My dog smell like....dog...recommendations?

[wendibird22]

My dog, a lab/pit mix, smells like, well, dog. Our last dog, an english springer spaniel, never really smell. He was groomed about every 2 mos and bathed occasionally and was fine. This dog, though, has that dog smell. I really notice it now that I work from home and he spends most of his time curled up in my bedroom/home office, and I mostly have the doors closed because I'm on zoom so much. So by the afternoon my bedroom just reeks of dog. Because of his fur type as a lab/pit, he's never been to the groomer because he doesn't need a trim, but I do bathe him. But honestly, a day later he smells again. And of course anything he lays on for any period of time also then smells like him. His dog bed in my room stinks.

Any suggestions for helping him smell less like dog?

[carolinamama]

Unfortunately, I have no magic recommendations. I had to comment though because we are the opposite in our house. Our previous dog was a springer spaniel and no matter what we did, he always had a dog smell. We now have a pit mix (maybe with lab, maybe a bunch of other stuff too) and he doesn't really smell at all. It was such a welcome surprise when we got him. He has more of the pit coat rather than lab - no true undercoat so that may be the reason.

With our springer, we frequently cleaned our carpets and only bought dog beds with a removable cover for washing. I also remember sprinkling baking soda on the carpets before vacuuming. Maybe try frequent brushing to get rid of excess hair in his/her undercoat.

[twowhat?]

We had a pit mix as well and he had an oily coat (with undercoat!) that contributed to that dog smell. The only thing that really worked was bathing more frequently (diet MIGHT play a role but we didn't experiment too much). My FAVORITE dog shampoo is Cloud Star Buddy Wash. It comes in different scents (I like the Lavender & Mint though it smells NOTHING like Lavender & Mint LOL). The Green Tea & Bergemot is a bit more of a "masculine" scent but it also smells great...though NOTHING like green tea & bergemot LOL!

I'm very sensitive to smells and neither of these scents bothers me and they only leave a subtle clean scent on the fur once washed/dried. More importantly, they clean SUPER well and leave the coat so soft and shiny...everyone loves to run their hands into our dog's fur after a bath! And I secretly use it in my own hair every once in a while as a special treat

And ditto on washing all bedding - we wash all dog betting in hot water with Oxyclean on the same day that we bathe the dog and we don't let the dogs get into the beds/blankets after a bath until everything is clean.

[doberbrat]

Are you drying him after a bath? Dogs that air dry smell more IMO. Also, smell his feet (seriously) and hid ears if they smell like freetos then it could be a yeast problem. soaking them in dilute listerine for a few minutes can help. or dilute vinegar.

Mixing plain brown listerine 50/50 with water can be a quick way to freshen his coat. wipe it down afterwards. And definitely clean bedding etc on bath day.

[Kestrel]

Warning - this is kinda gross.

Make sure when you have your vet visits, that they clean the anal glands. Some dogs have really smelly ones. Groomers do it when they groom, but if your dog doesn't go to the groomer, they won't be cleaned unless you ask, and pay. My vet charges $15 if we're getting anything else done, well worth it to have someone else do it, in my opinion!

[twowhat?]

Warning - this is kinda gross.

Make sure when you have your vet visits, that they clean the anal glands. Some dogs have really smelly ones. Groomers do it when they groom, but if your dog doesn't go to the groomer, they won't be cleaned unless you ask, and pay. My vet charges $15 if we're getting anything else done, well worth it to have someone else do it, in my opinion!

A side note on this since you bring up a great point! Our dog had recurrent anal sac issues (had trouble expressing them, had to be on antibiotics for a potential impacted sac, had to have a syringe inserted to try to draw out the liquid, etc...we never went through with surgery to remove them because she has a heart murmur. And then our vet mentioned something about trying sweet potato and BOOM. All anal sac issues totally resolved...we never have to express them. The sweet potato bulks up her poop enough that they are naturally expressed when she poops. She eats about a half tablespoon of sweet potato with each meal and with COVID-19, I have stockpiled sweet potatoes because it's that important for her, LOL! Anyway, worth a shot!

[MSWR0319]

A side note on this since you bring up a great point! Our dog had recurrent anal sac issues (had trouble expressing them, had to be on antibiotics for a potential impacted sac, had to have a syringe inserted to try to draw out the liquid, etc...we never went through with surgery to remove them because she has a heart murmur. And then our vet mentioned something about trying sweet potato and BOOM. All anal sac issues totally resolved...we never have to express them. The sweet potato bulks up her poop enough that they are naturally expressed when she poops. She eats about a half tablespoon of sweet potato with each meal and with COVID-19, I have stockpiled sweet potatoes because it's that important for her, LOL! Anyway, worth a shot!

Just canned sweet potato? Or do you have to cook them? We've decided to start grooming our dog on our own since we can't go to the groomer anyway, and our dog needs something for this issue. I tried pumpkin at the suggestion of the vet, but it didn't work.

[wendibird22]

Thanks for the suggestions. Luckily it’s not an anal gland problem. I known that smell. The springer used to like to lick himself while on our sofa and get that small in our couch. Barf.

We towel dry him after a bath. He has that “water resistant” type coat. It’s almost hard to shampoo him because the water just runs right off his fur. He really doesn’t stay wet for long and doesn’t get the wet dog smell.

His paws and ears smell fine.

I’ll look into that shampoo.


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[BunnyBee]

We had a stinky dog whose smell cleared up when we switched foods at the vet's suggestion. We also use brown Listerine (the generic) for refreshing our short-haired dog whose skin doesn't like frequent baths. We really like Hy-Lyt shampoo. It seems to keep them clean-smelling for a long time.

[hellokitty]

Is it the food? We noticed that lamb made our dogs smell kind of stinky. We switched back to bison and it isn't as bad. Of course, different breeds tend to have better or worse BO. Like my doxie/yorkie mix only has, "dog smell" right after he comes in after being outdoors, but for the most part is a very neutral smelling, we are lucky. However, we also have a frenchie and he must have a more oily coat, he always is stinky, even soon after a bath and he is not the kind of dog that rolls in stuff (my other dog does that), but I think his hair oil is just naturally a stronger smell.