How Can I Make My Dog Smell Better Please

[Silverbirch]

I have had a couple of dogs over the years, and unfortunately, my present pooch, a Maltese X Shihtzu is very smelly. I bathed him 2 days ago, changed all of his bedding, and today, I think he smells worse than he did before I bathed him.

 

I know he smells less when he is clipped short, and his hair isn't really long right now, but I will have to get it clipped again due to the smelliness as soon as I can. I use a good shampoo and conditioner. It is winter here atm and the ground is wet, and that always makes him smell worse.

 

I just feed him mostly tinned commercial dog food. He is in good health and I give him bones to chew. He spends most of the day outside while I am at work and loves the outdoors.

 

I just wondered if there are any tricks to keep them smelling better. I have steered away from using baby powder on him as he has sensitive skin. Does anyone have any ideas. Thanks.

[Mercurial Girl]

How old is he?

 

Any particular reason why you give him canned food over dry?

 

They do have dog perfume but I imagine any smells like that on them must be cloying to them.

[Silverbirch]

Hi MG. He is around 5 years old. I give him the moist food because he likes it. When he was a pup, I used to give him Royal Canin Complete Puppy Food. It's a doggy odor, not the smell of something rotten or bacterial, and is worse when the weather is wet. I'm not really keen on perfumes, but don't know if they would work anyway as they are just a mask.

 

If I don't let him sleep on my bed at night, he howls the place down and will jump up on windows and doors and drive my housemate crazy so I let him in with me each night. I let him come in the downstairs living room, as it doesn't matter so much if there is doggy odor down there.

 

I know that with my bedding, I have begun adding Borax and lavender oil to the water, and that birngs it up smelling nice and fresh. Wonder if you might know of anything that might help with dogs that isn't harmful to them. I suspect part of the smell is due to them being meat-eaters, and might be better if he ate less meat. Maybe if I try fresh meat the smell might be less. I have tried it in the past, but can't recall whether it affected his body odor.

 

He is very much like my little kid as well as a great guard dog ,and I don't want to stop him sleeping at the bottom of my bed anyway.

[Silverbirch]

Okay, I have definitely worked out now that the smell is MUCH worse when the ground outside is wet and his fur has become wet. Also that baby talc definitely helps.

[Jetta]

Get shampoo that has a deodorant in it for dogs of course. I bought an odor free shampoo for our dog that had doggy B.O. It helped. I don't know though, maybe ask the vet and see if he/she has any suggestions.

[Silverbirch]

Thanks Jetta. I know that a few years ago, I was using doggie shampoo which had Tea Tree in it and he had an allergic reaction to it. The viet told me to stick with something like Oatmeal which is very mild. I used Johnson's No Tears Baby Shampoo on his face. I might have to just carefully experiment with a few things and put my thinking cap on.

[mhowe]

this I know. You cannot use people shampoo on dogs, as their ph is different from humans. So that is one thing.

 

Don't know if it is an issue with your dog....but...anal glands may need to be purged. Nothing pretty, and most people prefer to have a vet do it. Was never an issue with my dog, but have heard it can be a "smell" problem. Ask a vet.

[Silverbirch]

Thanks MHowe - I'm pretty certain that it isn't anal glands. My housemate used to have a dog with that problem, and he DEFINITELY would have told me if he thought that was the case. I do recall a vet once telling me about it, but not in relation to my dog. I will stop using the baby shampoo on doggie, but maybe get a mild puppy shampoo for his face as I need to scrub away around his eyes. The smell has greatly improved, however, we are expecting some very heavy rain in the next few hours.

 

I think I am going to be keeping his fur shorter than it is but won't clip him short short for a few weeks when this very cold weather has passed.

[mhowe]

Only other thing I can think of is when a dog gets skunked...tomato juice or Italian dressing... but it is the acidic vinegar that is doing the trick.

[Silverbirch]

LOL, M! So glad we don't have skunks here, but I'm fairly certain I am onto something that is going to be right for my doggie who also can suffer from allergies.

