Please help with the smell!!!

[Romy]

Here's our problem, if anybody has any suggestions I would dearly appreciate them.

Our dog smells like a dog, which has been perfectly acceptable until recently. I am pregnant now, and experiencing some pretty funky bouts of morning sickness. My sense of smell is also picking up things that it didn't before.

To me, our dog smells like a rotten dead thing and her breath smells like rotten meat. Every time she walks into the room, or breathes around me, or yawns, I have to run and chuck cookies. My husband says she smells exactly the same as before to him.

I feel really bad because every time she tries to come into the room with me I tell her to leave. She's getting all sad, and is trying to figure out what she is doing wrong and it makes me feel very terrible for her because she is a very good dog and I love her a lot. My husband works a lot and has been trying to give her extra attention when he's home, but it's not really that often. We adopted her so that I could have a companion while he is at work all day long.

What kinds of shampoos are safe for dogs that will cut down on the fur smell? She is a german shepherd, and I know that their skin PH is a certain way, but I'm not really sure what product would be safe to bathe her in. Also, what on earth can we do to make her breath not stink like dead stuff? That is the hardest one because if I pet her she smiles, and then I throw up. So she ends up not really getting petted that much. Please help!

 

[Romy]

Here is the info on her food. It is Authority brand, Large breed puppy and adult. Here are the ingredients in order:

Chicken Meal
Brewers rice
corn
dried beet pulp
brown rice
dried cellulose
corn gluten meal
natural flavors
canola oil
dried egg product
corn oil
vitamin E supplement
l-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin c)
copper sulphate
vitamin a supplement
manganese sulfate
niacin
D calcium pantothenate
vitamin d3 supplement
riboflavin
calcium iodate
pyridoxine hydrochloride
thiamin mononitrate
folic acid
sodium selenite
biotin
vitamin b12 supplement
mixed tocopherols
clucosamine hydrochloride
chondroitin sulfate

The front of the bag also states "no byproducts". Not the greatest food in the world, but should it be causing stink problems? She also gets raw meaty bones and organ meats (like beef heart and tripe) 3 or 4 times a week in the evening, after her morning kibble has been digested. Also organic yogurt once a week because I can never finish the containers before they expire.

 

[Saje]

Food can definitely cause a problem. An infection can too. I'm pregnant too though and find my dogs to be stinkier than I thought lol. I also decided that my shampoo smelled like pee.

I'm not familiar with that brand. You may find a change with a higher end food or even a raw diet. When my dogs were on raw they virtually had no odour.

As far as shampoo goes I haven't tried that many brands. Sometimes I brush baby powder in them if they seem particularly stinky! lol

 

[Zoom]

It's the in-house Petsmart brand.

You could try switching to a better brand of food, check out the Dog Food and Recipies section of this board for ideas.

You could have your hubby try to start brushing your dog's teeth and see if that helps any; use an enzymatic dog toothpaste so it works even if you can't brush that much at first.

You could also try giving her a dog-safe breath spray. For my dogs, I use Dog Smog Remover from HappyTails. Works on people too!

I hope your smell sensitivity lessens soon!

 

[sam]

It never ceases to amaze me what feeding a better diet does for doggy odor and breath. I remember the vet saying my dog "smells like cheap food" when he came from the rescue- I had no idea it had anything to do with the food- I assumed he needed a bath. Turned out the vet was right.
That's not a great food. You really want to avoid fillers like corn gluten meal, beet pulp. I'm not sure what you have available to you but you might want to find a good pet food supplier and try a better food.
Some favorites are: Innova, Evo, Eaglepak Holistic, Canidae, Nature's Variety Raw Instinct etc I would try going with a grainfree food. I think that will make the most difference.
I would try adding water to your dogs kibble too. Eating a 100% dry diet means a dog needs to consume a LOT of water to stay hydrated, some of them do, some don't esp if they have limited access to the yard during the day to pee. Dehydrated people always have gross breath, i'm sure the same holds true for dogs. If you can afford it, I would consider adding some canned food a fish body oil supplement and vit E.
Are your dogs teeth ok ?
Congrats on the pregnancy. I'm 16 weeks tomorrow and still a bit nauseas and definetly have the nose of a bloodhound. My dogs haven't bothered me I'm having more trouble with things like walking down the isle with the laundry soap and cleaning products. It feels like the smell is so strong and so much like toxic chemicals.
The changes you see in your dog by feeding a better diet take about 3-4 weeks to be noticeable unfortunately.

