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Unusual doggie odor.

2K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  OutWest 
#1 ·
Hi everyone. I'm new here with a question about our smelly dogs.

Our two Goldens are 8 years old and have been raised on a farm in rural Indiana. Ginger has always had a slightly offensive odor on her body as well as mouth. Not terrible, but slightly noticeable. Bogy has always been very clean smelling.

Just in the past 8 to 12 months Bogy has taken on a Limburger cheese aroma and it's terrible. Being farm dogs they are not used to taking baths and are a pain in the neck to bathe. Both dogs swim in our lake almost every hot day but the water is clear and fresh. We swim in it all the time and we don't smell like Limburger (I think :yuck:). Several months ago both dogs tangled with skunks and it took 3 months to get the smell off. I don't think this odor has anything to do with other animals or something they are rolling in. But I may be wrong.

Can anyone offer any idea what has changed and what to do about it? Both dogs are in-the-house pets but they may become outdoor pets soon.
 
#4 ·
What is the condition of her teeth? Pearly-white molars or lots of tarter?

Take a close look and get a good sniff along her lips and under her chin? Thos folds can collect moisture and grow bacteria...

Then take off her collar and get a good wiff of that (some collars can get down right moldy) especially if dogs swim a lot....

Does she butt-scoot? -if yes, add those to the list of culprits!

oh the joy of dogs!
 
#5 ·
Anal glands are empty - no scooting - teeth are OK but not beautiful - their ears get dirty sometimes and require a good cleaning but not now.

The odor is coming from the chest and neck area (I think). The female dog is prone to rolling in any manure she can find but not the male. We cannot find evidence of rolling nowadays.

Very strange and very powerful odor. Whew!

We have been watching them carefully when they're swimming and when they get out of the water. Both dogs slide their necks along in the grass and weeds and they both roll on their backs but they come up smelling like grass not Limburger cheese. The bad odor starts after they are semi-dry and increases until I kick them out of the house while wearing my gas mask :).

I guess we're going to go to the vet soon. We have to do something! We use "Tail and Main" shampoo on most of our animals here at the farm but it does not deodorize these two dogs. BARF!!!!!!

They have been on Purina ONE dog food for the past 4 years and no changes in diet at all.
 
#6 ·
get your fingers right down to her skin and see if she has any hotspots (open oozing wounds). Those buggars can sneak up on you and they do stink!

A good 'shampoo' that is perfectly fine to use every now and again is dawn dish washing soap (the original blue version they use to remove crude oil off sea birds that have landed in a spill).
Smells good and will cut and greasy-grime pretty darn good!
Just be sure to rinse well...

You can also rinse with plain white vinegar - she will smell like pickles for a while...but ti will fade and vinegar will cut most odors! ;-)
 
#8 ·
They could have generalized yeast or staph skin infections if they swim frequently and are not actually being dried off, or ear infections.

Get some Microtek shampoo and bath them, I would bath them once a week for awhile to see if it helps. Microtek is good for all kinds of skin problems.

Take a good look at their skin and see if you find any black flaky scabby areas, that would be staph infection. Yeast infection on the skin gives off an overall unpleasant odor. Check their ears and lip folds for infections.

Once you get this under control, you need to start a regular routine of bathing and brushing them. If they swim often you need to at least rinse them off afterwards. Farm dogs or not, they still need routine maintenance of their coat and checks for general injuries and skin/ear infections.
 
#9 ·
They could have generalized yeast or staph skin infections if they swim frequently and are not actually being dried off, or ear infections.

Get some Microtek shampoo and bath them, I would bath them once a week for awhile to see if it helps. Microtek is good for all kinds of skin problems.

Take a good look at their skin and see if you find any black flaky scabby areas, that would be staph infection. Yeast infection on the skin gives off an overall unpleasant odor. Check their ears and lip folds for infections.

Once you get this under control, you need to start a regular routine of bathing and brushing them. If they swim often you need to at least rinse them off afterwards. Farm dogs or not, they still need routine maintenance of their coat and checks for general injuries and skin/ear infections.
I was going to suggest yeast as well. We have been dealing with this for the past few weeks and using the anti fungal shampoo. It is a very musky odour and not pleasant. I also started giving her probiotic yogurt and apple cider vinegar the last couple days and am hoping it helps.
 
#11 ·
It really sounds to me as if they are not dryiing out fully after swimming. I would vote also for a possible yeast or fungal infection. If the odor is coming from their mouths also, it's possible they need a professional teeth cleaning. The odor in the mouth means an infection.

There's a recipe in the grooming section for a grooming spray using yellow Listerine that many people swear by: http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com.../109907-stinky-pup-need-listerine-recipe.html
 
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