# Why does my dog smell like pee? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 19, 2019, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-smell-like-pee/832786 "2019-04-19T18:59:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2019, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-smell-like-pee/832786/1 "2019-04-19T18:59:25Z")
My dog occasionally smells like pee, but in circumstances when I know she didn’t pee herself or step/roll in pee. Example: smells fine in the evening, next morning after sleeping in her crate she stinks. The crate and bedding aren’t wet and don’t smell, so it’s not the result of an accident. Do some dogs just have BO that smells like wee? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2019, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-smell-like-pee/832786/2 "2019-04-19T19:25:02Z")
Has the bedding been whizzed on in the past? I would consider a new bed and a bath. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2019, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-smell-like-pee/832786/3 "2019-04-19T19:38:58Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > My dog occasionally smells like pee, but in circumstances when I know she didn’t pee herself or step/roll in pee. Example: smells fine in the evening, next morning after sleeping in her crate she stinks. The crate and bedding aren’t wet and don’t smell, so it’s not the result of an accident. Do some dogs just have BO that smells like wee? Female dogs can develope urinary incontinence. While sleeping she might dribble a bit, it soaks into the fur around her back end. Easily treated with a veterinary drug called Proin (phenylpropanolamine) which works great. I’d take her to her vet. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2019, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-smell-like-pee/832786/4 "2019-04-19T21:18:58Z")
I’ve had an incontinent dog before, but she was older. Is this at all common in one-year-olds? And the bedding doesn’t smell like pee. I’d know. That’s maybe the weirdest part–even if it’s just her natural odor I’d expect the bedding to smell the same. But it just smells like “regular” dog smell. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2019, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-smell-like-pee/832786/5 "2019-04-19T21:37:22Z")
Smell her paw pads. It may something she’s walking in. What kind of my dog is it. Dachshunds have an odor sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2019, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-smell-like-pee/832786/6 "2019-04-19T21:44:21Z")
Not the paws. We wipe them off when she comes in–a holdover from our last dog who was allergic to something, so we tried to minimize what she tracked in. She’s a “pit”/lab mix, or so they tell us. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2019, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-smell-like-pee/832786/7 "2019-04-20T10:12:00Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > I’ve had an incontinent dog before, but she was older. Is this at all common in one-year-olds? No, you’re right there. My experience was with an older female dog. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2019, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-smell-like-pee/832786/8 "2019-04-20T10:14:57Z")
Can you localize the odor at all? (Sniff around. Sounds weird, but, hey) When she pees outside how low does she squat? ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2019, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-smell-like-pee/832786/9 "2019-04-20T14:40:40Z")
Seems like it’s her hindquarters, although you ever get that effect where you’re trying to smell something and you kind of lose the ability to smell it all? Kind of hard for me to be sure. I guess I’ll take her to the vet, though I’m pretty perplexed. Yesterday distinct pee smell, this morning nothing–and there was a pretty small pee for first walk, so you might have expected that she had leaked and if so I’d smell it… HOWEVER, still hoping there might be a factual reason out there for unusual BO, although now that I think about it, with dogs what even counts as unusual? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2019, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-smell-like-pee/832786/10 "2019-04-20T15:13:45Z")
Single dog household? I knew a woman with two dogs. One, a male, was constantly exerting dominance and would urinate wherever the female urinated, sometimes starting before she was finished and peeing on her. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2019, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-smell-like-pee/832786/11 "2019-04-20T15:44:01Z")
anal glands something I never knew dogs had being a cat household, but guess those glands can smell fishy if somethings up. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2019, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-smell-like-pee/832786/12 "2019-04-20T16:12:01Z")
One dog household. And I’m pretty sure it’s not anal glands, those are truly foul. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2019, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-smell-like-pee/832786/13 "2019-04-20T16:17:20Z")
double ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2019, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-smell-like-pee/832786/14 "2019-04-20T17:50:38Z")
My little (4lb)Yorkie has a lot of hair. In fact that’s pretty much all she is. I keep her tummy shaved because it gets pretty nasty if I don’t. Does you dog have a hairy tummy? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2019, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-smell-like-pee/832786/15 "2019-04-20T19:43:27Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > No, you’re right there. My experience was with an older female dog. Actually, female dog incontinence of the type you describe is relatively common. It can happen even easier after spaying. I think this is the likeliest explanation. I would see the vet. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2019, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-smell-like-pee/832786/16 "2019-04-21T02:49:47Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > One dog household. And I’m pretty sure it’s not anal glands, those are truly foul. All dogs have anal glands. It’s not something they catch. But they can develop problems, one of which is a horrible odor. Have your vet check her out. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2019, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-smell-like-pee/832786/17 "2019-04-21T03:36:58Z")
Is it her own pee that she smells like, or somebody else’s? That is, could she be drinking out of or licking the toilet during the night, and getting splashed pee on her fur that way? If you say the smell seems to be coming from her hindquarters, though, that probably rules out that idea. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2019, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-smell-like-pee/832786/18 "2019-04-21T03:56:48Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > All dogs have anal glands. It’s not something they catch. But they can develop problems, one of which is a horrible odor. Have your vet check her out. Yes, I know what anal glands are, and what they smell like when they are clogged up. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2019, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-smell-like-pee/832786/19 "2019-04-21T04:29:08Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Actually, female dog incontinence of the type you describe is relatively common. It can happen even easier after spaying… Ding, ding ding. Spaying is what triggered it in my Weim. Had it her entire life, and Proin helped immensely. A word of warning, if it is due to slack bladder or the urethra not maintaining proper smooth muscle tension; if urine can dribble out, bacteria can dribble in. Expect a much higher UTI rate. Not world-ending, though I did end up wanting to buy stock in whoever makes Baytril. EDIT: Oh, almost forgot. Mine would try to lick herself to remove urine dribbles at the end of her vulva. This may be why you aren’t noticing urine pools in the bedding, yet still smelling urine. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2019, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-smell-like-pee/832786/20 "2019-04-21T14:17:40Z")
If she has much fur, it seems likely that she’s incontinent enough to wet her fur, but not so incontinent that it gets as far as the bedding.