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We've tried bathing, taking her to the groomers, blow-drying her, brushing the undercoat -- nothing seems to get the reek off this dog! She's a black English Labrador and is about 9 y/o. She's always had this problem, and we believe it's part of her body chemistry. Are there any products that could help this? Is it just moisture getting trapped under that thick fur?

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What does she smell like?

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Sometimes switching to a different food (especially a high quality one with little filler) will get rid of doggie odour, but it does sound kind of extreme in this case

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Does she show any other signs of possible allergies? My lab had the following symptoms:
obsessive licking of paws or legs
warm paws
chronic ear infections
ear flaps are warm & puffy

I am inclined to think this might be a food allergy or a yeast issue. What are you feeding currently?

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How often you bathe her? We give our lab a bath every 3 weeks. He smells a little after 3 weeks but does not stink. He definitely smell fresh after his bath. Dog food do make a big difference here. Good dog food produce less gas as well.

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I think it's a food issue as well. What are you currently feeding?

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Well, she's actually my family's dog (I'm out of the house now), but they feed her the Labrador formula from Royal Canin. Their other lab (a chocolate American Lab) doesn't have any of these problems, and the black one has always had it, and they've tried a number of foods.

She is bathed as needed, but usually within a three week time frame. She was bathed last Sunday and by Tuesday she was stinking again! Just a bad, bad dog odor! Not really "wet dog"... just bad dog smell if that makes any sense!

As far as other symptoms, she doesn't seem to exhibit any. She has had a few hot spots over the years, but nothing major, and nothing that seemed to cause her any discomfort.

Also, wanted to add that immediately after her bath/groomer trip, she smells fine... it's just a day or so after that the stench returns. We love her to pieces no matter what, but if we could get rid of the smell, or at least make it less obvious, that would be nice.

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The Royal Canin foods contain a lot of grain products and are really not that great. I would highly suggest switching to a grain free product (Orijen, Evo, Timberwolf Organics Ocean Blue) and incorporating some coconut oil and probiotics into his food for a while. Check out this article in the Whole Dog Journal which discusses this issue (starts on page 12).

http://www.villagepawsandclaws.com/WDJ_Feb2007.pdf

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Teri ~ thanks for that, I will be passing that along for sure!

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The foods that Teri suggested are much, much better than Royal Canin.

1. Orijen (www.championpetfoods.com)
2. Innova EVO (www.naturapet.com)
3. Timberwolf Organics Ocean Blue (www.timberwolforganics.com)

Check out their websites and compare their ingredients to what you're feeding now. If you have any questions please post them in the dog food forum here. Good luck and let us know how your dog does.

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Good grief!... the amount they charge for Royal Canin, you'd think it's be a high quality food!!

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Has she been to the vet and had her skin checked? My grandfather's dog had seborrhea at one point and she *stunk*. A vet could also tell you if it seems like an allergy.

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She is going in for an arthritis check soon so I'm sure they'll get her checked as it seems to have worsened over the past year or so.

How do they check for allergies in animals? It is just process of elimination or is there an actual test they can perform?

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They can do allergy testing but it is quite expensive and the results are sometimes questionable. An elimination diet is usually the best first step.

Yes, Royal Canin is expensive as are most foods sold (and promoted) by vets. The newer research is showing how detrimental a high carb diet is for our friends and in your case a grain-free/gluten-free diet would be an excellent choice in the first step of an elimation diet.

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I hope you can convince your parents to change her food. They are the same price range as Royal Canin but at least the ingredients are far superior.

As Teri said, allergy tests are expensive and quite often inconclusive, so switching to a grain free kibble is a good place to start.

Make sure the switch is done slowly and there may be some loose stools at first. If you read some of the threads in the Food Forum here you will get lots of useful information and tips.

You also mentioned arthritis. Is she on glucosamine/chondroitin supplements?

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I am positive they will change her food if it would help her. I don't believe her to be on any supplements for the arthritis, but I do know she gets Rimadyl as needed.

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I would put her on glucosamine/chondroitin supplements. Or else, green lipped mussel:

http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/132/6/1634S

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...ubmed_docsu m

http://publications.royalcanin.com/r...ession=1970347

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