As someone who repeated skinned their knees as a child, I have come to know the slightly putrid smell of large scabs. I have also noticed that many dogs smell like this. Why?
Couldn’t tell ya.
But I can tell you that rat fur smells like grape pop. Substansially better than scabs.
As to why, I don’t know that either. Maybe rats drink grape pop on the sly?
WAG They don’t use anti-biotic ointments and band aids.
I’ve smelled thousands of dogs over the years. Can’t say I’ve ever noticed the scab thing though. Different pathology can lead to specific odors; ketosis has a smell, Malessezia in the aural canal has a smell, Pseudomonas has a smell. But scabs?
None of my three dogs smell like scabs.
However, their feet DO smell like Fritos. 
I have owned multiple dogs for 45 years . I have been to hundeds of dog shows , and trained for a local obedience club, putting me in contact with more dogs than most people see in a lifetime. And I have never , ever , NEVER smelled one that smelled like a scab.
I have, however, noticed the Frito smell on their pads. 
You know, the Frito thing is something that I have heard related many times. What I’ve never understood is what all these people were doing smelling their dog’s feet?
Not on purpose…I always caught a whiff of the Frito smell when I dried my dog’s feet after she went outside in wet weather. (She had longish fur between her toes, as well as fringe down her legs.) Even after her feet had been towelled dry, she would lay down in the floor and carefully lick each foot.
csharpmajor: have you considered the possibility that your scabs smell like dogs?
I just sniffed my dogs and I don’t think any of them smell like scabs, even the very old one. But then, I’ve never noticed that any scabs I’ve had have smelled unpleasant.
Just off the top of my head; if I imagine scabs smell like anything I’d assume it was dried blood … if the dogs you’re smelling have a flea problem it is possible you’re smelling the dried blood left on the dog’s skin from flea bites.
How weird. I thought I was the only one that thought dog feet smell like Fritos.
Can’t tell you about the scab thing. Scabs just smell iron-y to me.
Yes, that’s it! Fritos!
Suddenly corn chips are a lot less appetizing.
Hee hee. To be able to smell a scab it has to be quite large and even then it’s not a strong smell, or an unpleasant smell, it’s just not… quite… right. Seriously though, every dog I’ve met has this smell.
I suspect you’re just smelling some sort of generic bacteria-feeding-on-body-fluids odour.
Well, one more time this board has blown my mind. I thought I was the only person in the world who thought her dog’s feet smell like Fritos.
The OP is on her own with the scab thing, though – although, to be completely honest, I’ve never actually smelled a large scab, so I couldn’t tell you for one hundred percent sure that my dog doesn’t smell like one.
I have had dogs my entire life, and I have never smelled their feet.
>>>> But you can bet I will tonight. Thanks a lot weirdos! 
I never smelled a dog who smelled like anything but “dog.” Dirty dog, hot dog, wet dog, or nice clean dog, they all smelled like dog.
I’ve never noticed scabs smelling like anything, and I’d certainly never associate the smell of dogs with anything. I never noticed their feet smelling like Fritos.
However, I notice that my worn socks smel like Fritos. Eddie Murphy’s character in Mulan made the same observation about socks.