# Need a non-asthma inducing shampoo



## Spazmelda (Jan 27, 2013)

Lenny gets mode moderately stinky. He seems to stink a bit less since we've switched his food from pedigree puppy to TOTW, but he still does start smelling pretty unbearably doggie about 2 weeks after a bath.

When we first got him my husband picked up some 'odor control' shampoo from the grocery store. I like the way it smells and it does seem to control the odor, but the problem is that it sets off my asthma big time. 

I'm looking for something that's either good at controlling odor for a decent length of time yet doesn't have strong smell OR something not as good at controlling odor but gentle enough to use once a week and low or non-scented.

I'd like to find something available at petco, petsmart, or on amazon. I'd also like something not super expensive. Any suggestions?


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

What type of a smell is it? Does it kinda smell like fritos or like cheesy puffs? If so, your dog has a yeast infection. In such a case you want to cut out as much carbs from his diet as possible. No more cookies, no more grains (if you haven't switched to the grain free formula yet), no more veggies full of carbs (no potatoes, etc.).

A healthy dog shouldn't really smell a lot. I don't think there is anything wrong with bathing your dog more than once every two weeks as long as you are not drying out his skin.


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## Spazmelda (Jan 27, 2013)

It's just a dog smell. Not Fritos or anything like that.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

It could still be the food. Sassy didn't smell like corn chips but had anal sac backups that make her stink as she licked the area and got it all over her fur and mouth. Once on something that worked better for her all that went away. I thought it was dirty teeth and just a dog smell but no.

You could try Nature's Miracle shampoo from the pet store. It is unlikely to help for more than a couple of days though.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Hmm, maybe baking soda and apple cider vinegar like the no-poo-ers use?  That should correct his skin pH, help the stinkiness and make him nice and shiny, too. And shouldn't set off your asthma (Nature's Miracle sometimes makes me wheezy so I won't recommend that one. Although I've only used the odor remover, not the shampoo, but it's probably similar).


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

There are many quality hypo shampoos that clean well, but dont have a scent. But you cant have your cake and eat it too. ;-) They wont be found at the stores, and they are likely more expensive but properly diluted, will last you a ling time on one dog. Ez-groom.com has an awesome hypo called Ultra Clear. It cleans GREAT but has no smell. Make sure you dilute professional grade shampoos according to the label.


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## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

Willowy said:


> Hmm, maybe baking soda and apple cider vinegar like the no-poo-ers use?  That should correct his skin pH, help the stinkiness and make him nice and shiny, too. And shouldn't set off your asthma (Nature's Miracle sometimes makes me wheezy so I won't recommend that one. Although I've only used the odor remover, not the shampoo, but it's probably similar).


I thought of this too! But then I'd also worry about getting vinegar (or baking soda) in the dog's eyes. I'm pretty inept at washing the dog.

We don't bathe snowball often (he doesn't need it), but when we do, we use Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo. Works pretty well.


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## Spazmelda (Jan 27, 2013)

Okay, so we did notice that his butt sort of smells fishy. So maybe it is the anal glands. The rest of him just sort of smells doggy, not fishy. TOTW is supposed to be a pretty decent food, and he does smell less now than when he was on the pedigree his previous owner was feeding. I read that fiber can help if anal glands are too full, so I've been adding a little bit of split peas that I cooked up to his food. TOTW says it has sweet potato and peas in it, but maybe adding a little more Fiber will help. He goes to the vet this Thursday to be neutered, so I will have them see if his glands need expressed.

The ez-groom ultra clear mentioned above is very reasonable in price. I found it for like $9 for 16 oz, and says dilution is 16:1, which would dilute up to about 2 gallons if you did it all at once. So that doesn't seem unreasonable at all. Unless I'm reading it wrong and they only send you 1 ounce that dilutes up to 16 oz? 

I never had much luck getting my own hair clean with baking soda and vinegar, so I might try it, but don't know if it would be a long term solution.

Oh, and the Natures Miracle spray does not irritate my asthma, but I got the unfragranced kind in the red bottle. I need to get more, and all petsmart had in stock was lilac scented, which I'm sure would set me to wheezing. I didn't even know they made shampoo.

Thanks for all the ideas!


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

How long has he been eating TOTW? It took me 6 months to realize Sassy's anal sac problems were gone. In her case fiber had nothing to do with it, kibble was the problem and low fiber home cooked chicken and rice was the solution.

