Why is my dog so nasty?

[dixygirl]

I have a white wavy hair dog that looks like a small English Sheep dog or similar type of mut. I found him as a stray in my driveway as a puppy and kept him. The problem is he stinks so bad I can't keep him in the house anymore.

*Every time I take him outside to go to the bathroom, when he comes back inside his whole body STINKS! Why would a dog stink by just going into outside air for a few minutes?

* When I bathe him I use a bit of chlorox in his lather to try to disinfect his coat and brighten it. He may smell good after two lathers but one hour after he is dry and he is starting to stink again! Why can he stink so quickly.

I was keeping him in the house and even when i freshly wash him with bleach, mop all the floors with bleach, shampoo the carpets the house STILL STINKS!!

He fills the house with an oppressive odor that feels dusty, heavy and stinky even if I clean 10 hours a day!

What can I DO??

Today I have him leashed outside and am thinking he will have to be an outdoor dog. Any ideas will help.

 

[Chicken Boo]

My corgi/chow cross takes every opportunity to role in anything that stinks. The first time I saw her do this, she was a puppy and had found an opossum skull rotting in the corner of a friend's yard and was was trying to rub every part of her body over it. She does this with chicken poo, rotting veggies, any dead animal she can find, etc., etc., etc. Take a look around where your dog goes. He may have found a great place to get rid of the perfumy shampoo smell.

 

[BayCityBabe]

Please, friend, no Clorox on the puppy!
I have a stinky wooly mop of a dog, also. I took him to a groomer and got him trimmed, which helped. I also dilute Bronner's peppermint soap (2-3 Tbs.) in a qt. spray bottle of water. I mist him with it & the scent, which is an essential oil, kills odor.
We have made pup hygene kind of a family mission. I do the "real baths" in the shower. Hubby does "yard baths" with the hose. The pepermint thing is in between times.
Dogs are just pretty stinky.

 

[dixygirl]

He is not a puppy anymore. I have had him for almost a year. My chlorox mixture is wonderful and i love it. I will use either flea shampoo or antibacterial liquid soap in a bottle and add a cap full or two of chlorox to the soap. That works great and it is not enough to harm the animal. I do love the idea of essential oils. I sometimes use essential oils in water in a spray bottle to mist the dog and around the house as a general air freshener. I also put essential oils on the filter is my Orec air filter.

Nothing really helps to lift the heavy feeling in the room and freshen the air.

I am going to try keeping him outside during the days on a long cable leash and in the garage at night. Now he is out there barking at the horse, barking at deer and terrifying the ducks. I went out to scold him and he is getting the idea that those are our friends. Maybe he will end up a good livestock guard dog if I integrate him properly with the outdoor animals.

But still.... why would the outdoor air make a dog's hair and skin stink even if he didn't touch anything? Maybe he is urinating on himself. As far as grooming, I do that myself because I know how to cut hair and clip the nails.

Does anyone know anything about expressing their glands in the back? Maybe that has something to do with it. I was told that the rear glands release an odor in the wild to drive off predators. Maybe that's what he is doing and bringing the stinch back inside.

 

[vicki2x2]

What are you feeding him? It is often a food that is causing the smell. Also, have you checked his skin closely? I know it is harder to do with a longer haired dog, but he could have some skin conditions going on under the hair that are causing the smell.

I would also stay away from using bleach in his bath. It could hurt his eyes and will definitely dry out his skin. There are dog shampoo's that are made with whitener in them. You could also try a medicated shampoo and see if it helps with the smell.

A vet check might also help. They probably know other reasons for stinky dogs.

 

[dixygirl]

I found a video on expressing the glands
http://www.expertvillage.com/video/8453_dog-grooming-basics-glands.htm

I think that is the problem. His skin and coat look good. He has had all his shots and the vet said he was fine. And he eats Purina Beneful dog food.

I will try expressing his glands and see how that does. The more I think about it, it makes sense that this is the problem. If those glands are there for an animal in the wild to make a STINK to drive away predators when they feel in danger..... If he is going outside he likely will use them at that time come to think of it when he sees all sorts of creatures out there.

The stink glands being activated on quick trips outside would bring such an odor back inside it does seem to me. I will empty them now.

 

[vicki2x2]

If that doesn't help, I would try changing his dogfood. My mom had this problem with her yorkie and had her glands expressed several times, but that wasn't the problem. She was in good health, coat, teeth, etc all looked great. It was simply something in the dogfood that didn't agree with her. She changed her food a couple of times before finding one that worked for her. Each time she left her on the food for a month, because her vet told it would take time for the change to work.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

My pom rolls in everything stinky too! My Boxer just sniffs it and walks away but at least he would be easier to clean...short hair! But my pom UGH! Stinky mess 5 days out of the week out here in the country. Just horrible! My MIL used to spray her dog with Fabreeze!

He lived a LONG LONG life...he had to be put to sleep at the age of 20 finally. I'm going to go check out that video, sounds interesting.

 

[Cara]

Quote:
Dogs do not naturally 'stink'. We have five large inside/outside dogs, and none of them smell doggy. We only bathe them if they roll in something. The key is a good diet (which Beneful is not) with plenty of linoleic acid, keeping the dog's skin and coat in good condition. If you bathe too frequently you will often make the situation worse by drying out their skin and coat, even if you don't use household cleaning products on the animal.

**Edited to remove inflammatory commentary**

 

[dixygirl]

My Vet gave me the formula of using a capfull in a bottle of shampoo to disinfect strays. At that concentration it can do no harm and is only a mild disinfectant.

The weak at heart and thin skinned will probably faint to learn a lot of professional secrets. So I won't share anymore. Some are too delicate to handle them. Wouldn't want anyone to faint and get up slinging insults.


I just expressed the glands and a good amount of stinky fluid was released. It was not thick so there was no infection present. I believe I found the solution to my own problem. But just the same I will be keeping him as an outdoor dog from now on.


PS For your info, when I was fresh out of college I worked at a vet office for a few months. They used all sorts of effective tricks that would make you faint when the clients were out of view.... But it cured the animals.