Re homing a 5 yr old lady

[Woodys hat]

We have been offered a gorgeous five year old, who can no longer be cared for by its owners, she is lovely natured and have her at home for a week, as of today, to see if she will settle, and hopefully will keep her! the only problem is my OH cant bear the smell. we have had a german shepard and a golden retriever in the past 20 years and neither of them had a strong doggy smell, is there anything we can do, we have bathed her tonight but that doesnt seemed to have worked, is it just the way cockers are, or is it the way the pevious owners have kept her. She is a lovely dog but the smell is putting my OH off so much.

Also is to much to ask of her to come to another family after 5 years, she seems happy so far....

[Nicola]

What kind of smell is it? Is her coat particularly long or matted in any places? If you can give her a sniff all over to pinpoint where it might be coming from it would be useful for finding out what it is. Some dogs do smell more than others but it's not a Cocker 'thing' as such, none of my lot smell other than the normal fairly pleasant doggy odour. If it's a fishy smell and coming from her rear end it's more than likely her anal glands, other signs of this are scooting her bum on the floor and licking and biting at her rear end. If it's coming from her ears that's fairly self explanatory and they'll need to be looked at, Cockers can be prone to ear infections and they often smell musty/yeasty. If it's around her face the most likely explanation is a lip fold infection, they can smell pretty bad and Cockers can be prone to them.

Welcome to COL too by the way!

[JennyBee]

Hi and welcome to COL . I agree with everything Nicola says, my girl has never had any problems with smelling bad except the occasional slightly fishy smell from her anal glands . If your new dog seems to be stressed at all then rescue remedy or emergency essence (bought from a chemist) may help, as would one of the DAP products such as the spray - you should get them from your vets or online.

Good luck and I hope we get to see some photos of your new arrival

[Woodys hat]

The smell is just a real strong doggy smell, its all over her, definately not from her ears, or mouth or rear, just from her coat.

She is a real cutie, post some pics of her tommorrow

[Nicola]

Was she kept outdoors previously? What condition is her coat and skin in? Is she itching at all? If you look at her belly are there any brownish scabs on it? That can indicate a skin infection such as pyoderma. Fungal skin infections - usually on the ends of the ears and/or paws can also smell musty. If you've bathed her and she still smells I would take her to the vet for a check up, do have a look at her lip folds though, they can often make the dog really stink.

[Woodys hat]

She has been trimmed in the last couple of weeks, no matting ect and her skin looks fine- no excessive itching, have bathed her earlier and just gone back into the bathroom and the smell is still there, even with the window open for a few hours. Dont really now how much time she spent in the garden, however we know she wasnt walked often, just let out to play ect. so may have spent a fair time outdoors.

[Nicola]

You could try a tea tree type dog shampoo; tea tree has mild antiseptic properties and is good for clearing up smells and cleaning the skin and coat. I would probably take her to the vet for a check though, it can't do any harm as there may well be an underlying cause of the smell which isn't immediately apparent.

[Woodys hat]

yes, a check up at the vets and a good shampoo is a must i think, could it be that she has spent a lot of time outdoors?

[Mrs K]

I agree with getting her vet checked. Molly is out and about for a few hours everyday and some of my friends have commented how little she/my house smell  Except for her anal glands when they are fishy (not doggy) 
Can't wait to see pics 

Also, it will take a while to see how she will get on with your dogs. I foster and it takes longer than a week to settle 

[Woodys hat]

Are there any shampoos that are particularly good at getting rid of odours, we have used a general shampoo, this morning woke up and the house was quite bad.

On  the positive, Tia was very good last night and slept on her cushion all night, pined for about 10 minutes when we all went to bed, but settled really well, this morning we took her for a walk and she seemed to be happy. had a play in the garden before coming to work.

She seems to be fitting in quite well

[minimoo]

you could use a hypoallergenic one or tea tree or ask the vet about ,malaseb, some dogs just do smell doggy though, def pop her to the vets for a general check over, but she sounds like a lovely girl to me

[Spangles]

We also rescued a cocker who was only 10 months but smelled quite badly.  Like you we initially bathed her and that didn't seem to work, so I had her professionally groomed.  This held the smell at bay for a very short time but as soon as she got wet she really smelled again, she always smells much better once dry.

I also have another spaniel who doesn't really smell at all, apart from when she is wet but don't all dogs.

Jess is now nicknamed Jessie Poo Poo for obvious reasons.

However, my daughter who is on an Animal Management course and recently had a placement in a dog groomers told me to stop bathing her but shower her instead.  The amount of muck that came out her (and she looks pearly white most of the time) was amazing.  I used to just dunk her in the bath, smother her in shampoo and then rinse off with a jug.  My daughter showed me how the groomers wash her, just wet her and really rub in the shampoo, everywhere (especially the ends of her ears which always stink) and then really rinse her well.  This has really made a difference and she doesn't pong half as bad.  Also the last time we bathed her I ran out of the usual doggy shampoo (its amazing how much the groomers use to how much I was using) so I used my own tea tree shampoo and that seemed to hold the smell at bay for a bit longer.

I do try to hold back from showering her though as I don't want to irritate her skin by over bathing her but usually about once a month (unless she has been wallowing in mud whilst on walks) seems to work for us.

Hope that helps.  Love to see photos of your new girl as she sounds lovely.

[bajoleth]

I know Belle is only 5 1/2 months but she doesn't have a doggy smell at all apart from when she is wet could it be a digestive problem , could the smell be coming from inside rather than her coat??? I hope the vet can give you some answers, do you think this may be why the owners can no longer cope?? Being smelly sounds superficial but as your OH is finding It would be hard to live with I really hope you can get it sorted, let us know what happens  Jo and Belle

[mcphee]

Hello. I agree with the shower theory. Rufus's girl friend bonnie smells much more than Rufus. Rufus is only ever showered now (with the power shower on low in the bath). I started this when I noticed how much dirtier the water coming off his ears is after wetting shampooing and shower rinsing, compared to bathing. Does your new spaniel have a thick coat/undercoat? Bonnie does and I do not think it was brushed well enough to get stuff out from close to the skin. Also she gets wet a lot, which makes matters worse. Bonnie is better since her owners bought a dual brush which is better at getting through the coat. I do understand how your OH feels. My kids hate it when Bonnie stays, because they are not used to doggy smell. Hope you find a solution cos its not her fault!

[sharonmansfield]

With my dog Jasmine who tends to be pongy its probably her ears, I have one dog Bella who does not really smell and Jasmine who does. Jasmine has longer ears that tend to drag in everything where as Bellas are higher set. To clean the dogs I put water in the bottom of the bath to soak their muddy feet, wet the bottom of their ears and then massage in the shampoo. I then wet the rest of the body and massage with shampoo, then I shower it off to get under the coat I then pull the plug on the bath and then shower the ears last so they have had a good soaking. The water from the ears is filthy. I then sometimes use a conditioner too depends if they are behaving or not as sometimes they love a bath and pamper and sometimes they play up.
Jasmine also smelled when she had an ear problem, lift up her ear flaps and see if you can see any wax or if they smell. 
I use any shampoo including my own but you could pop in your vets and see what they recommend.
I hope you can get her smelling sweeter soon and welcome to COL, can we have some photos please.