Dog starting to smell

pokerkingsni

Winston, my 8 month old collie cross, is starting to smell quite bad in and around his head and neck. He gets washed every month or so and i use an anti-flea deodourising spray on him most days. He has always been free from smell but lately its getting bad. Someone in a pet shop suggested it may be worms, but i gave him his worming tablet a couple of weeks ago.

Any ideas?

Grawns

I'd bring him to the vet.

peasant

Most likely an ear infection ...off to the vet with him, pronto.

Sigma Force

You shouldn't spray that stuff on him daily not good for him, I would say as said it could be an ear infection have a look in his ears and see if they are sore swollen red or have brown gunk in them. If it smells and is an ear infection he would be a fairly bad one very important he gets to the vets.

Never heard of a dog smelling from having worms.

Could be a tooth or gum problem either best off with a trip to the vets.

trio

Agree - I'd check his ears. They can really smell quite bad if never cleaned.

MsFifers

++ on the likely ear infection problem. Off to the vet!

Is he holding his head to one side or anything like that?

~Thalia~

Could also be that he is rolling in muck, they do this and it REEKS from the sides of their faces and their shoulders, normally though this is quite visable and you can feel the stickiness from their coats when you pet them.

If it's not something that you can clearly see like dirt or much I would also advocate a trip to the vets straight away to make sure he is in good health and not in an unecessary discomfort.

whitser

if your sure he's not rolling in gick,then either an infection or ear mites i'd say.
have a good look in his ears if they full of a dark wax then its mites. vet will prescribe something. could also be getting washed to often with something thats doesnt agree with his skin. a dip in the sea would be better then any wash.

Honey-ec

+1 on the washing too often. Twice a year is sufficient, with brushing in between to get rid of any muck (let it dry first, obviously).

DancingDaisy

Gotta agree in bringing the dog to the vet if you are worried, better safe than sorry.

Not sure I agree with the idea of washing a collie twice a year if they are long haired. I have two long haired dogs and one short haired and on the advice of teh vets, the shorth haired lab is brushed every second day and is washed maybe three times a year, while the long haired ones are brushed every second day, washed every 6-8 weeks and brought in for a grooming twice a year.

I may be wrong regards the washing, but it was the vets advice to us.

whitser

never said dont brush the dog or wash it,just dont use any shampoos. a dip in the sea or a clean river or lake will do, or even just wash him down with water.

DancingDaisy

Whitser, not you I'm disagreeing with at all. I would agree regards shampoos and such! They can be really bad for a dogs coat or skin, and salt water probably is the best to wash them in, I was just disagreeing with the idea of only washing a dog twice a year, that's all

Miss Tequila

bring him to the vet

whitser

wash them in the sea as often as you like. mine are at the beach at least once a week during the spring-summer. i,ve never used any shampoo on any dogs,no need. mine are mostly outdoors though. you could wash a dog in the sea-river-lake every day if you wanted.

DancingDaisy

Only shampoo that is used on our dogs is the flea shampoo and thats used sparingly and occassionaly, the rest of the time it's just warm water in a baby bath poured over them (they don't get to go swimming as I wouldn't like to let them off the lead). Their fur is then brushed while they are still damp and they get to curl up and dry by the fire.

whitser

im not having a go. you do things your way and me the same. we all have different ways of looking after our dogs.

whitser

pokerkingsni wrote: »

Winston, my 8 month old collie cross, is starting to smell quite bad in and around his head and neck. He gets washed every month or so and i use an anti-flea deodourising spray on him most days. He has always been free from smell but lately its getting bad. Someone in a pet shop suggested it may be worms, but i gave him his worming tablet a couple of weeks ago.

Any ideas?

dont think its good idea to be spraying him "most days" with the de-odouriser.

DancingDaisy

Grand so, sorry for coming across so defensive. Every dog is different.. I just need reminding of that sometimes.

I definitely wouldn't be spraying anything on the dog, particularly if there is a strong smell coming from him, if I didn't check it with the vets first. I'm not sure about this but I have heard that you generally shouldn't spray things around a dogs head and ears at all, I could very likely be wrong on that.

luckat

Is it his head and neck, or his shoulders?

If it's the shoulders, he's probably finding some deliciously scented (to him) ****e and rolling in it. Watch him like a hawk every time you have him out for a walk, and if you see him rolling, have a quick sniff. If he's rolled in something bad, out with the hose when you get home. (And the shampoo if it's something really smelly - just rinse it off very well.)

Make sure you do a good poo patrol in the garden, too, so he can't roll in anything there.

Most dogs love to rub their neck and shoulders in anything truly disgusting, and it's not very safe; my dog used to love dead maggoty rats particularly. Very dangerous, as the maggots can then tunnel in through the dog's skin, causing infection, and in the worst case, death.

LisaO

Mine used to love dead fish :eek: They once covered themselves on a very late walk. I have no sense of smell, so it was only when we got back under street lights I wondered why they were all shiny & sparkly! So it was home for a bath at 1am

pokerkingsni

Been to the vet and got the all clear physically. The spray im using is ok to use, its to be used everyday for 2 weeks for odour.

Been keeping an eye on him and he seems to enjoy the field beside us which has a lot of cows in it, so lots of poo. Think that could be where he's getting the smell from.

Cheers for the suggestions.

peasant

Stupid question ..but would you not recognise the distinct note of sh*t on your dog for what it was?

Also, spraying your dog with scent/perfume or whatever is in that spray is probably the very reason why he's rolling in sh*t in the first place ...same goes for scented shampoo ...first chance they get, they roll in something smelly.

BlackCat2008

Guineapigrescue wrote: »

You shouldn't spray that stuff on him daily not good for him, I would say as said it could be an ear infection have a look in his ears and see if they are sore swollen red or have brown gunk in them. If it smells and is an ear infection he would be a fairly bad one very important he gets to the vets.

Never heard of a dog smelling from having worms.

Could be a tooth or gum problem either best off with a trip to the vets.

Sounds about right to me could even be a nazzel problem, best bet is to have the vet check, bad breath with no sign of teeth or gum problems can sometimes be a sign of kidney problems.

pokerkingsni

peasant wrote: »

Also, spraying your dog with scent/perfume or whatever is in that spray is probably the very reason why he's rolling in sh*t

It's spray for fleas, with deodouriser. Its not air freshener.

LisaO

Pokerkingsni - perhaps you could post more specific details of the spray you are using. Never heard of any flea treatment that is safe to use on a daily basis - would have thought something mild enough to use so frequently would be pretty ineffective. Vets would normally recommend use of one of the spot-on treatments, once a month