Are you feeding a high quality dog food? Dogs that have a strong, musty, yeasty smell can be suffering from a systemic yeast infection. Feeding a low quality dog food that is low in meat protein and high in carbohydrates can make for a bad smelling dog. If you are buying your dog food from the grocery store it's probably not great food. Good quality foods can be found at natural type dog food stores and can also sometimes be found at pet stores. The first ingredient listed should be a specific meat meal (chicken meal, lamb meal, etc.). Also if you see corn gluten meal listed you can bet that there is not enough meat meal in the food. Corn gluten meal is used as a cheap meat protein substitute. Any kind of corn can contribute greatly to a yeast problem in a dog.

I have two labs who are fed a very high quality diet of mostly meat and they really don't smell. You can bury your nose in them and not smell that "doggy" smell. I rarely wash them, either.

We feed Ol'Roy and it is cheaper than most food, but it is higher in protein than the higher priced dog foods in the pet shop.

I kinda doubt that, tsy72001. Grab your bag of Ol'Roy and sit in front of the computer and type in the ingredients in the order listed for us. Other dog food companies have this info on line, but Walmart does not appear to offer this service to customers.

If Ol'Roy is all you can afford to feed your pet, that's one thing. And I think there are worse dog foods on the market. But recommending it above the premium dog foods is a mistake.

I feed my dog Evo.

However, back to the subject at hand. Changing out the food might help. But my experience is that sometimes dogs just smell, especially as they get older. Maybe putting an air cleaner in the room would help? Or a fan.

Here is a link that might be useful: Evo dog food

The protein in Ol' Roy does not primarily come from meat meal. Check your bag. Protein count can be high due to protein from corn gluten meal - not from meat. Also, many poor quality foods use "meat by-products" as a protein source. This can be many things, some of which you really don't even want to think about.

Also, regarding cost and dog food - you really do get what you pay for. A good quality food will be much more expensive than a cheap food, but you will feed much less of it, so your cost to feed a good food actually works out to be not much more than feeding a poor quality food. Your back yard pickup will be improved too, since your dog will be eating more meat and less fillers.

Also, there is a shampoo called Malaseb which is great for dogs with that yeasty smell. You can get it from your vet or from online dog supply sites. However, to truly get rid of the smell you have to attack it at it's source, and that source is often diet related.

Diet really does make a difference, it's worth the investment in my opinion (which pays back not only in reduced odor and shedding, but also lower vet bills and less to pick up in the yard!). When I visit people with dogs I can immediately tell what they eat, just by the smell alone.

That said, labs often have more of a doggy smell than other breeds, but it still should make a significant difference. Another thing to make sure is that you're not over-bathing them which can irritate the skin. Also, and I'm sure you've already done this, check their ears to be sure they're clean. You can really smell them if they get infected and floppy-eared dogs can be more prone to it.

I hate to tell you, but Ole'Roy is one of the poorest rated dog foods sold. Grocery stores and petco/Petsmart do not sell the high quality and most nutritious brands of dog or cat food. I feed my dog Wellness and he has no odor at all. His coat is shiny and soft, and he is solid muscle. He had a very serious bout of pancreatitis, caused by Little Caesar dog good, which nearly killed him and cost me thousands in vet bills. After that, I really started investigating dog foods, and made the switch to a better quality food. Most of my friends switched as well, and we all have had good results. 2 friends feed their dogs Innova, another Canidae and we are all very pleased with the results. Less poop, less smelly poop, better coats, general condition, and less odor.
My neighbors lab sometimes stays with me when they go out of town. Boy does he stink. He is fed Pedigree and canned alpo or whatever is on sale. Disgusting smelling food.
My house reeks along with my lr. rug when he stays here. I am certain the food has something to do with it, but acknowledge labs do smell more than my dog. Try skaking some baking powder into your dogs fur (do this outside), and rub it in, a few times per week.
Good luck and do think about making a switch in dog food.
Someone gave me a chart where you could rate any dog food, but I can't find the link. If I do, I will post it back.

A good quality air purifier with a charcoal filter should work. I have a Gordon Setter that, well....just stinks. I have a Hepa with charcoal filter combo and it gets rid of the smell.

Again, I have labs and they do not smell. Just because one of the OP's dogs is a lab is not an excuse for a smelly dog. While an air purifier would help, it does nothing to get to the root of the problem. The poster who suggested checking ears also had a good point. A yeasty ear can smell nasty. Again, yeasty ears are often a result of a high carb, low protein diet.

I feed my dogs Nature's Variety Prairie food. There are many other dog foods that are excellent quality. A good place to do research on dog foods is:
www.thedogfoodproject.com.