I have asthma but nothing to do with dogs has ever bothered me. Well using the high velocity dryer to get the fur off Sassy had me swallowing some dog hair, unpleasant but still no wheezing. Guess I am meant to have dogs!


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## Spazmelda (Jan 27, 2013)

He's been eating TOTW for about a month and a half now, I guess. When we first got him I bought a bag of pedigree puppy, since that's what his previous owner had been feeding him. About a week after that I picked up a small bag of TOTW and started mixing it in with the pedigree. I mixed it until the pedigree was gone and he's been on 100% TOTW for maybe about 2 weeks now.

He also gets treats for his training class. I use a couple of commercial treats (pet botanics), low fat hotdogs cut up very small, some turkey/pumpkin/whole wheat croutons I made, small bits of liver, a little bit of cheese, and small bits of chicken. 

His butt isn't as stinky for the past few days. I don't know if it was the fiber, or just some temporary thing he was having. I'll still have the vet check. Everything I read said to add more fiber so that poos were firmer and would help express the anal glands. Interesting that you found that not to be true in Sassy's case!

It's usually just very heavily scented products that irritate my asthma. Scented laundry detergents, scented cleaners, too much perfume/cologne on someone, etc... And not all scents do it, just some. The dog smell doesn't irritate my asthma, but it does irritate my husband. Lol. It's just the shampoo smell that was doing it. I'd start wheezing while I was bathing him and until the smell faded from him some. 

I realized the ultra clean wasn't too expensive, but the shipping was crazy. More for shipping than the shampoo. So I ordered some unscented shampoo I found on amazon (earthbath). It got a lot of good reviews and is supposed to be hypoallergenic and fragrance free. I'll see how that works.


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## Curbside Prophet (Apr 28, 2006)

Oral care is another thing to think about when a dog is smelly.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

taquitos said:


> A healthy dog shouldn't really smell a lot. I don't think there is anything wrong with bathing your dog more than once every two weeks as long as you are not drying out his skin.



If I remember the dog correctly it's a beagle mix. Beagles tend to smell like dog fairly fast. It's just... a thing, kind of like greyhounds never smelling. 

No advice on shampoo. I tend to bathe my dogs about every 3 months, on the outside, with whatever human shampoo is in the shower. Kylie gets conditioned because she has a super 'hard' coat and the conditioner makes her, temporarily, soft.


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## Spazmelda (Jan 27, 2013)

Yep. He's half beagle, and he doesn't really reek like something's wrong with him. He smells like a dog, which is kind of to be expected because he's a dog. I'm just mainly wanting a good shampoo that will get him clean smelling and still allow me to breathe normally. Lol.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

Spazmelda said:


> Yep. He's half beagle, and he doesn't really reek like something's wrong with him. He smells like a dog, which is kind of to be expected because he's a dog. I'm just mainly wanting a good shampoo that will get him clean smelling and still allow me to breathe normally. Lol.


A lot of the reason you're getting for that is a lot of dogs have basically no smell for a very, very long time. Of my 4 on Thud ever smells like ANYTHING unless they've been in a river or rolled in something or is ill, even with your nose shoved into them and huffing. Thud even only starts to smell doggy after a couple of months or so, and as his coat changes out that's less notable.

Scent hound are just... dogs with more body odor than average.


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## Spazmelda (Jan 27, 2013)

CptJack said:


> A lot of the reason you're getting for that is a lot of dogs have basically no smell for a very, very long time. Of my 4 on Thud ever smells like ANYTHING unless they've been in a river or rolled in something or is ill, even with your nose shoved into them and huffing. Thud even only starts to smell doggy after a couple of months or so, and as his coat changes out that's less notable.
> 
> Scent hound are just... dogs with more body odor than average.


Ah, I see. I wonder why it is that hounds have that particular characteristic?

I used to keep ferrets and they were some fragrant creatures. Their armpits, or whatever you call that area on a quadruped) ALWAYS smelled like Fritos. It was common to ferrets. I was in a ferret club and everyone's ferrets smelled like Fritos in that region.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

Spazmelda said:


> Ah, I see. I wonder why it is that hounds have that particular characteristic?
> 
> I used to keep ferrets and they were some fragrant creatures. Their armpits, or whatever you call that area on a quadruped) ALWAYS smelled like Fritos. It was common to ferrets. I was in a ferret club and everyone's ferrets smelled like Fritos in that region.


