Dog mystery stank

[666sarah666]

My dog has been smelling foul for months now. We have bathed her to no avail. We have taken her to the vet. Of course damn that murphy, she had stopped stinking for the few days prior during and just after our vet visit. He looked her over thoroughly and found nothing. No anal gland issues, no ear infection, beautiful white teeth, healthy gums. She is a 2 year old SPCA mutt. Has been on the same diet since november. Only started smelling may/june. The stink is so elusive both my mother and I have spent many hours wondering and searching her body with our noses inches away from her skin. It just seems to be a stink aura surrounding our dog! We have two other dogs, both smell just fine, doggy but fine. We know dogs smell but this stench is making her hard to live with.

[marko]

Others know far more about this than I, but what foods and treats is your dog eating? Could it be the food?

[kandy]

Along with food issues, how long is your dogs hair, and how thick? If she's not being groomed properly and is developing mats, the mats will hold moisture next to the skin. That moist environment breeds bacteria, which will cause an odor and will eventually cause an infection (hot spots). Skin issues can be caused from allergies or intolerances to ingredients in food. Those skin issues can be aggravated by bathing if the shampoo causes it's own irritations, or if the shampoo is not fully rinsed from the coat.

[666sarah666]

Hmm well she is a long coat dog, thick hair however she is brushed regularly and we cant smell the stink on her coat or skin. She does mat but we do spent time getting those out. She has been bathed a few times but gets rinsed very well. We changed her diet for a few months but that did no good so we switched back to her normal feed. I just don't see that being the reason as she has been eating that since we got her. Besides our others eat this so it is nice to have them all on the same food. A dog food we get from the butcher cooked up. We have changed diets before. Its so strange that the dog herself seems to smell okay close up. And the vet was just no help, altho he did rule out any obvious medical problems.

[CearaQC]

If you were to give the smell a name, what would you call it? As in a relationship to a smell you already recognize.

yeasty - like bread or brew
egg salad sandwich fart
skunk
sewer system
burning hair
fermented slimy rice
bread mold
very ripe European blue cheese
puke/bile
sweaty gym socks

etc etc

Wow it's hard coming up with words for stinky stuff.

I just thought maybe if you pinned down the type of scent then it would help to figure out what it is.

Did the vet notice any smell or ask you to describe what you were smelling?

[Bailey_]

You said her smell isn't coming from her skin or her fur.

Are you able to pinpoint where the smell is the strongest - from the front of her, or the back?

Sometimes with a simple ear infection (due to long hair growing in the dogs ears) it can cause a really horrible smell. Very easy to cure with a few drops of medicine from your vet over the course of a week.

[CearaQC]

Originally Posted by Bailey_

Sometimes with a simple ear infection (due to long hair growing in the dogs ears) it can cause a really horrible smell. Very easy to cure with a few drops of medicine from your vet over the course of a week.

That's why I asked for a scent description because ear problems can be quite stinky.

But she said she took it to the vet and they couldn't find anything wrong.

I'm stumped.

[kandy]

Could it be stinky breath that when she grooms herself is transferring the scent to her fur?

"a dog food from the butcher cooked up' - could you elaborate a touch more on that? I mean if she's eating tripe, and then cleaning her fur, I could see her having a smell. LOL Also, some nutritional deficiencies can manifest in bad breath.

With long haired dogs, especially those with an undercoat, if you aren't brushing down to the skin, the dead skin is staying there and small mats can develop. But if you can't smell the odor on her coat or her skin...hmmmm.....is she perhaps walking in something that she is transferring to the carpet and such? If you can't smell it on her skin or her fur, then where can you smell it?

[Macomom]

Hello Sarah,

When you are on your smell exploration, only take 3 or smells of her and then reset your nose by smelling your elbow.
Your ability to smell is comprimised quite quickly especially with strong odours, or familiar ones and this will help you find that evasive smell.
You can also smell water, if it is not chlorinated, but your own skin is better.
Wine trick of the day
Hope you find the funky smell.

