# What causes that "Wet Dog" smell? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 25, 2001, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-that-wet-dog-smell/95105 "2001-11-25T02:14:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nefarious_chipmunk/32/1045_2.png) [@Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefarious_Chipmunk)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-that-wet-dog-smell/95105/1 "2001-11-25T02:14:42Z")
Thanks to Cecil, we all know what causes the new car smell. What I want to know is what causes the wet dog smell? Every dog I have ever met, city or country, has that same smell. You know the smell. Even if the dog has just been given a bath, and then goes out into the rain, you can smell that smell. So, what is it? ---
**Author:** ![Sleepy\_Gene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@Sleepy\_Gene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleepy_Gene)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-that-wet-dog-smell/95105/2 "2001-11-25T02:16:57Z")
Lanolin. Unless you use hot water in the bath, it doesn’t go away. ---
**Author:** ![Cougarfang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c67d28/32.png) [@Cougarfang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cougarfang)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-that-wet-dog-smell/95105/3 "2001-11-25T03:20:44Z")
Dog. ---
**Author:** ![YWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/6f9a4e/32.png) [@YWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YWalker)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-that-wet-dog-smell/95105/4 "2001-11-25T05:16:18Z")
I’ve heard that it was lanolin as well. We used to have a Siberian Husky who brought new meaning to the term “wet dog smell.” She always smelled as if she’d been swimming in the sewer when she got wet. I’m told that it was due to the higher concentration of lanolin in her coat, which is common to the northern breeds. ---
**Author:** ![EagleEye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f04885/32.png) [@EagleEye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EagleEye)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-that-wet-dog-smell/95105/5 "2001-11-25T05:22:24Z")
I know what you mean. I have an Alaskan Malamute. What exactly is lanolin? An oil? ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-that-wet-dog-smell/95105/6 "2001-11-25T05:36:18Z")
It’s the stuff you get from sheep’s wool that is used as an emollient in many hand creams/moisturisers. It’s very effective, but a lot of people are allergic to it. It doesn’t smell like wet dog though. It smells like sheep. Maybe dogs have a different kind. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2001, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-that-wet-dog-smell/95105/7 "2001-11-25T05:54:30Z")
My dog doesn’t smell like a traditional wet dog when you bathe her, but then again she’s a single coat breed. I’ve noticed that the double coat breeds tend to smell like wet dog more than the single coaters. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-that-wet-dog-smell/95105/8 "2003-04-12T14:58:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elmwood \* > \*\*My dog doesn’t smell like a traditional wet dog when you bathe her, but then again she’s a single coat breed. I’ve noticed that the double coat breeds tend to smell like wet dog more than the single coaters. \*\* I would assume a single-coat dog is a dog that does not have an undercoat to shed, correct? I have a Miniature Schnauzer, and believe me, he has the same wet dog smell as bad as the Yellow Lab I grew up with. The only real difference here may be _surface area_ of dog! A big dog has more surface to wet, more surface from which to generate the smell, and more fur taking longer to dry. (This could uphold Elmwood’s two-coat vs. one-coat dog theory.) If it’s lanolin, that is hard to believe. I’m confused, though. Is Istara saying the lanolin in hand lotions comes from sheep? - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![smaft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@smaft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaft)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-that-wet-dog-smell/95105/9 "2003-04-12T15:53:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jinx \* > Is Istara saying the lanolin in hand lotions comes from sheep? - Jinx \*\* Yes, the lanolin in hand lotions, etc., comes from sheep wool. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-that-wet-dog-smell/95105/10 "2003-04-12T16:07:41Z")
Rain, usually. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-that-wet-dog-smell/95105/11 "2003-04-12T16:17:46Z")
It could be that lanolin is holding the substance that has the scent as opposed to being the scent itself. Just a WAG.