My Jack Russell smells bad after three days with no bath. But bathing him so often irratates his skin.?

Question

Any suggestions?

He's on dry food now, but its just Alpo. I thought that was a good one. What if I got him Science Diet? Or is there something better?

Answer 1

Take him to the vet. Could be a problem with anal sacs or othe condition.

You should never ever bath a dog more than once or twice a year unless he rolled in something nasty or is on the AKC show circuit.

I suspect it isn't the dog but your perception that you think you smell something.

The wet-doggy smell after being outside is normal. If you don't like it, don't have a dog. You are ruining his skin and making him miserable with dry and itching skin because of your hyper-sensitivity.

Answer 2

Science Diet is just as crappy as Alpo, it just costs more.

A high quality food would be Natural Balance, Wellness, or Canidae.

Below is a guide that you can use to help you choose a better dog food. Premium foods cost more, but your dog will eat less of them.

Scoring Your Dog Food
*Please note that the following is for entertainment purposes only and has not been researched by DAN and may not be a "true" grading of food. If you have any questions regarding the food you are feeding your dog consult your veternarian.
This is a very interesting way to check out the quality of the dog food that you are feeding. It's interesting, because sometimes paying more, does not get you more and vice versa.
The scores are rather interesting.
How to grade your dog's food: (Some brand reviews already calculated here)
Start with a grade of 100:
1.For every listing of "by-product", subtract 10 points
2.For every non-specific animal source ("meat" or "poultry", meat, meal
or fat) reference, subtract 10 points
3.If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points
4.For every grain "mill run" or non-specific grain source, subtract 5
points
5.If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first five
ingredients (i.e. "ground brown rice", "brewer rice", "rice flour" are all
the same grain), subtract 5 points
6.If the protein sources are not meat meal and there are less than 2
meats in the top 3 ingredients, subtract 3 points
7.If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 3 points
8.If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 3 points
9.If corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients, subtract 2 more points
10.If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil, subtract 2
points
11.If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is allergic
to other protein sources), subtract 2 points
12.If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points
13.If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog isn't allergic to
wheat), subtract 2 points
14.If it contains beef (unless you know that your dog isn't allergic to
beef), subtract 1 point
15.If it contains salt, subtract 1 point
Extra Credit:
1.If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points
2.If the food is endorsed by any major breed group or
nutritionist, add 5 points
3.If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points
4.If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points
5.If the food contains fruit, add 3 points
6.If the food contains vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3
points
7.If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 2
points
8.If the food contains barley, add 2 points
9.If the food contains flax seed oil (not just the seeds), add 2 points
10.If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 point
11.If the food contains sunflower oil, add 1 point
12.For every different specific animal protein source (other than
the first one; count "chicken" and "chicken meal" as only one protein
source, but "chicken" and "" as 2 different sources), add 1 point
13.If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point
14.If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are
pesticide-free, add 1 point
94-100+ = A 86-93 = B 78-85 = C 70-77 = D 69 = F
Here are some foods that have already been scored. If you don't see your dog's food here, ask and someone will score it for you.
Brand Dog Food scores:
•Authority Harvest Baked: 116 A+
•Bil-Jac Select: 68 F
•Canidae: 112 A+
•Chicken Soup Senior: 115 A+
•Diamond Maintenance: 64 F
•Diamond Lamb Meal & Rice: 92 B
•Diamond Large Breed 60+ Formula: 99 A
•Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium: 122 A+
•Dick Van Patten's Duck and Potato: 106 A+
•Foundations: 106 A+
•Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold: 93 D
•Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium: 73 D
•Innova Dog: 114 A+
•Innova Evo: 114 A+
•Kirkland Signature Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables: 110 A+
•Nutrisource Lamb and Rice: 87 B
•Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy: 87 B
•Pet Gold Adult with Lamb & Rice: 23 F
•ProPlan Natural Turkey & Barley: 103 A+
•Purina Beneful: 17 F
•Purina Dog: 62 F
•Purina Come-n-Get It: 16 F
•Royal Canin Bulldog: 100 A+
•Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult: 106 A+
•Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice: 97 A
•Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+: 63 F
•Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies: 69 F
•Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken: 110 A+
•Wolfking Adult Dog (bison) by Solid Gold: 97 A

Answer 3

Hee hee! We always tell our JRT he stinks (especially his ears)! He remedies this by jumping in the shower when I'm in there so I keep the puppy shampoo near by!
Seriously though, our JRT Max also has irritable skin. I use a medicated shampoo for him in between trips to the PetCo Grooming salon. I usually bathe him about once every 2 weeks or so and he goes to Petco 1x a month. If you take yours to Petco, request the oatmeal bath. VERY good for him and he'll smell great for a week! I also feed him Eukanuba maintenance formula adult dry dog food.

Answer 4

You might consider gradually changing his diet to one of the higher end dog foods. I've noticed that my friends' dogs that eat a lower quality food smell worse and their coats aren't as healthy as with a higher quality food.

Answer 5

A good food will have meat as the first ingredient. Try changing to a better food.

Answer 6

As a female, you may have a heightened sense of smell. Ask others to smell him after three days, to see if they agree with you.

Answer 7

Sounds like he has a skin complaint. This will not only irritate his skin but it will make him smelly aswell. Take him to the vet and get it treated.

Answer 8

Try buying a skin moisturizer just the same as people do for their dry skin we buy lotion. But anyways try talking to your vet about prescribing you for something for his skin. I know he doesn't want to smell himself as much as you don't want to.

Answer 9

i am the owner of a dog wash and have many dogs, so i use an Extra Thick Formula, Natural Oatmeal Shampoo.

Answer 10

if you change him to dry food it should resolve the problem!