Dog smell?

[hannahmom]

All these other posts about funky smells made me wonder...
What about dog smell?
We have a fairly small apt and a 75lb Lab. When it rains or gets humid - PU!!
We use essential oils in a vaporizer for some odors but its not strong enough for this unless we use about 50 drops! Then its a little overpowering.
Any recommendations for removing dog smell?

[polka123]

wipe the dog down with a 50/50 Listerine/water mix.
It's an old show trick that brightens & refreshes the coat w/out drying it.
Also, give your dog some fresh parsley in his food.
There is also chlorophyll capsules.
Do you feed your dog a premium kibble ?
if not, change to one that corn is not a #1 ingriedient.
Many dog smells come from the inside out.
So maybe your dog has something going on internally.
also try Eucalyptus oil around the room

[Mere]

Do you let your dog lie on furniture or the carpet? We don't; we do have dog beds though in all the places where she likes to lie/sleep and where we hang out. I don't know if restricting her to lying/sleeping on dog beds only has prevented the problem, but our house has never smelled like dog. (it has definitely helped keep our carpets and furniture cleaner though, that is for sure!)

[hannahmom]

Thanks - I'll have to try the listerine trick. Especially now that it is getting warm and she's getting ready to blow her winter coat.J

We do let her on the furniture and she does eat premium dog food - she's really a healthy animal. The only time we have trouble with smell is when it is rainy or really humid...

We've considered getting her another bed - she already has one in her crate, I've put it off because I'm afraid she won't use it. She prefers to snuggle up wherever we are!
Did you have to train you dog to use its beds?

[polka123]

Mine love anything soft.

[Mere]

hannahmom, yes we did have to work with her on not lying on the carpets and definitely on not getting on the furniture. The carpets/rug rule was easy - we just told her 'no' every time she tried to lay down somewhere she wasn't supposed to, and then gave her treats whenever she layed down on one of her dog beds. She caught onto the REAL quick!

The furniture was a little trickier, but I got a great tip from our dog trainer so she caught on easily (although we did this when she was a puppy - it might be a harder lesson for an older dog). Basically, we layed a sheet of wax paper over the furniture we were trying to keep her off of, and then set upside down mouse traps on the wax paper. We did this at night so she couldn't really see the mousetraps that well, and certainly was not expecting them! Anyhow, she touched some part of the wax paper, three mousetraps flew up in the air, and that was the end of her getting on the couch! We kept the mousetraps up for a day or two, but she never set them off again. We then just set a few UNSET mousetraps on the couch for reinforcement (because let me tell you, it's a real pain to set them upside down), but I don't think we really needed them.

[Carolinamidwife]

Oh man, my dogs REEK! And they are huge, we're talking 135 pounds a piece. So hairy, so big, so stinky. I will try the listerine trick too, heck, I would try anything, lol.

[shannon0218]

Apple cidar vinegar and water works well too as a wipe down, I add a few drops of tea trea oil to it and keep washable baby wipes soaking in it, just wipe the dogs down quickly. I use that on my boarding dogs before they go home (I have lots of city clients who think it's great to send their dogs to the farm--but likely aren't prepared for the smell of a city dog exposed to farm life--our dogs coats are used to it and don't smell) I have many clients who thought I bathed their dogs and wanted to know what kind of wonderful shampoo I used. I have used the listerine thing too, but it does cause a wee bit of stickiness (something we like when about to show for body--I knew a handler who used to use coca cola on the shepherds coats to make them fluffy but I always bathed them right after)