Why is my dog smell
Dr. Becker Discusses Why Dogs Stink
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hi this is dr. Karen Becker and today
we're going to discuss some of the more
common reasons why dogs stink some
people think that their pets should
smell like a freshly showered baby or
vanilla and of course they're not
supposed to smell like that but they're
also not supposed to stink either your
dog should have his very unique own
canine odor you should be able to bury
your nose in your dog's fur and of
course identify your dog as his own
individual dog eNOS but not an offensive
odor or a wildly stinky odor if you find
out that you bury your nose in your
likes fur and you come to hate that
smell something's wrong
a dog who is healthy properly fed and
regularly brushed and bathed at nests as
necessary for your dog should smell
unique but not offensive so if you can
identify a stink in your dog there's
probably a reason why and you want to
identify it so you can treat it reason
number one why dog stink is yeast
infections yeast overgrowth is a very
common cause of smelly dogs yeast has a
very distinct musty pungent odor that is
often compared to moldy bread or cheese
platform in fact some people actually
refer to the yeast infection on their
dog's feet is frito feet because they
kind of smell like freedom corn chips
stinky pause or a musty-smelling dog
sometimes coming from the ears are
usually a sign of yeast overgrowth so is
scratching itchy ears or a red itchy
butt as well all of these issues can be
a result of yeast reason number two are
anal gland problems now inflamed
infected or impacted anal glands will
also cause your dog to have an
unpleasant odor your pets anal glands
sit just inside the rectum one anal
gland sits at about four o'clock and the
other one sits at about 8 o'clock and
these two glands secrete a very smelly
oily substance thought to be a
territorial marker that's excreted when
dogs defecate or if there's a buildup of
this substance in the anal glands
especially if your dog spends any amount
of time licking or digging around by his
butt or your dog's scooting or pushing
his butt on the floor you'll oftentimes
notice this unbelievable astounding odor
that can be secreted from the inner
glands that many people actually compare
to rotting fish it's really bad reason
number three is gas or farting or
flatulence and of course if you've ever
been in a car trapped in a car with the
windows up with a gassy dog you know
exactly what I'm talking about
some gas is
all mammals secrete some gas but gas
from the healthy pets is not terribly
stinky it's just ingested air that's
coming out the other end so if your dog
has gas that is enough to clear the room
something is wrong there are several
reasons dogs create excessive amounts of
gas including poor diets or a food
allergy lack of digestive enzymes a bad
microbiome or intestinal parasite your
dog smelly gas is more or less
consistent it's time to make an
appointment with your functional
medicine veterinarian especially if you
have other GI symptoms like abdominal
distension intermittent loose stools
hitching or occasional vomiting your
present you would definitely make an
appointment with your vet reason number
four is a stinky face including ears and
eyes if your dog has an unpleasant odor
and but you can't really seem to locate
exactly the source of it we've smelled
feet you know you've checked them out
definitely check the face as I mentioned
earlier a yeast overgrowth can can cause
kind of this generalized fungus stink
around your dog and ear infections
either with yeast which is a fungus or
bacteria can create a musty odor
directly in the ear an ear infection
with ear discharged might be the source
of this smell that you are identifying
ear infections are one of the most
common reasons dogs visit the vet and
ear mites can actually also secrete a
waxy debris that has a very funky weird
unique odor so when you lift up your
dog's ear flap you should be able to see
nothing down the ear canal
they shouldn't be read there shouldn't
be any discharge if your dog's ears are
perfect but you can definitely tell that
something in that area is stinky check
out the areas around the eyes so facial
fault
including the moist areas under your
pets eyes can also hold East or other
types of bacteria that can create a
smell veterinarians call this a moist
pyoderma or a localized skin infection
often times occurring either in the lip
folds or under the eyes and if you
notice this you can confirm this with a
swab test that I call the stink test
where you take Kleenex you swab that
area and you can kind of identify it
with the smell that there's something
definitely present if you can't identify
the exact location of this smell but you
can kind of identify it generally to the
head and move along to my fifth reason
for stink which is the mouth your dog's
breath will obviously never smell
humans after we brushed and flossed but
it's also shouldn't be overwhelmingly
stinky if your pets mouth is really
gross I mean you're just overwhelmed
from the smell then something is
definitely wrong there shouldn't be much
mouth odor
unless your pet is just eaten in which
case you might smell the remains of his
last meal on his breath but chronic bad
breath in pets has the same causes as
halitosis in humans which is most often
poor oral hygiene but also sometimes
there could be other issues going on
like a rotten tooth or actually a GI
issue so as animals breathe out you're
smelling malabsorption mal digestion or
a microbial problem that could also be
reflective as bad breath which leads me
to the next point on my list which is an
unhealthy gut from a poor diet what you
feed your dog affects the body both
inside and out and so a dog fit a
biologically appropriate diet one that
contains ingredients that she is able to
absorb and use healthfully won't create
any obnoxious gases if you have a dog
that is consuming foods that are not
biologically available you could end up
having a generalized funk occur and this
can be a result of a four skin condition
or a coke problem that really is rooted
in a bad diet many of these pets are
omega-3 fatty acid deficient and really
that's just the tip of the iceberg a
lifetime of highly processed
inappropriate foods can lead to many
illnesses which create certain odors of
pets including a change in systemic pH
or acid-base balance there also can be
impaired detoxification mechanisms which
can lead to organ dysfunction as well as
things like diabetes and cancer which
actually can change your pets overall
smell interestingly other pets in the
house oftentimes recognize that there's
a change in this animals the sick
animals smell so pay attention to how
the other pets in your home are checking
out your stinky pet because they're
oftentimes good indicators that there
could be a potential problem weeks to
months before pets actually exhibit
symptoms that they don't feel the last
reason that dogs are stinky is just the
reality of living with an animal
some dogs deliberately make themselves
stinky some dogs will roll another
animals poop if they get the opportunity
some dogs will eat other animals poop
that's create overwhelmingly stinky
breath or some dogs have actually roll
in dead things they'll just find things
about that they want to market dump
their bodies but they can also pick up
dead decomposing animals and either eat
them or carry them around in their
mouths or present them to you so there's
all sorts of reasons why dogs can be
stinky from their environment so there
you have it the top reasons that make
dog stinky each one of these issues
requires an in-depth look at the
underlying reasons why they're occurring
if I covered all the whys in this video
it would be like a six-hour video so my
goal in making this video was to give
you instant as to why your dog may be
stinky if you have a stinky dog and
you've identified which one of these
issues is occurring that's making your
dog stink I encourage you to take a
deeper dive in researching the
underlying reason why your dogs have
these symptoms the cool thing about
symptoms is it's like a low oil light in
your car they're a warning beacon that
something isn't right and they give you
the pet parent of usually a good chunk
of time to figure out what the problem
is and to fix it so I urge you not to
ignore your dog stink as there's
probably an underlying reason for it if
you don't know what to do next and you
don't want to research yourself I
recommend that you partner with a
wellness coach or a functional medicine
veterinarian to explore your treatment
options most importantly continue
seeking out a variety of treatment
options until your dog doesn't smell any
mark it's an important factor in
determining your pet's health and
quality of life and resolving any
underlying issues of chronic odor is a
really important thing if you're looking
for more information on a specific topic
that I've covered in this video please
check out my video library where I've
covered each one of these topics in much
greater detail
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