My mom used to have one, and I didn’t think much about it. Mom would always complain about him, but I never noticed. Now I have such a dog. He smells awful! This is not due to skunks or rolling in poo. He is just smelly. Baths do not seem to help. He is the happiest dog ever, but he really stinks! Any ideas?
Dogs that have a permanent stinky smell usually have some kind of seborrhea issue. It may require medicated shampoo and/or change in diet. https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/seborrhea-in-dogs
There can be certain health conditions that might lead to seborrhea, so a vet check is never a bad idea.
What kind of dog?
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If they have a double coat - like GSDs, which I have. This time of year when they are shedding/blowing their coats, they roll and just have dirt and other things collected and embedded in the under coat and skin. A good bath, alot of scrubbing and brushing will get the undercoat off and greatly reduce the smell. It might take more than one bath and alot of brushing - ask me how I know! 
thanks guys. He is a spaniel, not quite a Cocker, not quite a Springer, not quite a Brittany. His coat to me, seems thin. I will ask the vet about it. I am feeding both of them food for health, 1 can split between the two, and a good measure of kibble. I think he never had canned food before. He was a farm dog, 7 years old, and his people couldn’t care for him anymore. He has decided he now won’t eat the kibble, but that is up to him. 1/2 a can a day isn’t enough though.
Following this thread! I have a stinky pup too. He’s a young guy, still intact and going through doggie puberty, and lives on a farm so that probably has something to do with it. He smells lovely after a bath but that doesn’t last long. 
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We had a stray that we adopted many years ago. She was probably a flat coated retriever. For the first couple of years we owned her we fed California Natural so not exactly Ol’ Roy. She had a very oily coat, lots of dandruff and a bit stinky compared to my lab and Eskimo dog. At some point I switched to 4Health. Rosie went from a mahagony color to black, no longer left that black oily residue on fingers when she was petted, no more stink or dandruff.
We adopted a Foxhound, Blossom, who smelled like a hound when we got her. After about 4 or 5 months on 4Health she no longer smelled like a hound.
I think food can make a huge difference in body odor for people and dogs. I don’t think that it is 100% quality of food as CA Natural is a decent food. I think for certain dogs it can trigger a reaction that makes them stinky.
Regretfully I have found it can take a few months before you notice a positive difference. Blossom was on crap food for 11 years before we got her, mostly corn based cheap stuff. It costs a lot to feed 25 hounds that have a high caloric needs and weigh an average of 60 pounds for females and 75 pounds for males. Therefore lots of cheap Southern States dog food.
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I dont think puberty or intact has anything to do with smell…or at least not one that would be significant or noticeable. Both my males are intact. One will smell more “doggy” before the other one but not permanently. They are the same breed but coat texture is slightly different.
I bathe my dogs and it goes away…for weeks or months. So if you bathe and the dog is stinky within a week…i would consider skin issues. And a food change might fix it.
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In the absence of a vet consult, I’d recommend a bath using Chlorhexidine shampoo: https://www.amazon.com/Antifungal-Anti-Yeast-Chlorhexidine-Medicated-Ketoconazole/dp/B01G2T1NDA. It’s widely available online (Amazon, Chewy, etc), in stores like Petsmart, and it’s not ruinously expensive.
My last GSD had allergies which appeared like clockwork every spring and fall. Endless itching and scratching which, absent intervention, would quickly progress to hot spots and then full-blown skin infections. He smelled like a swamp on four legs and was just miserable. Ugh. Breeders on another list recommended the shampoo while we were waiting for a vet appt. Two baths in a week and he was good to go. Now, I make sure that I always have a full bottle on hand. If a bath doesn’t nip things in the bud (it usually does), we go to the vet.
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Skin issues (including seborrhea), diet, mouth issues such as dirty teeth or an infection (even if the source of the smell isn’t near the mouth, dogs lick themselves and can transfer bad smells to their coat), impacted anal glands, undercoat or a soft coat holding smells, or smelly facial hair (any breed with a beard or lots of coat or skin folds/loose skin near the mouth/throat area, which could include a Spaniel Mix).
Even if the dog smells good after a bath, check the mouth and anal glands to be sure they aren’t causing the bad smell as it may not be as noticeable for a couple of days after a bath.
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Raises Hand Stinky dog owner here! Mine is a Basset/Lab cross, and we take her for walks every day and she goes out in our pond most days when the weather is good, so we always thought that was why she stunk. Then I noticed her ears were bothering her, so I bought some ear rinse, and give them a good rinse and a swab. 95% of odor GONE! She still smells pretty doggy, but nothing like before. Check the ears.
Impacted anal glands perhaps?
If the ears are stinky it is what you are feeding, it seems that 70% of issues are from what is fed to a dog. Like someone above pointed out it could also be teeth.
WHAT!?! 25 hounds? This is my dream come true. The chorus of dogs must sound amazing. Do you have pics of your crew?
Last year, I kept hearing an add on AM radio for Dynovite. It’s some sort of enzyme supplement for smelly, itchy dogs with skin conditions. Might be worth a look.
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Read this - apparently it’s a “thing” with spaniels.https://www.about-cocker-spaniels.com/bad-odor.html
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I don’t know, nothing in there sounds like it is “spaniel” in nature. The only thing I would consider that is more breed specific is dogs with heavy drop ears can definitely have ear problems, but it’s not just spaniels, it’s the ear type.
It seems like the best way start is to try to identify where the smell is coming from. If it’s ears, mouth or anal glands, it should be pretty easy to target at least the end from which the stink is coming. Mouth smell is pretty easy to identify in comparison to anal gland smell. Obviously the odor can spread a little bit from grooming and lying in dirty bed, etc., but should still be worse at the originating end.
Most anal gland issues can be corrected by adding bulk to the food to firm up stools - so the change to canned food might be part of the issue. At least I would consider mixing the two together to try to get the dog to eat some kibble, but you can also add bran or pumpkin to help. Sometimes the anal glands get impacted/infected and that makes the dog lick them more often, and then their mouth also smells bad. Is the dog licking?
If it’s the whole dog, I would think about seborrhea/skin issues. A change in food may help, as well as medicated shampoo.
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Canned food produces firmer stools.
I’ve never heard that. I’m sure a lot depends on what kind of food in general, kibble and canned. Typically when people are fighting issues with anal glands they add fiber.
thanks everyone. I will give him a bath today and see if he improves. If not, off to the vet we will go.
I had a stinky dog, it turned out to be thyroid issues. Also some dog allergies will make them “aromatic”
