Stinky dog

[TheJenners]

He got smelly after the gross “puppy smell” everyone likes, and I thought it was just a boy-dog smell that would go away after he was neutered.

It didn’t.

It isn’t his butt, his ears, or anything specific. He just… smells. And it isn’t barn smell, horse pee smell, dirt or dust smell. Sort of a musky smell. He doesn’t feel oily. My two boys get professionally groomed regularly. They went July 19, and I had to give him a bath at home last Friday because I didn’t even want to pet him, and he already smells again. I couldn’t believe it. He and my 9 yo red boy get fed Purina One’s weight management food, I think it’s Health Weight? but before that he was on Purina One’s puppy food. My other boy doesn’t smell.

What can I do, short of giving him a bath weekly? I prefer not to bathe so often for lots of different reasons, but I’ve never had a dog so… odiferous. He is turning 2 in Oct, he got neutered at I think 10 months because he was a turd. He’s still a turd and he still smells

[Simkie]

You might try a different protein source for him, to see if that changes anything. Or even a hypoallegenic diet. Sometimes if the protein source doesn’t agree with them, they can stink.

Do any parts of him smell more than other parts?

[TheJenners]

No, not that I’ve noticed. He just has an aura of smell. A cloud of it. I smell it when he is laying near my bed.

My red boy is getting allergy and thyroid tested in two weeks, so I might be changing food anyway. He is itching and getting hot spots, he has always had some summer/fall allergies but it’s been wild this year and he’s chewing through benadryl and I’m applying mo…mo-something, not sure what it is, rx from the vet. The groomer said all her clients with allergies are worse this year. Same with the horses in the area too, my older mare has been on certerzine (sp) all spring and summer.

[Simkie]

It’s $$$ but a hydrolyzed protein diet would rule out (or treat) food allergies for your red dog, and tell you if it’s a food issue with this guy. Could start there, go for a month or two to settle your other dog & see if it changes the smell here, then switch over to something novel.

The hydrolyzed protein diets are a nice “reset” since there’s really nothing in them to react to. So often with allergies the dog is so ramped up and reactive that it can be tough pinning down a protein that’ll work.

[JanM]

A friend’s dog had that issue. She switched to salmon based, and that helped a lot, but kept trying different grain free foods, but that only lessened the smell.

Also, I had one dog that licked her feet. After I quite feeding Milk Bone treats, and switched to another brand, the foot licking stopped. I felt so guilty.

[MunchingonHay]

@Simkie

You might try a different protein source for him,

@TheJenners

He is itching and getting hot spots

Its the chicken and the grain.

I echo everything stated up thead. It is amazing how much food plays a role.

Sometimes dogs that have a reaction to chicken and have outdoor allergies as well, will also have a reaction to: lamb, salmon, venison. These are “hot foods” in Chinese Traditional Med.
Your dog most likely needs a “cold foods” diet which is; beef, pork, turkey, white fishes to balance.
(that is just a quick list).

[TheJenners]

@Simkie

It’s $$$ but a hydrolyzed protein diet

OMG I checked some, sorry but I absolutely cannot afford $50+ for a SIX POUND bag of dog food. That is just not a possibility. That is insane.

[cilla1]

I agree your should change his food, hydrolized protein is a good advice. I ready many people in US use Purina food for their dogs, here in Italy it is not considered a high quality food (personally I don’t like their horse line too). I read now that hydrolized food is too expensive, you can try a normal protein but avoid chicken. Usually fish and pork are well tolerated. Be aware that many brands do not use chicken as a protein source but they spread chicken oil on kibble as appetizant so read carefully the ingredients before buying!

[Simkie]

I usually go with z/d, which is expensive, but not that expensive:

https://www.chewy.com/dp/54723

And just to be clear: while some people use this type on diet forever, I’ve had success in using it over a short time, like 6-8 weeks, to stop any food allergy reaction, then transition to a novel protein source. It’s a lot easier, in my experience, to shut down the allergy, and then pick a new diet.

Going from a high allergy diet to a hopefully better protein is murky. Are they getting better? Are they reacting to the new diet or is that a hold over from the old diet? It can be really tough to tell.

[TheJenners]

That’s still $12/day at what he is eating now.

[Simkie]

He’s eating almost 2 1/2 pounds of food a day?

[TheJenners]

Oooof no, I confused cups and pounds

[Simkie]

It IS definitely expensive, I totally understand. And it’s absolutely not the only way with a potential food allergy/issue. But from when I’ve gone through this sort of stuff, it’s FAR more definitive and straight forward than playing a round robin of different protein types, esp when they’re just super reactive, coming off a food that isn’t working.

[TheJenners]

I don’t plan on changing food right now anyway, no point in that if the other dog has allergies (though it could just be thyroid antibodies, apparently common in Aussies per my vet who also has Aussies).

I wouldn’t have thought of the food as causing the younger doggo’s stinkiness. He isn’t itchy or otherwise acts like he has an allergy.

[Djones]

The most common allergies in dogs:

• Beef (34% of dogs with food allergies)
• Dairy (17% of dogs with food allergies)
• Chicken (15% of dogs with food allergies)
• Wheat (13% of dogs with food allergies)
• Lamb (5% of dogs with food allergies)
• Less common allergens include soy, corn, egg, pork, fish and rice.

[TheJenners]

Has anyone said yet that allergies can cause a dog to smell, with no accompanying “normal” allergic symptoms?

[Simkie]

I’m not sure if it’s “allergies” or just a specific response to a particular protein, but yeah, I’ve known dogs that stink on a particular food and smell better or smell less when switched to a different protein source.

[MunchingonHay]

I have worked with a small and large animal vet that also works inTraditional Chinese Med and yes, allergies/foods can cause dogs to stink.

5 Elements for Animals. Dr Wendy Ying. https://www.drwendyying.com/

[Annie10]

What kind of a smell is it? I had an Aussie who kind of always a low grade mildly fishy smell. Finally we detected a staph infection and once cleared thaf up no more funky dog. I also used to bathe him in Selsun Gold people shampoo and that helped too.

[TheJenners]

@Annie10

I also used to bathe him in Selsun Gold people shampoo and that helped too.

Selson Gold? I can try that… I dunno, hard to explain, like a musky acrid smell? Not yeasty like that corn chip smell. It was always musky which was why I thought neutering would fix it. It is not a smell I’ve ever smelled before, not even that unwashed dog-smell that peoples’ dogs that never get brushed or washed smell like. And definitely not anal gland smell, that’s disgusting, like dead fish and poo, gag