Gun Dog Forum

Good morning,

I have a strange question (maybe). I have a 16 week old Vizsla. She is a great dog and showing much promise as a hunter. She is also technically my 10 year old daughter's dog. As such, she spend a lot of time in the house. Well, the pup recently was at the trainer for about 3 1/2 weeks to get some beginning bird training and when we picked her up yesterday, I noticed that she really has a strong "dog" smell.

One of the reasons that we decided on the vizsla is that they are known as a breed without much "dog odor"

We are planning to give her a good bath today, but is there some reason why she would go from nearly odorless to such a strong smell?

(By the way, this is our first vizsla)

Thanks.

Kennel dogs often have a stink to them. Mine gets stinky when he has to be out in the kennel for a length of time. He is very clean most of the time and really has little smell (certainly NOTHING like a chessie).

That said, a hunting dog will smell sometimes...best to get used to a little smell and muddy paws and hair in the house. They're worth it in the long run. I don't bathe my dogs much at all because of the issue of drying out the skin. Bathe sparingly.

Thanks. I was wondering if it was just due to spending the last 3 weeks in a kennel.

It was just such a dramatic difference from previously. We have had a Chessie, Labs and now a Corgi and all of those dogs would get pretty smelly with "oily dog smell" but the vizsla was always "odor free" or nearly so.

Guy on the farm nest to me, uses a shop vac on his Lab every morning and then dog perfume.. I may need to video it one day. She sits perfect while he shop vacs her. Never smells.

Ear infections cause a dog to smell. I also have a dog that when feed food with corn gets a nasty odor.

Years ago we had a Golden Retriever who was a smelly dog. A wonderful vet suggested bathing her with Nizoral shampoo. She felt the smell was due to yeasty skin. The smell went away permanently after bathing her on Day 1,3 and 5, then weekly for 2 more treatments. Wash her bedding. The suggestion that diet might be a factor is a good one. Some dogs react to grain in their diet, so you could try a diet change, but the shampoo idea is a cheap and easy thing to try first. Nizoral is available in drug stores. Good luck with your pup, and let us know how it turns out.