Thanks for the advice and I will talk to the vet. I feed him Science Diet which I thought was a higher grade food. But I see a lot of other brands mentioned here so I need to check it out.

Personally, I love my vets, but the majority of them aren't very knowledgeable about nutrition. Vet students get very little instruction in nutrition and what they do get is provided by the Science Diet company. I know this to be a fact because my own vet told me so, and I also know someone who is currently in vet school and she tells me the same thing. I'm not bashing your vet in any way, but please do some research on your own before you make your final decision. While Science Diet is quite an expensive food it is grain heavy. You may want to compare it to some other foods that have been mentioned in this thread. For the money you are spending on the SD you can buy a really good quality food with no corn, corn gluten meal, or meat by-products.

We used to feed Science Diet when we got our first dog, we thought we were doing so well. Our vet told us it was the best too, but it turns out, not so much.

I'd encourage you to do your own research on pet foods. A little reading about ingredients will let you make good choices on your own and feel confident about them. Here is a website to get you started: The Dog Food Project

If you do a Google for the Whole Dog Journal's food list you will also get some great choices. Basically it's sort of a holistic-minded publication that does a review of various dog foods and lists the best ones each year. Just thought I'd mention it as an alternative in case doing all the food research seems overwhelming. Good luck!

I have switched my dog from Pedigree (her first food), to Nutro (what I thought was really good), finally to Canidea (after a great thread on the pets forum here enlightened me). Yes I have to go to a specialty pet store to find the Canidea, but it's worth it! When I first got her she smelled *awful* which I just chalked up to being a long haired puppy, but since I changed to Canidea that's not the case. My new puppy didn't take too well to the Canidea though so he's on Blue Buffalo puppy food. He likes it, but he's only been eating it this week so I can't say too much about it yet. :-)

I also found a good dog shampoo and spray. Dungeness Aromatherpy. Admittedly I switched to both in the last couple weeks so it may be a combination of both, but it's been a week since her last bath (she stays outside a lot) and she doesn't smell like the spray, but doesn't smell doggy either.

Here's a link to a good dog food analysis site. It's not really detailed, but it does rate and give a general description. Hope you find the solution to your doggy smell!!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Dog Food Reviews

I got both of my dogs when they were puppies, and the were eating Nutro. They both smelled..I don't know if this was caused by the other dogs they were raised with or their surroundings, but they did smell for a while after I brought them home (after repeat baths). I changed over to Natural Balance, and later to Canaidae. Neither dog smells now.

Well the Science diet or one of the other "high rated foods" was one of the ones that was KILLING pets. They are made in China and had poison in it. If it was not science diet I am sorry, but it was one of the expensive one. The Ol'roy has been feed to the dogs in my family since my grandfather and I have a show quality dog, a Shih Tzu. There is NO oder at all. Now my SIL feeds the expensive stuff from the pet store, her dog stinks and his hair is horriable. It is a matter of the dog breed and OPINION of the person feeding the dog. Each dog is different.

I just looked it up it was Eukanuba that was recalled. Also Iams, now the Ol'roy puppy has been recalled.

Tsy72001~ You say "now the Ol'roy puppy has been recalled" like it's a recent thing, I just searched & didn't see anything about this... Are you reading about the recalls from last year or is there a new one?

Also, I don't feed Ol' Roy b/c I don't think it's a good food. I switched to Pedigree when the food recall started b/c it was not associated w/ it. However, now I'm learning that it's not the greatest food either, so I'm in a bind. I don't want to switch foods to a potentially dangerous one, but I want my dogs to be as healthy as possible too... Not sure what to do. I do know that my 2 cats that my mom kept when I moved died from that recall & I couldn't bear the thought of my dogs dying b/c of something so innocent and all the foods that have been recommened to me were on that recall list, so like I said, not sure what to do. But, Ol'Roy was also on that list... Something you might want to consider.

-McHudd

There are many good fully nutritious dry dog foods out th ere; you may want to do some searching on the internet or post on the pet forum. A few more good names are Flint River Ranch, Chicken Soup for the Dog lovers Soul, Solid Gold,Blue, Nature's Menu, Mother Hubbard, Nuemanns Own. If you have a Whole Food near you, they sell Wellness and Nuemanns Own, I believe. Or, you might actually find it cheaper to order over the internet and have it delivered. Good luck.

Read the link below

Here is a link that might be useful: 2008 recalls

Just because one dog has no chemical reaction to a brand of food does not mean that another one will respond the same way.

My DH smells like the most wonderful potpourri when he drinks whiskey. Do most people? No probably not. It is a strange chemical reaction that he has. That said, I prefer old spice anyway.

