Its only been a week and he smells already....and when I scratch him, but hands turn black!! I'm telling you, if there is a clean spot in the driveway...and a puddle of mud...he goes and lays in the MIDDLE of the mud!

Could it have to do with his diet? Will switching to RAW help the smell?

As far as bathing...how often is too often?
If he went a month without one, I think he'd have flies aroudn him <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

I was doing a search and I saw alot of people like that oatmeal shampoo for dry, flaky skin.

I think it was Van Camp Robert who said in another post to just use warm water....I'll try that first, not sure if that will get rid of the 'dirt' though

Diet will definitely help! went from bathing Auster every month, to about 3 times a year, and even then she wasn't that bad.

A diet that is compatabile with the dog can make a difference. The raw diet is a excellent diet. I have been using it for a little over a year. It seems to work out great. It might help you. When you switch a diet it usually takes at least 2-4 months to see a change so be patient. As far as bathing goes, bath him as often as you need to. The less needed is the best, but if you need to do it every week, the so be it. I would use a mild shampoo. Vet offices have all sorts of different shampoos. I know they have a mild one. Or make your own diluted shampoo ( for dogs or human dandruff generic brand). Just add water to a small amount in another container. You might also want to look into possible suppliments? I have not had luck with them with my lab, but a lot of people say they have results from various stuff. Salomon Oil w/ vitamin e, Hokamix, etc... Take your time with the dog. The bathing should help, but also diet and supplements can make a dramatic improvement as well. Your dog might also have a contact allergy rather then a food allergy. Not much you can do for that. A vet can run blood tests to figure out the allergies. It is not cheap and will run you about 300-400 for the test. Then the allergy shots run around 200 a month. It takes at least a year to see any results from the shots. They didn't work for me but it was worth a try. Experiement is the best way to figure out what will work for you. If you find something that does work, do share it with us here, so we all know.

good luck...chet

Hey thanks for the repies.
Do dogs always have the allergies from the time they are small puppies, or can they just get them at any time. As in can they have never had them before, and then at 2 years or 4 years start being allergic to something?

I mainly noticed the really dry/flaky skin and rough coat when he had the worms. He must have had them before I got him. When I got him he wasnt looking so good...but not owning a dog before, I thought it was from neglect and not eating because he was nervous about his new environment.
Then I decided to take him to a vet to get a check up to make sure everything was okay. First vet didnt seem like they knew anything, so I went to another and thats when I found out he had a bad case of whip worm and coccidia (sp?) They said its a good thing I brought him in when I did.

Anyways, I have been scratching him the last couple days real good and brushing him (I never really did before) thanks to the advice from this board. Alot of flaky skin was coming off and he LOVED the scratching/brushing.

Hopefully that will help also.


How do you know what suppliments too try? I mean is there a book that gives conditions and suppliments to help them or?
I really dont know alot about dogs, so I am trying to take in as much as possible.
Thanks!

Three times a YEAR <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I never realized a diet could affect the way a dog smells or does not smell! Why is that?


also...how do you know if the diet is 'compatable' with your dog?

All the toxins in the food come out through the skin. Before I was feeding Nutro, Bil-jac, Diamond, and that sort of food. When I switched to California Natural the difference was shocking. I wish I could have done raw with Auster, but she had a sensitive stomach and was living with my parents so it never happened <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> .

Salmon oil is good for the skin. Some owners use flaxseed oil instead.

It could also be that he isn't absorbing the nutrients from his food properly. If that is the case, some probiotic and digestive enzymes should help. I gave Auster a mix of probiotic, Super Digestaway, L-glutamine, and FOS as suggested by her vet and I think that helped a lot too. She was actually healthier than she had ever been after starting the new food and supplements, even though she had bloated and was supposed to be dead. When she bloated the second time the vet was amazed at her hugely enlarged intestine, and was surprised that she could have been so normal.

Good info. How do you I tell if he is digesting his food properly? The food he is on is supposed to be a really good food from what I am told.

Artemis Power Formula.

Anyways...his stools are really grainy...like sand in them. Is that the food not being digested properly? They arent runny at all...'solid' and 'normal' in color...just real grainy. He goes about 3 times a day. Morning...afternoon and then sometimes later at night. He usually just eats in the evening...usually about 5 cups.

So you got the advice of a vet for which supplements to give? I wish I knew of a GOOD vet. I'm not sure how to tell if one is good over the other <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

He does get missing link plus and a small amount of cod liver oil daily.

Maybe I should get some salmon oil too? How much daily?
I remember reading on one of ed's pages to that there were I think two supplements that EVERY dog should be getting.
I'll have to look back at that too.

vitamin C & vitamin E

Diet and supplements aside, when I wash my dogs I like to use a product called Plum White. Its good for any color animal, but really helps on white. Its made from plums and how I picked up on it was through wool producers. The shampoo is all natural and the wool producers loved it because it didn't strip the lanolin out of the hair. Which is necessary to maintain high quality fiber. It also didn't dry the skin out. I'm sure there are other good products out there as well. But since you mentioned that you had a white dog who liked to get dirty, I thought this would be of interest.

Well he isnt all white...his markings are from the Am.Staff.

But yeah, they white gets 'gray/brown' very fast! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

He comes with me to the shop alot and he likes to sun bathe on the asphalt so he gets 'black' too. You go to scratch him real good and your fingers get black <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Where do you get this stuff that you mentioned? Sounds great if it doesnt strip the natural oils from the dog!

I wonder what the diff would be between the 'plum white' and the oatmeal shampoo mentioned above.