[712]

Hello, Jolee, my doby girl has a good smell when she gets up in the morning but as the day goes on she really smells bad. She is not rolling in anything, I've watched her. The smell gets worse as she runs and plays, like her sweat smells. I took her to the vet and he checked and could see nothing wrong and of course (Murphy's Law) she did not smell at that time. Has anyone experienced this with their doby???

 

[Amelia_]

Welcome to the forum! If she's definatley not got an infected wound, glands, ear mites, bad breath or my other medical conditions, you could try a De-odorising shampoo, or a vinegar and water solution. You could try changing to a higher quality food, and adding fish oil to help reduce oils in her coat.

 

[Fitzmar Dobermans]

What is she eating? You also might want to see if her anal glands need expressing.

 

[bean]

Yep, my first question to you also is what you're feeding.

 

[PatchworkRobot]

I'd take her to the vet. As Amelia has pointed out, many smells point towards a medical condition.

What do you feed her? A lot of times a smelly dog is on a poor quality food.

 

[dobebug]

Hello, Jolee, my doby girl has a good smell when she gets up in the morning but as the day goes on she really smells bad. She is not rolling in anything, I've watched her. The smell gets worse as she runs and plays, like her sweat smells. I took her to the vet and he checked and could see nothing wrong and of course (Murphy's Law) she did not smell at that time. Has anyone experienced this with their doby???

For openers, dogs don't sweat when they run and play--panting is the main method of dissipating excess heat for dogs.

Did the vet check for full anal glands? They could certainly if full or partially clogged could contribute to a bad smell that was periodic.

Food can alter the way a dog smells but it would usually be constant--not occasionally.

I absolutely would not try to get rid of a periodic bad smell by bathing or using products designed to cover a smell. I'd be checking to find out what is causing the periodic stink.

If the dog didn't smell when she was at the vet I'd keep a log of when she smells bad and make an appointment at a time when she usually smells bad so that the vet has something more to go on than "my six month old puppy smells bad."

Best of luck with this--certainly isn't anything I've encountered in over 50 years of dogs.

 

[Abby]

If the dog didn't smell when she was at the vet I'd keep a log of when she smells bad and make an appointment at a time when she usually smells bad so that the vet has something more to go on than "my six month old puppy smells bad."

Best of luck with this--certainly isn't anything I've encountered in over 50 years of dogs.

Great advice, if you can also note when she eats, plays, and goes to the bathroom it could help you see patterns as well.

 

[vivienne00]

I have had this and it is related to partially blocked anal glands. If you use your nose, you can identify that it comes from the rear end. Not the nicest of smells - a bit of a fishy smell along with something that is quite indescribable.

 

[712]

The Vet emptied her anal glands and she does have bad breath. I'm feeding her Chicken Soup large breed puppy food, and she gets milk bones and waggin train chicken jerky tenders

 

[mmctaq]

waggin train chicken jerky tenders

Not related to your issue, but I believe that this product is imported from China and I would not recommend that you use them. Although they have been unable to identify a contaminant, there have been illnesses associated with this type of Chinese product reported for the last several years, and the FDA just issued another caution regarding their use.

 

[LindaH]

The Vet emptied her anal glands and she does have bad breath. I'm feeding her Chicken Soup large breed puppy food, and she gets milk bones and waggin train chicken jerky tenders

She shouldn't have bad breath, especially at her age where tartar hasn't even had a chance to build up. What did the vet say about her bad breath? Did she check her mouth for an infected tooth???

I would dump the chicken jerky tenders if they are made in China and they probably are.

Read this:
Just Say No to Chicken Jerky Treats from China

 

[712]

Thanks for your post, no more chicken tenders, I'm not sure what the vet checked, I trust him. I just did a ph test on her urine and it shows at 8.5. I bought the 1-10 test from Amazon, I'll take her back to the Vet Monday. I did rinse her with apple cider vinegar and water mix and I've read a teaspoon in their food helps too

 

[mmctaq]

I just did a ph test on her urine and it shows at 8.5.

What made you think to do this? 8.5 is exceedingly high, and indicates a urinary tract infection. Not sure how that would be related to unpleasant odor, but glad you found it...