[666sarah666]

It is a sour/musty smell, sour and like rotting leaves. Or athletes foot. You can smell it all the time but it is hard to pinpoint. When you get down close to her it just smells doggy. But when she walks by its overwhelming. Yeah the vet looked her over very well. He didn't find a thing. Not her breath we have opened her mouth stuck our nose in. Lifted her tail stuck our nose in. Right in her ears sniffed. NOTHING! She is an indoor dog only goes out for poops pees and her walk everyday. She isn't rolling or getting into anything. (small yard) Her food is ground beef. No tripe. And again we have CHANGED DIET. I keep hearing about food, but she has been on the medical vet food this had no change and cost a ton. It seems to have started as soon as she started swimming in the lake. Okanagan lake. So its not a gross lake but the stink does seem to have started when she learned to swim. I just put that time line together in my head, I cant think of why that would cause stink though! You guys rock thanks so much for thinking about my problem.

[CearaQC]

Does she scratch anywhere on her body?

Maybe she picked up something when she went swimming?

I assume she's spayed so that rules out pyometra, a uterus infection.

Maybe a bath with baking soda mixed in the water would help cut down on the odor.

[666sarah666]

Yes, the odor is dampened down when she is wet. We have bathed her and she smells better for a few hours. We have stopped bathing her, no point, a lot of work and a few hours of relief. We have done the odor eater dog shampoo and dog deodorant, this just smells like grossness and dog deodorant. And yes spayed. No scratching. She seems healthy as a horse. Just dont want to be around her anymore poor thing.

[allfurlove]

Originally Posted by 666sarah666

It is a sour/musty smell, sour and like rotting leaves. Or athletes foot. You can smell it all the time but it is hard to pinpoint. When you get down close to her it just smells doggy. But when she walks by its overwhelming. Yeah the vet looked her over very well. He didn't find a thing. Not her breath we have opened her mouth stuck our nose in. Lifted her tail stuck our nose in. Right in her ears sniffed. NOTHING! She is an indoor dog only goes out for poops pees and her walk everyday. She isn't rolling or getting into anything. (small yard) Her food is ground beef. No tripe. And again we have CHANGED DIET. I keep hearing about food, but she has been on the medical vet food this had no change and cost a ton. It seems to have started as soon as she started swimming in the lake. Okanagan lake. So its not a gross lake but the stink does seem to have started when she learned to swim. I just put that time line together in my head, I cant think of why that would cause stink though! You guys rock thanks so much for thinking about my problem.

Maybe she just farts alot
Have you parted her hair all over and examined her skin? When long or thick-haired dogs swim and dont dry all the way through it can cause hotspots. But Im sure you or the vet would have found them. I hope you can get to the bottom of it.

[coppperbelle]

Have you checked her collar? One of my dogs had an awful smell and I finally pinpointed it to her collar.

Hunter has an odor and we think he has been rolling in something. He smells musky.

[budgrrl]

maybe try a professional grooming - perhaps there are some small mats that are causing the funk...something that maybe a professional groomer can locate and remove?
i have family members that have 2 goldens and they cant keep them out of the water...and they often are a wee bit smelly! they tend to get wee mini mats behind their ears and when the fur mats, it has a hard time drying, and almost seems to 'mold' or 'mildew' in there. they now use a pick (you know, like the ones for those 80s perms a lot of us had - eek!)...and it seems to take the mats out great in that area

[lUvMyLaB<3]

could it be bad gas?

[satchelp]

Has the vet ruled out a yeast infection on her skin? That can often be invisible, but it sure can smell. There are some easy remedies for that. One is to shampoo her with Nizoral (marketed for human dandruff type problems, but the main ingredient is Ketoconozale, which is anti-fungal / anti-yeast.). It is available at drug stores such as Shoppers Drug Mart. Here is some information about using it on dogs to treat a yeast infection of the skin although it would probably be good for the vet to do a scraping to see if this is indeed the issue first.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body..._the_skin.html

http://www.petplace.com/dogs/skin-di...ogs/page1.aspx