Sunday, January 21, 2007

What's That Smell?

Back a few months ago, I stated in my first confessional that I had a dog that stunk. For those of you who don't know, I have a Miniature Dachshund that is going to be three this year and she weights about ten pounds but this dog could literally clear a room in under a minute! I'm not talking your regular bad doggy breath. I'm talking dirty socks meet roadside kill all over her :o( Even Duncan, our Australian Cattle Dog, who has been sprayed by TWO skunks didn't smell as bad as her!

Brie is a wonderful little dog and a cuddler too. That's what I love about her :o) When she was a puppy, she had that wonderful puppy smell but after she turned one, this unbelievable smell surrounded her like a cloud. Every morning when she'd emerge from her cocoon like cave of a bed, the air around her would turn putrid. Maybe that's why all my plants died... DH and I always joked that she had bad BO (body odor) but I think I remember reading somewhere that dogs couldn't sweat through their bodies. I know what attracted me to the Dachshund breed was that they were supposed to be odor free. DH and I also pondered whether we got a defective dog ;o)

Almost every week Brie would get a bath and all her bedding was either washed or burned ;o) She would be good for about a few days and then the smell would start up again and attach itself to anything she touched. We were at a loss. After living with this stench for two years, we were desperate to try anything! Then someone mentioned the idea of changing her food. DH and I had never thought of that. Brie was eating Canine Plus and I specifically chose it because of the ingredients. I wanted my dog to eat as well as she could.

About a week or so ago, I did a little research and decided to put her back on Iams. This was the same brand of dog food she ate during her first year as a puppy and I knew it was a good choice as well. Over three days we gradually changed Brie's food over and would you believe the smell stopped???? No word of a lie! Even without a bath she smelled better and that's saying something! I'm really amazed that that's all it took. The crazy thing is we could have avoided this whole problem by not changing the brand of her dog food in the first place. I'll blame that on DH ;o)

So now I have my good smelling little girl back and I don't mind her cuddling with me anymore :o) Maybe the saying "You are what you eat." is not far from the truth although if that is the case, I really don't want to know what was in that Canine Plus then :oS

4 comments:

Karen said...

I am glad you sorted Brie's smell out , one of my dogs claim to fame is clearing a room in under 10 seconds and that includes him running away. Both the dogs smell lovely today they have had baths over the weekend

Jenn said...

Glad to hear that you have Brie's smell problem cleared up.

Jamie said...

Wow, funny how it can be the easiest problem to solve but the solution so hard to initially find! Good to hear she's smelling better. Thanks for the comment... I know I'm being neurotic and just need to get it out.

Shannon said...

LOL Amazing ! :) I'm glad Brie is back to smelling sweet !