 

[712]

I read a lot, retired and love my computer. I'm not sure if the test is true so I will be taking her back to the Vet Monday. I'm also not sure how all this fits together. I'll check her again first thing tomorrow morning and get an accurate test, thanks

 

[Darkevs]

can you describe the smell.............. for example....rotten, musty, poopy, fishy, etc. ?

Hugz to your smelly girl!

 

[Lady Kate]

712, it m ight be a good idea to have a full blood panel done INCLUDING thyroid.. sometimes a lo thyroid count will produce an odd smell..

 

[712]

The odor is not musty, rotton, poopy or fishy. It's a strong stringent acidic smell that just about knocked my friend down when I brought Jolee to her house the other day. I did another ph test on Jolee and it's 7. I took the other one at night probably after she ate which is probably why it was high. She smells ok when she hits the dog door in the morning, I see her running and dragging her rope, just getting a lot of excercise then she comes back in and the strong odor is there. I've watched her closely when she goes out and I don't see her laying in anything that will cause the odor. I've checked the places she lays on and smelled them, nothing. Really a puzzle. I'm thinking now the odor is coming out of her skin like a secretion. I give her about 1 to 2 tablespoons of peanut butter a day (she loves it) one egg in a half cup milk every morning. I overdo the treats and am going to stop all except for the rawhide chews and milk bones. I feed her Chicken Soup (large breed puppy) I started her on Purina one and switched to Chicken Soup. I'm going back to Purina One. Her stools are soft while on Chicken Soup, they were normal while on Purina One. She's on her second bag of Chicken Soup. I've been mixing the Purina One Large Breed Puppy in with the remainder of the Chicken Soup and change to Purina One. This is her history and possibly you have a solution or good guess. I appreciate all the help, Ed

 

[712]

Thanks, I will take her back to the Vet and I'll ask about this

 

[dobebug]

The odor is not musty, rotton, poopy or fishy. It's a strong stringent acidic smell that just about knocked my friend down when I brought Jolee to her house the other day. I did another ph test on Jolee and it's 7. I took the other one at night probably after she ate which is probably why it was high. She smells ok when she hits the dog door in the morning, I see her running and dragging her rope, just getting a lot of excercise then she comes back in and the strong odor is there. I've watched her closely when she goes out and I don't see her laying in anything that will cause the odor. I've checked the places she lays on and smelled them, nothing. Really a puzzle. I'm thinking now the odor is coming out of her skin like a secretion. I give her about 1 to 2 tablespoons of peanut butter a day (she loves it) one egg in a half cup milk every morning. I overdo the treats and am going to stop all except for the rawhide chews and milk bones. I feed her Chicken Soup (large breed puppy) I started her on Purina one and switched to Chicken Soup. I'm going back to Purina One. Her stools are soft while on Chicken Soup, they were normal while on Purina One. She's on her second bag of Chicken Soup. I've been mixing the Purina One Large Breed Puppy in with the remainder of the Chicken Soup and change to Purina One. This is her history and possibly you have a solution or good guess. I appreciate all the help, Ed

That acid/stringent odor kind of smacks of anal glands to me. Firm stools will generally keep anal glands empties as the act of defecating itself if the stool is firm will empty the anal glands. If the vet has already emptied her anal glands because they were full it sounds like she isn't emptying them herself. I've known dogs who had partially blocked anal glands and/or very soft stools who would leak anal sac fluid when running hard or playing hard. This may be what is going on.

Vivienne said to sniff around her backside when she comes in stinking and I'd ditto that--if the problem is with anal sacs you should be able to track it by smell.

I'd stop the milk--puppies after weaning really can't process milk--if you want to give her something with the egg give a tablespoon of yogurt--good natural calcium source and digestible because it's partially processed by the bacteria that turn it from milk to yogurt.

I'd also stop the rawhide chews--they inevitably gave my dogs soft stools.

She pretty clearly isn't doing well on the Chicken Soup--some puppies do well on some foods and some on others. My fall back for puppies is generally ProPlan Chicken & Rice (and I feed adult not puppy food)--and they have recently made the original formula available again--this is not the one that has the odd little morsels (which I think are actually chicken flavored soy) in it. You might try that if the Purina One doesn't stop the soft stools.

 

[712]

Thank you very much for all the information, I've been pretty worried about her and when the vet had no solution, well, you can understand. I've already started the plan you set forth and now I'll just have to sit back and wait. I did not detect an odor around her backside but I believe you are right, it all makes sense, thanks again, Ed