Boxer Body Odor

longhaulduke · #1 02-06-2009, 08:23 PM

Hi I have a year and a half fawn boxer. My problem is my dog suffers from severe body odor. No matter what is done bath wise within 3 days he stinks. I have been to 3 vets and they have said its hormones. I have changed his foods, He has gone from Royal cannin to science diet and others as well. So my question is ..... Is this a characteristic of the breed or what??

ehayes21 · #2 02-07-2009, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by longhaulduke

Hi I have a year and a half fawn boxer. My problem is my dog suffers from severe body odor. No matter what is done bath wise within 3 days he stinks. I have been to 3 vets and they have said its hormones. I have changed his foods, He has gone from Royal cannin to science diet and others as well. So my question is ..... Is this a characteristic of the breed or what??

Not really. My dogs have no smell what-so-ever and they only get baths every three months. I also feed raw, so that's a BIG plus.
Smell has a lot to do with what's going on in the inside of the dog. Food, specifically. The two foods you listed have pretty crappy ingredients which could definitely be the culprit. What are you feeding right now?

Also, be sure you are not bathing him too much or you're going to strip the natural oils from the coat, I would say more than once a month is too much.

kathysboxer · #3 02-07-2009, 11:59 AM

ehayes21 is right. The food plays a vital rule in their health. Raw is best, then home cooking then kibble. Tyson is on Taste of the Wild and loves it. It's around $42 for a 31# bag. I may switch him to Wellness.
Also another thing to try is putting apple cider vinegar on a cloth and wiping him down. Won't solve the problem, but won't hurt either. Tyson has only had maybe 3 or 4 baths and we've had him since the end of last March. If he gets really dirty, we rinse him off with just water.

rosiereggie · #4 02-07-2009, 01:20 PM

Have you tried cleaning the ears? It seems alot of the time when I can detect a doggy smell, it is coming from the ears. My current Boxer seems to generate alot of ear wax so I clean her ears every couple of days. You might have your vet check for an infection or mites in the ear too. Also, I make sure the food I feed does not have wheat or corn since that doesn't seem to agree with Boxer digestion.

**gmacleod** · #5 02-07-2009, 01:29 PM

I would suggest looking closely at the diet you feed your dogs. Poor quality foods and body odours tend to go hand-in-hand, and the two foods you mention are of extremely low quality. Part of the reason may be the large amounts of sugary carbohydrates in those foods, which tend to produce lots of fungal and bacterial growth (both of which are a source of smells).

There are many many better foods available. For information on many of the foods out there, plus some ratings and reviews, you may find this site helpful in consideration of alternatives: www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews