I’m dogsitting for a friend’s dog and he smells. Not just simply doggy smell but rather he exudes an evil, eye-watering, nose-running, heave-inducing fetid stench that smells roughly like a feminine hygiene disposal bin that his been left too long unemptied. (Sorry, but it’s the closest approximation of the smell that I can think of.) I gave him a bath yesterday but today he smells almost as bad as ever. I’ve had dogs all my life and I’ve never encountered one that smells like this. He’s not licking or scooting so I don’t think it’s his anal glands. I have him for another week and I’m not sure I can survive it - he’s a big dog and the smell permeates the entire house. I live overseas so it’s not like I can zip out to Petco and buy some doggy deodorant. Any suggestions?
If you have access to dryer sheets (such as Bounce) you can try rubbing him with one of those. I would also recommend that the owner take him to the vet - that kind of smell can indicate skin problems.
<Doug grabs Lisa Kudrow’s guitar and begins strumming tunelessly>
Stinky dog
Stinky dog
What are they feeding you?
Oh well, it’s a thought…
:eek: YIKES!
Sorry, I’ve just spent half an hour with BBEdit, where size=9 equals what we call size=1. Meant to type:
Oh welll, just a thought…
No expert on the subject, but I have been with dogs all my life. As a rule, unless you find the dog has been rolling in something nasty, washing the dog would would have very little effect. And I would not do that ( washing) to anothers’ dog. Normally a good brushing is all it takes to clean up a dog. Did the dog smell bad from the day you took over care? Diet can have a lot to do with an offensive odor. A change in food can do that. Best bet is to inspect the fur, if there is a offensive substance there see if you can brush it out. If not, contact the owner and ask for permission to take her to the vet (At thier expense) I would not recommend trying to shampoo a dog other than one you are very familiar with, unless you are an experienced dog groomer, or you could end up with a disaster. The dog bolts, gets hurt, dog gets scared you get hurt.
If the dog is well groomed, the most likely cause is diet. A dog eating food to rich for his system will smell bad. and not just because of gas, it seems to come out of thier skin. Just my experience, YMMV.
And a wet dog will always smell like a wet dog, not much can be done about that.
When our dog developed a bad smell, we discovered it was from his mouth. He had a melanoma (cancer) on the gumline below his lower front teeth.
Probably needs to be seen by a vet.
Could be his ears, especially if he’s a breed that has floppy ones instead of perky ones. Try taking a whiff of that area. If it makes you pass out, when you come to you’ll know that you need to find someone to clean his ears.
He’s been stinky from the get-go. I’ve been brushing him daily which hasn’t seemed to help any. When with his owners, he swims daily in a lake and I thought perhaps that was causing it but he hasn’t been swimming for a week now. He eats a local brand of dry food so maybe that’s it. Of course, my dog is now scarfing it down. Ye gads.
Thanks for the suggestions. I’ll try the dryer sheet trick - perhaps that will help. With the added benefit of eliminated unsightly static cling…
Dh once had a dog who was both ugly and smelly. He was also a really, seriously, great dog.
Anyway, DH would wash the critter and even put nice smelling stiff on him, and he would be back to his old stinky self in a day or less.
I think some dogs just stink.
I hate to be the one to tell you this, but it might be his anal gland. It might need expressing, because it might not be expressing properly.
I won’t even suggest you do it yourself, because it’s frigging nasty. Can you get the dog to a vet? Grooming will do nothing to solve the problem…
Or it could be an ear infection. Equally gross, but no ass…
Elfbabe, brought up one I had never heard of, (ear infection) but sounds plausible, Puddytat72 brought up an issue I know can be very real, I dealt with that once. Not cancer but a dental problem, but a tooth with decay. I do stand by my original premise, if the cause is not obvious by simple inspection, it should be taken to a vet. Sniffing around the ears is easy with a playfull dog, Look for redness as well. You can probably sniff the dog’s breath easily as well. Trying to examine the teeth of a dog you are not the master of is pure folly if you are not trained in it, and unless you are really sure, best left to a vet. I am not. I will hold Foxie’s jaw gently and quickly look for redness in the gums, that is a sign of a problem, beyond that she goes to the vet. If there seems to be a problem he can sedate her and make a really good inspection. I warn you, canine dentistry is not cheap. Your way to deal with the situation is yours. I don’t take in borders just to evade the situation, fo some one really up against it, I guess I would, but I would probably regret it.
You didn’t bury him in the Pet Semetary, did you? :eek:
Sorry to hear it, friend. Hope it works out for you.
I was thinking of a cancer also. The dog can smell like rotting meat.
His ears and mouth are no stinkier than the rest. Teeth all seem to be ok. (He’s a big doofus of a golden retriever that you can do anything to.) Not checking the butt, thank you very much. The stench just surrounds him like a noxious aura. His owners had to go back to the US because of not one but two deaths in the family so I don’t want to bother them. God forbid their dog has cancer! He’s only a year old so perhaps he’s going through some hormonal changes??? (OK, I’m reaching here.) I certainly hope whatever it is isn’t catching as my pooch has always been pleasantly odor free. Not even a whiff of doggy breath.
I guess I can suck it up for another week and thank my lucky stars that he’s decided he likes to sleep out on the bedroom balcony.
Take him to a groomer for a bath. Isn’t it worth it? I had to watch my brother’s dog and he pick it up thursday night. It wouldn’t go to the bathroom the first 3 days, and I couldn’t figure out why. I found the basement floor covered in shit. I was dry heaving in the basement and outside as I hauled it out. I still am nauseous.
I repeat. Isn’t it worth having someone wash the dog?
I’m sorry but that made me laugh. Only because I’ve experienced myself. I have a very acute sense of smell and a terrible gag reflex to unpleasant odors. A couple of months ago, my dog got into the trash and ate an entire container of expired cream cheese that I had thrown out. Needless to say, dogs should not eat cream cheese, especially expired cream cheese. He had the worse case of the runs I’ve ever seen. Oh, and did I mention that he walks in a circle when he poops? :eek: I had to run to the bathroom to dry heave every couple of minutes during the cleaning process. It took me over two hours to get everything out of the carpet (cream colored, of course).
I’ve already tried the bath thing to no avail. I’m not sure a professional bath would make much of a difference. And this being Germany, it would take two weeks to get him an appointment and his owners are due back a week from today.
I’ve discovered that a little bit of Vicks VapoRub under my nose works wonders…
Maybe try switching him to the same food your dog eats. Start with half and half though so there’s some kind of transition. You can also try some garlic powder in his food- added boune, that helps keep the bugs off of them, too.
I just switched my dog’s food to a lamb and rice mix that’s supposed to be better for her coat and skin. She’s a basset and skin problems come with the territory, as does the “hound” odor. Well, the food may be good for her skin, but it’s horrible for her smell. urk she is smelling really gross. I think it may have too much oil in it for her breed, since the oil on their coats is what makes the houndy smell to begin with. I’ll be switching her back. Food definitely plays a big part in the smell factor.
My parent’s neighbours have a big doofus golden retriever who tends to reek and get a weird, oily coating on his fur, nothing at all like the feel of petting my sister’s golden, or our cousin’s dog. This started fairly young for the neighbours dog. They eventually found out that it was some sort of skin disorder, and it’s made worse by getting the dog wet. Poor dog can’t go swimming and he’s kept away from puddles as much as possible. He’s also had to undergo several embarrasing body shaves to get some of his hair off and allow the skin to heal in some places. Lampshade and all. I believe he also takes some kind of medication or a cream/ointment. I’d get more details, but I’m 800+km away and I’m unlikely to see them any time soon!
I’d suggest keeping the dog dry as much as possible and seeing if that helps. I know it’s nearly impossible to keep a golden out of a puddle when they know it’s there, but try! When the owners come back, I’d suggest a visit to the vet. I don’t know how expensive this treatment is for my parent’s neighbours, but he’s a very good, happy, well-trained dog and it’s very manageable. He still smells a little funky overall, but not as bad as before he was diagnosed. Also, he’s groomed regularly and his chest and tail hair (anywhere that might mat) is kept very short.
Good luck to you and the dog’s owner!
Skunk?
Has the O-poster ever smelled a dog that has been skunked?
Skunks don’t live in Europe.