Post by kitchenreno on Jul 5, 2016 17:58:30 GMT -5
My 8 month old dog smells so bad. He is an unneutered male. When he walks by or plops down, we just get this seriously gross smell from him. After intense googling, I thought it was his anal glands (ewww). We took him for a full bath (including shampoo, blow dry, ear cleaning, teeth brushing and gland expression) last weekend. He smelled good and I thought it was solved. Fast forward one week and the smell is back. I have tried getting up close and personal with him EVERYWHERE and I still can't isolate the smell. What could it be?! I'm calling the vet tomorrow, but in the meantime, looking for some answers. It is really foul, but it's not a distinct urine or poop smell - it's just...gross? I can't even describe it. I love my dog. I hate this smell. HELP ME.
It might still be anal glands. Groomers don't express then as thoroughly as the vet does - they just squeeze them from the outside, but the vet squeezes them from, well, the inside, lol. Have them expressed at the vet and hopefully that will solve the problem! And if not, the vet can check the smell while you're there and see if it might be something else. One time when Dexter had an ear infection, it smelled, even though he didn't have any of the other typical symptoms.
Post by foundmylazybum on Jul 5, 2016 18:12:38 GMT -5
What type of dog? Certain dogs need to be groomed to remove dead hair that can start to smell. They either need to be stripped or have a professional deshedding...but at 8 months old this seems pretty young still to need either one of these.
I'd agree that it's probably his food. Try a different protein or grain free if you don't feed it already and see if it helps.
Eta. Yeah, feeding Royal Canin will do that. Are you sure he still needs scrip food?
No, I'm not sure. When I call the vet tomorrow I'll ask what she thinks. We switched to this food probably 5 months ago, and his stool has been fine ever since. But, now we have the smell. The smell started in the last 3 weeks or so. If it was food related, could it still take this long to start to stink?
What type of dog? Certain dogs need to be groomed to remove dead hair that can start to smell. They either need to be stripped or have a professional deshedding...but at 8 months old this seems pretty young still to need either one of these.
What type of dog? Certain dogs need to be groomed to remove dead hair that can start to smell. They either need to be stripped or have a professional deshedding...but at 8 months old this seems pretty young still to need either one of these.
goldendoodle (hides while I get flamed for this)
Hmmm. Ok, you would just have to take him to a groomer and have them check him out b/c he's a mix.
Some dogs need specific grooming to get rid of the dead hair, but I'm not sure about a goldendoodle.
I just looked up that food and it's god-awful. The big ingredients to avoid in a dog food are by-products, corn, and corn gluten, and this has all of them. That could possibly be the source of the smell, but even if it's not, he'll be better off on a decent food. Try transitioning him off of it and onto a good quality grain-free chicken-free formula. We've had good luck with Wellness Core and Fromm Four Star with our sensitive-GI Sadie as long as we avoid chicken.
It could be the food. I also wouldn't rule out anal glands.
They are downright foul smelling when dogs express them at home. Rox has to get hers expressed by the vet every other month. I would definitely ask about that at the vet. One of our vet techs has to have her dog's expressed WEEKLY. Ugh. I feel so bad for her/the dog. But it is possible that either the groomer didn't get them expressed well enough or your dog has to have them expressed more frequently.
Does it smell a little like an open bag of Fritos that you've left in a hot car for a long time? I know that's weird, but when our dog has an ear infection he has a distinct nasty Fritos-like smell inside that ear.
Does it smell a little like an open bag of Fritos that you've left in a hot car for a long time? I know that's weird, but when our dog has an ear infection he has a distinct nasty Fritos-like smell inside that ear.
The first time my dog needed her anal glands expressed I was FUCKING HORRIFIED. The smell is SO FUCKING bad. And she left the scent wherever she sat down. It wasn't until she was literally leaking and staining things she sat on that we realized WTF it was.
If you've ever smelled a rancid, used maxi pad, that's what I think it smells like. There's almost a fishy smell to it.
If it smells like rancid farts, it's probably his food.
I was going to say anal glands, but it could be his ears too. I would definitely go to the vet vs a groomer for the anal gland issue. I believe groomers can make it worse if they do it wrong. We have never had to deal with this thank god
I agree that you need to transition off that food. And I wouldn't necessarily go to the vet on food advise, I would research that independently.
We have had success with grain-free, chicken-free food. We have fed taste of the wild, solid gold, and Costco grain free.
