Smelly Dog

[Hunny]

Our 10 month lab is groomed regularly, not overweight, fed RC Lab junior biscuits with either chicken wings, sardines or eggs thrown in, and her coat is shiny.....but she pongs!!

She is outdoors most of the time and only comes in at night for a couple of hours and it's not nice because she smells, and the house is getting whiffy too.

I think it's because she loves to lay in the pond at times (which we clean regularly) or her paddling pool. So any ideas on how to reduce the smell? What is the best shampoo etc for washing her in, and how often? My last dog was hardly ever washed and she didn't smell so bad at all.

[capanash]

Grimeinator shampoo made by Groomers Edge is a great product for smelly dogs, all natural and pleasant fragrance. We buy it from Clipper World who advertise on Dogzonline.

[dancinbcs]

In my experience all dogs with a short dense double coat like Labs, Cattle Dogs, GSDs, Corgis etc have a distinct doggy odour as well as being the worst shedders. Labs have the added oil in their waterproof coat that makes them pong like most Gundogs. How much they smell varies from dog to dog but they are definitley one of the stronger dog odour breeds and it is much more noticable as soon as they get wet.

I have owned a Lab but have long coated breeds now and love the fact that they don't have the dog odour the Lab had. I also remember a local guy with a guide dog saying he hated wet weather because his Lab would smell so much when he got wet.

One suggestion that may work is to feed Missing Link supplement. A friend with one stinky short haired dog among her long coats, claims it makes a huge difference to her dog.

[Hunny]

Thanks for the info, I will definately follow up on the shampoo and supplements..I will try anything.

Dancinbcs...the shedding!!!! I had no idea how bad it would be!! She sleeps in the laundry at night (with a doggy door to go outside) and the amount of hair on the tiles every day is just amazing. My OH grew up with Labs in England, they were used as proper gun dogs and he just loves them. He is realising why his Mum was so insistant about the dogs staying outside all the time....and why she was always cleaning.

[dancinbcs]

Thanks for the info, I will definately follow up on the shampoo and supplements..I will try anything.

Dancinbcs...the shedding!!!! I had no idea how bad it would be!! She sleeps in the laundry at night (with a doggy door to go outside) and the amount of hair on the tiles every day is just amazing. My OH grew up with Labs in England, they were used as proper gun dogs and he just loves them. He is realising why his Mum was so insistant about the dogs staying outside all the time....and why she was always cleaning.

Labs are a wonderful breed and I adored the one I grew up with but I would never own another one due to the shedding and dog odour. Same goes for any other breed with a similar coat. I like my dogs to be inside so will stick to my non doggy odour Border Collies and new Jap Spitz. They shed but the long hair tends to come out in clumps twice a year, that are easy to pick up rather than the one small hair at a time, 365 day a year shed that Labs do.

[Odin-Genie]

I have a Golden Retriever, and that's a breed that tends to smell. However, in my experience dogs that stay outside and get wet regularly smell more. My goldy is mostly inside so she usually smells quite pleasant. If she gets wet in the rain we towel dry her immediately, and use a dryer if required.

On the odd occassions when we can't do that she gets very smelly. I normally wet a towel with hot water and wipe her all over. Then I use the Plush Puppy Odour Muncher after toweling her dry. It's got a pleasant smell and works well if you can't give your smelly dog a bath immediately.

Edited December 14, 2011 by Odin-Genie