Every time I bathe her, the problem seems to intensify. I use oatmeal based dog shampoo for her skin and she smells better until she lays out in the sun. She is part pit bull and part black lab with short to medium length fur is mostly black with gold & brown brindle. Someone told me @ one time that black labs have glands that give them a naturally bad odor but I’ve had pure bred black labs previously that never had this problem. I’ve changed her food to help her skin but after 4 weeks there is no improvement there either so I’m considering anti-allergy food from my health food store or vet. Knowledgable suggestions are welcome! Thank-you!
We live in central Florida, have a nice lawn with no pesticides and dirt rather than sand. She has no fleas and no rashes but she does dig and lay in the dirt. She scratches and chews on herself quite a bit so I know she is uncomfortable and not just having developed a bad habit. A good brushing takes away the loose skin and brings up more but does not seem to help alleviate the dry skin. She sheds some but isn’t losing any appreciable amount of fur.
I have considered the possibility of her needing her anal glands expressed by the vet as a possible cause of the odor problem. She is spayed. I don’t bathe her very often as she hates water-seems she’s more pit than lab! And she does not like to go out in the rain if she can avoid it! <Sigh…> She hates going to the vet but I’m thinking this is likely the best answer at this point! I would love it if Eukanuba would resolve her probs as it’s less expensive than the prescription formula from the vet! Thank-you all for your suggestions!
Sounds like you’ve done a lot of things right so far. I wouldn’ bathe her more than once every six months – that definitely affects the skin. She could easily have allergies to food or grass. I’d try a canned food like Nutro Lamb & Rice. It has no "by products" unlike the high-priced Eukanuba. Many dogs (and some humans) are allergic to wheat and the preservatives in dry foods. I’d keep her inside on a tile or wood floor as much as possible and go for leash walks in the street – see if that helps. If you can afford it, take her to an allergy specialist. My fried has Australian shepherds – she got a profile from the allergist showing that one of her dogs is allergic to so many things that she had to be put to sleep. (The poor dog was chewing herself raw 24/7.) Good luck!
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
get it nudered
References :
Too many baths maybe?? I have a lab..He hates baths.. There is no odor problem. Let him out when it rains… No joke. My dog loves it.
References :
are these from her anal glands?
well washing her skin will only irritate them more
take her to see a vet and get those glands squeezed out totally
that will help
References :
It may be allergies, yeast infection or many other things. Take her to the vet. For dry skin, bathing is not the best idea with over the counter shampoo.
References :
i have a pure black lab and she’s 12 years old. i dont think its true about labs having glands that give bad odors since mine being a 100% pure bread never had that problem.
anyhow, in the past my dog use to have also kinda dry hair, flaky, not smelly but not smooth clear hair, so we changed dog food to using Eukanuba, believe it or not, but it immediatly changed her tone of hair. i dont know if that woudl serve for odors, but if it serves for hair, there is no reason why it wouldnt help for odors since it all departs from the dog’s skin.
try to giong to your nearest Petco and sign in. i know eukanuba is the most expensive brand out of all, but its worth or else i would have told you to not even try it, but its worth trust me. so in petco usually when you sign up every time you buy a bag of dog food it gets counted and on your 10th purchase you get a free bag. a good way to save 50 bucks.
hope it helps!
References :
change your dog food to Eukanuba. My boyfriend is familiar with labs and says this particular food is great 4 labs!
Good luck
References :
change the dog food. Some dog foods cause doggie odor
References :
Sounds like you’ve done a lot of things right so far. I wouldn’ bathe her more than once every six months – that definitely affects the skin. She could easily have allergies to food or grass. I’d try a canned food like Nutro Lamb & Rice. It has no "by products" unlike the high-priced Eukanuba. Many dogs (and some humans) are allergic to wheat and the preservatives in dry foods. I’d keep her inside on a tile or wood floor as much as possible and go for leash walks in the street – see if that helps. If you can afford it, take her to an allergy specialist. My fried has Australian shepherds – she got a profile from the allergist showing that one of her dogs is allergic to so many things that she had to be put to sleep. (The poor dog was chewing herself raw 24/7.) Good luck!
References :
5 years vet tech