My parents have a golden-poodle mix and honestly he just needs bathed a lot. He just tends to hold "stink". They get him bathed every couple weeks and trimmed every 4-6 weeks. My dad says the dog's hair is more high maintenance than my mom's.
"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion." - Unknown
Could it be his neck area where the collar rubs? Sometimes they get a funky smell from too much friction.
We had a nasty smell that turned out to be a 'hot spot' under his collar. Essentially his skin was raw and rotting (poor guy!) under his leather collar. It took about three days before I figured it out. I bathed him, brushed him, inspected him but couldn't see anything wrong. It was really well hidden under his fur. Finally it got so bad that his neck fur became wet(!!!!!) and I clued in. Antibiotics, steroids, and a spray was needed to clear it up. I felt so bad that I didn't figure it out earlier
Hot spots can be smelly, but I would hope the groomer would have noticed that and alerted you to it. If it is a hot spot, and the groomer either missed it or didn't mention it, don't go back to that groomer.
Does it smell fishy? Fish butt = anal glands. Does he scoot or act like his butt itches at all? If so, anal glands. How are his poops? If they are soft, he probably isn't expressing the glands during bowel movements so it will keep collecting.
I would definitely try a different food to help firm up the poops if they're soft.
Post by whitemerlot on Jul 5, 2016 19:57:51 GMT -5
My dog had a slab fracture in a back molar and it stunk. I took him to the vet and she initially looked in his mouth and said his teeth looked good, but upon second look, saw the tooth issue.
I'd agree that it's probably his food. Try a different protein or grain free if you don't feed it already and see if it helps.
Eta. Yeah, feeding Royal Canin will do that. Are you sure he still needs scrip food?
No, I'm not sure. When I call the vet tomorrow I'll ask what she thinks. We switched to this food probably 5 months ago, and his stool has been fine ever since. But, now we have the smell. The smell started in the last 3 weeks or so. If it was food related, could it still take this long to start to stink?
Vets usually aren't good at pet nutrition. They receive very little education on it and they're usually educated on the "prescription food" because the companies give $$.
Check his ears for sure. My dogs ear infections smell atrocious. Look for brown gunk in the ear. Also, if he is just really sensitive to his ear being touched. Floppy ear dogs are prone to them anyways but floppy ear dogs on shitty food are really prone to them.
My dog gets them pretty frequently. If it is an ear infection make sure you are crazy about keeping his ears dry going forward. I also try and avoid chicken as a protein for my dog because of his ear infections but that is probably overkill.
Check ears as mentioned. Does the pup spend time outside alone? Could he be finding things to roll in? Our little girl occasionally finds something in the yard and rolls in it. The smell is distinctive, but impossible to describe. Not fishy. And it seems to hust ooze from her pores, but it's usually centered around the neck area, which is where she concentrates her rolling.
She has in the past gotten what I called gut rot, but there is a technical term for it that I don't remember. Basically she ate a plant that essentially went rancid when it came in contact with her stomach acids. We fed her bland food for a couple of days, which let her stomach devote all its energy to getting rid of the offender. It happened a couple of times.
Depending on the size of the dog, it's now recommended that you wait until a year-ish for some breeds. George is a giant breed so we'll be neutering him later than we'd otherwise prefer.
It seems like you've been holding back on the puppy pics, Jenny.
No, I'm not sure. When I call the vet tomorrow I'll ask what she thinks. We switched to this food probably 5 months ago, and his stool has been fine ever since. But, now we have the smell. The smell started in the last 3 weeks or so. If it was food related, could it still take this long to start to stink?
Vets usually aren't good at pet nutrition. They receive very little education on it and they're usually educated on the "prescription food" because the companies give $$.
False. The is the BIGGEST myth about vet med.
I would definitely have the anal glands checked by the vet or techs.
Vets usually aren't good at pet nutrition. They receive very little education on it and they're usually educated on the "prescription food" because the companies give $$.
False. The is the BIGGEST myth about vet med.
I would definitely have the anal glands checked by the vet or techs.
What education do they receive on pet food/nutrition? I've never had a vet speak beyond recommending one of the "prescription" foods. No vet has ever mentioned/recommended going to a grain free food or transitioning to an entire wet food diet for my cats. Yes, anecdotes and those of my friends too. If there's new/different/more accurate information, please share.