Somewhere I had a link to a dog food report card grading system. I switched from eukanuba to chicken soup for the dog lovers soul after going through the list.

Chicken Soup is an excellent and highly rated dog food. Glad you made the switch to something better.

I fed both dogs and cats Nutromax and never had a problem. I switched to Kirkland (Costco) which seems to have a fine ingredient list and still have no problem (one dog is a lab). The only thing he ever smells like is a wet dog, probably because he likes to get wet in the snow and rain!
In addition to an air cleaner, I would recommend a bowl of white vinegar. Vinegar will actually absorb odors. I use it in my car to get rid of the smoke smell and also in my teenage son's room which smells like a combo of messy teen boy and sports gear. You can add a drop of two of essential oil for a pleasant smell, not too much though or it can be overpowering.

If you want to have a selection of top quality dog foods to choose from, go a good feed store if there is one within reasonable driving distance. A good feed store will carry a variety of the "professional" dog foods, the best ones out there, the kind that top breeders and exhibitors use. And they'll very likely be less than what a PetSmart or a PetCo would charge. I find their prices to be outrageous on everything! I've been buying everything imaginable for dogs (breeding, showing, adopting, rescuing) for 25 years and they're the worst for prices I've ever seen.

You can read about almost every brand that's out there at this site and see what the formula is of each variety offered by all the brands. You will also get a good idea of prices...these will be prices *before* shipping cost.

It's likely that you can find some of them that sound good at the feed stores, I know mine carries a lot of them, including the holistic types.

http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/brands4dept.asp?dept%5Fid=1

Florabelle1

Male dogs are stronger smelling when they haven't been neutered. I agree with ear cleaning too.

We have a Golden, and in addition to his being bathed each week, and cleaning his ears, I use "Odor Eliminator" from QVC. My mom got me some, and it works pretty well. You just spray it on and it breaks down the odors naturally. It has a fresh scent.

I think you have to determine where the odor is coming from.
Is it coming from the Dog's mouth? ears? skin? feet?
Get your old sniffer in there and smell the Dog.
Many times, a Dog's mouth is the offending party.
Do you brush his teeth?
Does he get regular dental care when necessary?
Does he shake his head frequently? Ears can be the problem.
Ear mites and build up of wax can also contribute to an icky smell.
Clean his ears if necessary with a solution from the Vet.
Do it on a refular basis.
Is his collar and leash washed when necessary?
Perhaps it has nothing to do with the Dog, but there is odor from the bedding or carpeting in the room.
The most common offenders by me have been Dog linens,dental odor, skin allergies and ear problems.

I wash all my Dogs' bedding once a week.
Sometimes when a Dog gets old, there is a doggie odor, and I have to bathe the Dog more frequently.
This can be a pesky problem, but it is a problem well worth solving for the love of them.
Good luck and let us know how you solve the problem.

I think you have to determine where the odor is coming from.
Is it coming from the Dog's mouth? ears? skin? feet?
Get your old sniffer in there and smell the Dog.
Many times, a Dog's mouth is the offending party.
Do you brush his teeth?
Does he get regular dental care when necessary?
Does he shake his head frequently? Ears can be the problem.
Ear mites and build up of wax can also contribute to an icky smell.
Clean his ears if necessary with a solution from the Vet.
Do it on a refular basis.
Is his collar and leash washed when necessary?
Perhaps it has nothing to do with the Dog, but there is odor from the bedding or carpeting in the room.
The most common offenders by me have been Dog linens,dental odor, skin allergies and ear problems.

I wash all my Dogs' bedding once a week.
Sometimes when a Dog gets old, there is a doggie odor, and I have to bathe the Dog more frequently.
This can be a pesky problem, but it is a problem well worth solving for the love of them.
Good luck and let us know how you solve the problem.

I've gotta agree with Pat_Clara...
what's smelling?

fur and skin?
Ears?
breath?

if you wash a dog every week, you're stripping oils that they need, which often causes them to both start over-producing oil to compensate...and quintuples the chances of them picking up a yeast or fungal infection that is only mildly itchy, so instead of the dog licking or scratching to let you know, all you get is a weird smell.

the baking soda 'dry bath' is good, corn starch is even milder, and doesn't play games with the skin's PH. we used to keep some in the kind of shakers you use for grated cheese or powdered sugar, and it helped everyone but our Golden, who was never dry long enough to use a 'dust' bath on.

Well I have to feed my dog (Yorkie) a special food, because he was dianosed with pancreatitis. So we feed him Hills Prescription Diet i/d low fat digestive care dog food. I’m supposed to mix the dry kind and wet kind together. His health is good now, but he has an odor about him he NEVER use to have. Even after a bath he still stinks. What can i do?