Corgi smells ... off

[Guin]

Tribble: 9 y/o female spayed corgi, in excellent health and weight.

Okay, so this is weird and obviously I can’t take a photo of it. 1) It is NOT anal glands; I know what that smells like. I have bathed her several times and the odor comes back the next day. She smells… kind of “toasty”? It is so hard to describe.

It is not skunky or rancid, and not something she has rolled in. Her skin is slightly dandruffy and has a few darker-colored, little bitty scabby places that come off her skin when I brush her. She swims everyday but she does not smell like a wet dog.

She has also been scooting as if her anal glands are bothering her, but I just had that taken care of at the vet’s a couple of weeks ago. Do dogs get yeast infections? Could that be the smell?

Any ideas? I feel so ridiculous making a vet appointment because she doesn’t smell…right.

[SquishTheBunny]

What area is the smell coming from, all over, front/hind end?

Obvious answers to front end is dental, and hind end is anal glands…but general funky smell with otherwise normal behaviour, maybe thyroid?

I’d still go to the vet and run some bloodwork, internal issues (abscess, bile leakeage, necrotic tumors) will often cause a funky smell, but usually the pet isn’t feeling completely normal either. Low T4 can cause the skin to have a bad smell, and some dogs this is the only symptom.

However, with the skin issues you mention… other things like fungal infections in the skin, and YES!!! yeast in particular can cause a nasty smell. UTI’s can also do this.

[EponaRoan]

Her skin is slightly dandruffy and has a few darker-colored, little bitty scabby places that come off her skin when I brush her.

Teal’c (10 y/o female GSD) has something like this and we were just at the vet’s yesterday. He said it was an old dog type of thing and to use Selsun Blue or a similar knock-off (it’s the selenium sulfide that’s supposed to work) on it and leave it on for 10 minutes. She’s not itchy or smelly though.

[S1969]

[QUOTE=Guin;7103108]
She has also been scooting as if her anal glands are bothering her, but I just had that taken care of at the vet’s a couple of weeks ago. Do dogs get yeast infections? Could that be the smell?[/QUOTE]

Hmmm…just because she had her anal glands “taken care of” at the vets; I wouldn’t rule them out. An impaction could cause a lot of discomfort without necessarily smelling like anal glands to you. The actual expressing of the anal glands could have caused an injury.

I am sure it could be a yeast infection as well.

However, the scooting behavior would lead me to go to the vets with an anal or vaginal infection as the primary symptom.

[cowboymom]

my chi dog was preoccupied with her rear end when she was (briefly) on a dog food that had corn in it… she was also extremely itchy and dandruffy and just off…

ETA I should add-mine came up with a fullblown intestinal problem within a couple weeks… I blame what I was feeding for that in between time… got off corn products and all was good…

I think in your shoes I would do a novel protein and simple carb diet, venison and brown rice in my world… see if she didn’t settle…

you’re sure she’s not eating something weird? I knew a dog that stunk for WEEKS b/c she at an entire bottle of B vitamins… she turned yellow too! LOL lived to tell the tale…

But all around funk, I change and simplify the food… a clearing shampoo will help what is on the surface already but the system is probably off if the dog is struggling with all of it,

[csaper58]

My dog’s feet smell like Frito’s Corn Chips in the summer. I have to wash them every few days. That’s not a reason for butt scooting though. Does she swim in a pool or a pond? Could it be something in the water? Or maybe her skin is staying damp, corgi dogs have thick coats that take a long time to dry.

[GotGait]

All dog feet smell like Fritos.

[Chall]

[QUOTE=GotGait;7103519]
All dog feet smell like Fritos.[/QUOTE]
Who knew? LOL, is that mentioned in the manual?

[S1969]

[QUOTE=GotGait;7103519]
All dog feet smell like Fritos.[/QUOTE]

:yes:

[2tempe]

QUIN - I don’t have a great answer for you but: over the last week or two I’ve noticed that my chow/shepherd girl smells “off” She is 12, so “older” like yours. Also has the thick dense coat. Swims, though not every day. She also has several small (like smaller than a dime) flakey patches , and parts of her feel just s smidge oily. She’s not showing any interest in her back end, and is not abnormally scratching.

I’m kind of thinking about taking her to the vet but ugh, I know it will cost me to get out of there. Where we are, in Florida many dogs have allergies, so for now she’s back on benedryl for a few days. Interested in whatever you find re the corgi; please post back

[WoofNWhinny]

This is a nine-year-old dog, so evidently a new symptom for her.

Yes, it could be her anal glands even if they were done recently.

Check her ears, dogs often get yeast infections in the ears.

Check her teeth, she could have a cracked or abscessed tooth.

Check her breath, it could be diet-related or health-related. Diabetes causes a sweet or fruity smell on the breath.

It could be a skin condition, but you would probably see a rash or break in the skin. She’s spayed, so unlikely, but not impossible, that she has some type of vaginal infection.

Given that she’s spayed and getting older, she could be leaking urine in her sleep. If it gets into her fur, you could be smelling stale urine. Check her bedding. Give it a thorough wash for good measure, regardless of what’s causing the smell, it’s probably getting into her bed as well and then her fur may reabsorb some of the scent. Smell clings to canine undercoat in particular.

It could be algae or something else in the water that she’s swimming in daily. You could try bathing her and then keeping out of that water for a couple of days to see if the smell is still present.

Please let us know what it turns out to be.

[BuddyRoo]

Sounds to me like a skin thing. Sometimes, having dandruff/flaky skin stuff is actually due to overactive oil glands. Seborrheic dermatitis. And you can end up with secondary bacterial skin infections due to other things as well…

I think I’d head back to the veterinarian and see what they think. They should be able to do a skin scrape or whatever other diags they recommend to determine the root cause.

[Guin]

After doing a lot of googling, it seems possible that it’s a yeast infection although not in her ears. Some photos I found show the same sort of little black scabs like she has, and a lot of the information mentions that vaginal itching is a consistent symptom. I think I’ll take her to the vet to have her looked at, although every website says that anti-fungal drugs take weeks to work and can have very bad liver side effects. Lots of recommendations for acidophilus and apple cider vinegar treatments.

Am going to call and bring her in. Of course she also needs her blood drawn because her teeth are getting cleaned at the end of the month. :ambivalence: $$$$$$

[LauraKY]

I was going to suggest yeast. My last collie had a life long problem. It got better when she was finally diagnosed as hypthyroid. We got to the point that we gave her a vinegar rinse after every bath (after treatment.)

[wendy]

if it is yeast, it’s very possible the actual cause is an allergy- food or environment- or a suppressed immune system. Treating the cause would be a better route to try than trying to treat the infection- it’ll just come back if you don’t find the cause.
But obviously you need a diagnosis first from the vet.

[Guin]

Vet was great and identified the smell immediately. Poor Tribble has some sort of infected skin crud, most likely from all her swimming. So, Chlorhexidine baths, oral antibiotics, and no swimming for five days. She LOVES to swim. I’m trying to think of places to take her for walks where there isn’t a pond or river - all our routes are built around swimming spots.

[WoofNWhinny]

[QUOTE=csaper58;7103496]
My dog’s feet smell like Frito’s Corn Chips in the summer. I have to wash them every few days. [/QUOTE]

Yep, some dogs feet do smell like Frito’s chips. Not all, but some.

Here’s why:

http://pinterest.com/pin/52284045647045188/

Glad you got it sorted out, OP.