 

[krisykris]

I use Earthbath shampoo in MangoTango as well as a doggie "perfume" in between baths. It keeps them smelling really really fresh and clean. I know that some there are breathe freshening products on the market that may help as well

And congrats!!

 

[girlbuffalo1]

dog smell

To overcome the Wrigsters odor we currently use an oatmeal formula shampoo which is much better than the general dog/puppy shampoo I was using before. I also condition him with a pleasantly scented conditioner each time I shampoo. Also cleaning the ears with each shampoo and brushing his teeth helps quite a great deal.

In between baths I spray him with a scented dog deoderizer while I brush him which helps. Wirgley isn't really doggy stinky though he smells like a bag of stale Frito chips which also isn't pleasant but not horrible.

 

[bubbatd]

I have used LambertKay's " Fresh n Clean " great smell that lasts for weeks . They also have the same spray to refresh if needed . Good luck with the smells and your pregnancy !!!

 

[rij73]

Using the supplement called "Missing Link" in your dog's food, can over some time eliminate their doggy odor. My dog smells wonderful all the time, and I attribute it to his high-quality food and the Missing Link. I give him Vetbasis Dental Treat Paste whenever he has bad breath, and that works wonders...

 

[Romy]

Thanks everybody!

We wanted to start her on raw after we first adopted her (about a month a go) but she was about 17 pounds underweight and if she ate anything other than the kibble she would puke everywhere and get terrible diarrhea. The vet reccommended we keep her on kibble until her digestive system and weight became more stable. She's finally put on enough weight we could try experimenting with her diet to find something more healthy for her.

Thanks for all the product tips and everything! I always feel so overwhelmed with all the choices, and not knowing what works or is safe. Her teeth are pretty dirty, but a lot cleaner than when we got her. We're going to go buy her a toothbrush and toothpaste tomorrow. Thanks for all the tips and well wishing, and congrats to all you other expecting mothers too!

 

[Denaluvscorgis]

Thanks everybody!

We wanted to start her on raw after we first adopted her (about a month a go) but she was about 17 pounds underweight and if she ate anything other than the kibble she would puke everywhere and get terrible diarrhea. The vet reccommended we keep her on kibble until her digestive system and weight became more stable. She's finally put on enough weight we could try experimenting with her diet to find something more healthy for her.

Thanks for all the product tips and everything! I always feel so overwhelmed with all the choices, and not knowing what works or is safe. Her teeth are pretty dirty, but a lot cleaner than when we got her. We're going to go buy her a toothbrush and toothpaste tomorrow. Thanks for all the tips and well wishing, and congrats to all you other expecting mothers too!

I really feel for you..........I was really sick like you both of my pregnancies. I had the nose of a Bloodhound. Good luck to you!

 

[skyeboxer]

Oh I feel for you. They water the park in front of my house with treated sewage water. I had no idea until I was pregnant. I was gagging with that all day, every day.

I hope some of the ideas you've got here solve the problem but if you are having the same problem with other smells you might want to try some tricks to help. Here are some weird ones...

- coffee beans. Carry some with you. They apparently have an effect of clearing the olfactory nerves. Oddly this worked for me.

Lemon. Again carry one with you. Scrape the skin and inhale.

- Ginger, like in ginger tea. That's supposed to help. Didn't help me though.

Congratulations on the baby.

 

[BoB/335]

I don't get it

I don't get it. You state that your dog's breath smells like rotten meat and then you state; " She also gets raw meaty bones and organ meats (like beef heart and tripe) 3 or 4 times a week in the evening,"

Is it me? Anyway after the death of my last dog, this dog gets NO HUMAN FOOD! and a high quality dog food.

 

[RD]

BoB/335, what would you recommend as a high quality dog food?

 

[BoB/335]

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