 

I managed to have organic coconut oil in my fridge which I have started using in my hair as I'm giving up chemical products in my hair due to skin and hair damage from years of chemical colorants. I googled some of the uses for coconut oil and there are many. It can be safely used on dogs, cats and horses - internally and externally. I also came accross quite a few recipes for human deordorant made from coconut oil. I'm going to give them a go myself at some point. Well, you have to gently heat the oil to melt it as in winter, it is a bit like a hard butter. I just put a relatively small amount on my own hands, rubbed in and rubbed my hands over doggie. He didn't mind it at all - and he bolts if I try to put commercial sprays on him. There are some claims that as a massage oil, it can b e helpful for arthritis, and topically applied is said to have many benefits including anti-ageing properties. It cost $7 for a jar which will last quite a long time. I have put some on my own skin and hair and will let you know how doggie and I are both tomorrow. It also won't hurt the dog, in fact, to the contrary if he licks it.

 

The scent is just mild and slightly sweet.

[Silverbirch]

Dog is still smelling okay this morning.

[sadchick83]

Could the dog have an ear infection that could be causing the smell?

[Silverbirch]

Hi Saddchick, sorry I just saw your post. No, I'm certain the dog doesn't have an infection. I have been trying different foods with him. I found this fresh packaged food he loves which I can smell some type of spice in it which has a garlicy smell. He loves it but I decided I shouldn't give it too often. As I mentioned, he sleeps in my room at night. I went away overnight and left the dog locked outside and also my bedroom was closed while I was away. When I returned and went into my bedroom, I could smell the exact odor of the new food (though not totally unpleasant) in mybedroom so I'm certain now that what he eats has a lot to do with the odor. Over the weekend, I will cook up a batch of fresh meat, vegies and some rice and see how that affects his odor. BTW, he is smelling better since I used a bit of coconut oil on him.

[Mercurial Girl]

Have you asked others if they can smell what you're smelling?

 

I mean...dogs are supposed to have some odor to them, plus they do burp and fart like everyone else - maybe your nose is extra sensitive?

[betterthan]

The main cause of a dogs smell is the food that it eats.

 

Royal Canine is not THE worst food. But it isn't a very good one either. It would be like a human eating food from subway all the time and nothing else. It has some of the right ingredients, but its all waaay over processed. A good rule of thumb for pet food is if you see it advertised anywhere, or if you can find it in a grocery store or a Pet Smart (or store like that) then it probably isn't very good for your pet. These foods tend to have a lot of by products and meal (like chicken by-product meal) or a lot of grains or fillers in it. Also the canned food as opposed to dry will make her poo (and in turn her) smellier.

 

Dogs don't need grains, but they do need a lot of protein and vegetables. You should look for a food with meat listed in the first 4 ingredients, as well there should be no by-product meal listed. This is what By-product meal is defined as "Chicken by-product meal, like poultry by-product, is made of "dry, ground, rendered clean parts of the chicken carcass" according to AAFCO and may contain the same ingredients as poultry-by product. Chicken by-product can vary in quality from batch to batch. Chicken by-product costs less than chicken muscle meat and lacks the digestibility of chicken muscle meat."

 

I don't know where you are located, but try and find a smaller pet store such as Pet planet or Tailblazers, that we have here in Canada. If you would like to PM me, I can do some research into where you can go for better food. This isn't going to get rid of her smell completely, as the kind of dog that she is tends to be smellier, but it will help immensely.

 

Also, what kind of bones are you giving her.

I hope that helps, If you have any other questions feel free to ask, I can talk about this stuff all day! LOL

[Silverbirch]

Sorry, I didn't see these last posts. Thanks for the input. Well, the dog isn't smelling too bad right now. I have asked others if they can smell the dog, and they say "a doggy smell". He definitely smells better when he is clipped, and I'm sure he doesn't have an ear infection. The smell is worse if it has been raining and he has been outside. It is still cold here (southern part of Australia) so I have chosen not to have him clipped just yet - he's really feeling the cold and wanting to be inside a lot. I'm certain the coconut oil makes a difference - and I'm not using it all the time - have only used it 2 or 3 times since posting. I'm not positive what types of bones he has. I'm vegetarian but my housemate gives him bones from roasts he cooks. I have bought bones at the butcher, but I don't know what type they are. I started cooking him food - meat and vegie, but noticed that he was constipated not long after that so went back to tinned commercial dog food. He's the best he has been right now.

[alli]

You might want to see about brushing your dog's teeth regularly and possibly having a vet clean his teeth. Even if it isn't the main source of odor it helps to prevent gingivitis and periodontal disease. Ask your vet if there are hard snacks that help to clean the dog's teeth as well.

