any discharge coming from his eyes unto his fur, this reeks as well. I have two dogs and they both need constant wiping because it stinks. The vet said it's the way the eyelid is formed that causes their tear ducts to drain. In their case it isn't an infection, but you should have a vet do a once over on Benji, just to make sure. How's his teeth, gums, breath. Around Benji's age, dental problems can arise and cause odor as well. Good luck with Benji.