stinky dog head NOT ear infection
 

My altered male dog intermittently emits an odour from the top of his head that smells foul greasy smell; not like excrement ....... this smell is not anywhere else on his body. He does not have an ear infection, he does not have bad breath. Are there glands on his head that could produce this odor and if so what can i do about eliminating it?

Look for a hot spot behind the ear from scratching, and also under the collar. My golden had a hot spot right under the collar and it was the smell that I noticed first.

No, there aren't any glands in the head that would emit such a noticeable odor.

Our dog Jaida was often called "Farty McCheese", because generally she smelled cheesy/greasy, most noticeably around her head and ears...

until we changed her diet from kibble to a diet consiting of raw meaty bones and offal. What are you feeding your dog right now?

It doesn't smell like his urine, does it? Our dogs often get what we call 'potty head'. :o They pee on some leaves then get it on top of their heads when they sniff around after. :rolleyes: Dogs! Whaddya gonna do? :o

suzan when you say "no infection" has it been checked ? My dog picked up a fungal infection a couple of summers ago that I *think* she either picked up during a particularly rainy week or from the pile of seaweed she had rolled in at the beach. She stunk (weird yeast-y, cheese-y smell :yuck: ).

Does his head FEEL greasy, or just smell rancid ? Dogs can have seborrhea can't they ?

:yuck: I had the same experience ImNomad had, just a nasty smell and it ended up being a bacterial infection that she picked up at the beach. Only caught a whiff of it once in awhile....but it was stinky.

[QUOTE=bendyfoot;805816]No, there aren't any glands in the head that would emit such a noticeable odor.

Our dog Jaida was often called "Farty McCheese", because generally she smelled cheesy/greasy, most noticeably around her head and ears...

until we changed her diet from kibble to a diet consiting of raw meaty bones and offal. What are you feeding your dog right now?[/QUOTE]

This is not a cheesy smell; i would say more like very dirty sweat impregnated bed sheets! this smell literally wafts upwards but only intermittently; the body has absolutley no odour

i changed his food from a good quality all fish based to chicken fish egg but it is kibble

[QUOTE=Marty11;805815]Look for a hot spot behind the ear from scratching, and also under the collar. My golden had a hot spot right under the collar and it was the smell that I noticed first.[/QUOTE]

none there

[QUOTE=hazelrunpack;805986]It doesn't smell like his urine, does it? Our dogs often get what we call 'potty head'. :o They pee on some leaves then get it on top of their heads when they sniff around after. :rolleyes: Dogs! Whaddya gonna do? :o[/QUOTE]

nope; he always ends up peeing on his front legs which get washed after every walk, but even his urine doesn't seem to smell much

[QUOTE=im_nomad;807127]suzan when you say "no infection" has it been checked ? My dog picked up a fungal infection a couple of summers ago that I *think* she either picked up during a particularly rainy week or from the pile of seaweed she had rolled in at the beach. She stunk (weird yeast-y, cheese-y smell :yuck: ).

well i can see infection if the whole body smelled; and the vet saw him and could smell the odour just on the head and not on the body; she said try food so that is why i changed it

Does his head FEEL greasy, or just smell rancid ? Dogs can have seborrhea can't they ?[/QUOTE]

its a little oily

[QUOTE=suzanjane;807390]its a little oily[/QUOTE]

Just a little something I found on another site, food for thought:

"SEBORRHEA

A dog affected by this condition will have an unusually oily skin. If you pass your hand on a the coat of a dog affected by this disorder you will feel your hands to be very greasy. This is the origin of the problem, the dog has overactive sebaceous glands and the grease is what is giving this offensive smell. Most cases are treated by clipping the hair and applying a medicated shampoo prescribed by your vet."

[QUOTE=im_nomad;807884]Just a little something I found on another site, food for thought:

"SEBORRHEA

A dog affected by this condition will have an unusually oily skin. If you pass your hand on a the coat of a dog affected by this disorder you will feel your hands to be very greasy. This is the origin of the problem, the dog has overactive sebaceous glands and the grease is what is giving this offensive smell. Most cases are treated by clipping the hair and applying a medicated shampoo prescribed by your vet."[/QUOTE]

thanks i will check this; the odour seems to have abated! maybe it was the fish based food; but i will look at this seborrhea too; i bought cornmela to dry shampoo his head with too!