[Silverbirch]

Thanks Ali

[ba35sta]

Might I suggest switching him to a high quality dry diet? I found that my dog had a distinct 'dog' smell when we put her on a canner diet. It has added benefits of making the stool more compact (easier to pick up). I knew a shih tzu that smelled really bad after walks in the rain or wet pavement and so it may be just a product of their breed, but I'm still convinced the smell is mainly due to nutrition. Also, I would not use shampoo in your dogs eyes. I'm assuming its because he has those stains under his eyes? To get rid of those I recommend wiping it daily with distiller water and it should be fine. Excessive tears and staining is also due to improper nutrition as well so changing his diet to a high quality dry diet would help a lot.

[Silverbirch]

Thanks Ba. Did you have trouble getting the dog to switch. My housemate gives the dog treats as well, and I think that he mostly gives meat though. Housemate and his girlfriend are big meat eaters and always have leftovers they give him. I do think that you may be right about the breed - the smell is definitely there when he has been wet by the rain. I don't think he has really excessive tear stains, but he has them - he is also stained on his paws the same color as tear stains so I guess that would be from walking on wet grass.

[ba35sta]

My dog has been on dry since she was a puppy but I had to switch her onto wet for a couple weeks after dental surgery. She loved the wet and so going back on dry was a bit difficult, but I went half dry-half wet for a couple days and then just cut off her wet food all together. She stopped eating for a day, but then just got hungry enough to just eat what she's given. Most dogs aren't as picky as we think they are. If they don't eat for long enough they'll eventually get hungry and just suck it up. I find wet food to be really fattening so if your dog is chubby or overweight then switchin to dry will definitely help regulate that as well. I'm not a huge fan of giving my dog table scraps overall but I know everyone does it lol. It leads to weight gain or even pancreatitis if they're fed overly fattening foods (meat scraps have a lot of saturated fats). The oils,spices, and sauces used for cooking in our food are really bad for their health (and tend to give my dog the sh*ts too).

[Izzywoo]

Does your dogs skin seem healthy? is it dry and flaky or does your pup seem to look greasy a short time after bathing and does he get any ear problems?

[Silverbirch]

I'm vegetarian so I don't have meat scraps to give, but my housemate gives him bones and I'm certain that at times he gives him leftovers even though I have asked him not to. I've very recently asked again as I know from what the dog pooped a couple of nights ago, that it could not have been from the food I had given him.

 

Izzy, my dog is healthy though at times he gets allergies - nearly always at spring and summer time due to grasses - I am also allergic to certain grasses. No, he doesn't have ear problems, and the smell issue is always improved when he is clipped short. He doesn't have dry, flakey skin either. When he is exposed to the allergic grasses, he will lick his paws constantly and they become very, very red and can even bleed - the vet says this is more from the licking. It was so bad one year, he had to wear an Elizabethan collar to stop him from licking, but that only worked for a short while. He has no allergy at present. He will scratch himself also when he has the allergy. I have to keep him enclosed in the yard with the grass cut short, and make sure when we go for walks that he doesn't walk into longer grasses.

 

Tomorrow morning, my dog is going to the groomer for a good clipping as the weather is now starting to warm up in this part of the world.

[Izzywoo]

My dogs called Izzy too! I was just wondering about ear and skin problems, my dog Izzy (Lhasa Apso) has Seborrhea, she gets really itchy and even two/three days after a bath she starts to look awful and smell pretty yukky too, I have changed her diet to grain free (really important with any allergy problems) and I wash her with medicated shampoo at the moment I'm using Groomers Edge Furst Aid, it's really really good, it has tar and sulfur in, it may look a little expensive but it dilutes 6-1 so it really isn't, It's helping her look and smell better for longer, her skin is much worse in the summer and calmer in the winter, hope you manage to get it sorted out, I know first hand how horrible it is, not that it matters that much Izzy is so lovely that I can live with it.....she's my baby!

[Natasha24]

If he has long fur, the ground and wet and he spends all day outside - he is going to smell no matter what. You can't bathe a dog every day, that's bad for their skin. Your choices are to either shave him down (if you do, he shouldn't smell at all), or keep him inside away from the dirty ground outside.