I really don't know what the cause is, to be honest. You can see it mentioned specifically to beagles here: 
http://www.espree.com/breedProfiler.asp?g=6&b=24
But almost all the scent hounds reference it. It's just... one of those things, I guess.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

Agreed. Hounds have a smell. lol And black dogs..I can tell when a black dog is in the tub at my salon with my eyes closed. They have a very distinct (but different than hounds) smell. My poodle stinks in less than two weeks, so he gets bathed weekly. My airedale gets his face and legs washed weekly, and I would wash all of him (again, black bodied dog) because he STINKS like dog all the time. I cannot bathe his body though, as it causes the coat on a handstrip dog to lift. :-( So we deal with his stinky self.


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## cookieface (Jul 6, 2011)

Graco22 said:


> My poodle stinks in less than two weeks, so he gets bathed weekly.


I am so happy to read this! Well, not happy that you have a smelly poodle, but that mine isn't the only one who stinks. I keep reading, "poodles don't smell" and then sniff Katie - doggy odor! She's not as bad as the lab my MIL had, but she's also bathed more often. She's also black.


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## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

cookieface said:


> I am so happy to read this! Well, not happy that you have a smelly poodle, but that mine isn't the only one who stinks. I keep reading, "poodles don't smell" and then sniff Katie - doggy odor! She's not as bad as the lab my MIL had, but she's also bathed more often. She's also black.


Double Whammy.

Does it matter where you're smelling from? I mean, even within a couple days of bathing, if you shove your face right in Snowball's fur he smells... like a dog. But, aside from the awesome smelling conditioner the groomer uses, I have yet to actually be able to smell him from any kind of distance.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

gingerkid said:


> Double Whammy.
> 
> Does it matter where you're smelling from? I mean, even within a couple days of bathing, if you shove your face right in Snowball's fur he smells... like a dog. But, aside from the awesome smelling conditioner the groomer uses, I have yet to actually be able to smell him from any kind of distance.


I can't smell my dogs from a distance either...but they sleep in our beds, and they are always in our faces...and I can smell dog stink, poo and pee (any species) a mile away..(hazard from my job I guess) and it drives me crazy if there is any smell other than fresh. lol


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

Spazmelda said:


> Okay, so we did notice that his butt sort of smells fishy. So maybe it is the anal glands. The rest of him just sort of smells doggy, not fishy. TOTW is supposed to be a pretty decent food, and he does smell less now than when he was on the pedigree his previous owner was feeding. I read that fiber can help if anal glands are too full, so I've been adding a little bit of split peas that I cooked up to his food. TOTW says it has sweet potato and peas in it, but maybe adding a little more Fiber will help. He goes to the vet this Thursday to be neutered, so I will have them see if his glands need expressed.
> 
> The ez-groom ultra clear mentioned above is very reasonable in price. I found it for like $9 for 16 oz, and says dilution is 16:1, which would dilute up to about 2 gallons if you did it all at once. So that doesn't seem unreasonable at all. Unless I'm reading it wrong and they only send you 1 ounce that dilutes up to 16 oz?
> 
> ...


The Ultra Clear does dilute 16:1 so you are correct. It will last you awhile. You can dilute it in a household cleaner type spray bottle, and spray it on the wet dog. Works great, just use more of a stream. Then work it into the coat.

You can also add a tablespoon of canned pumpkin to his diet, instead of the peas. It helps with poo issues and it very good for them. 

I clean with vinegar because I don't like disinfectants at home, but I hate the way it smells. Apple cider vinegar makes a good final rinse for some dogs with certain skin issues, but I wouldn't use it as a shampoo...And baking soda can be drying. Try the Ultra Clear.


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## cookieface (Jul 6, 2011)

gingerkid said:


> Double Whammy.
> 
> Does it matter where you're smelling from? I mean, even within a couple days of bathing, if you shove your face right in Snowball's fur he smells... like a dog. But, aside from the awesome smelling conditioner the groomer uses, I have yet to actually be able to smell him from any kind of distance.


Pretty much what Graco said. It's not an overwhelming odor or one that hits you when you first walk in the house, but can smell her when she's nearby. The longer she goes between baths or after she's been to the dog park, the stronger it is.


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## Spazmelda (Jan 27, 2013)

Graco22 said:


> disinfectants at home, but I hate the way it smells. Apple cider vinegar makes a good final rinse for some dogs with certain skin issues, but I wouldn't use it as a shampoo...And baking soda can be drying. Try the Ultra Clear.


I will try the ultra clear next time. I should have gone ahead and ordered it, but the $12 shipping for a $9 item irked me.  I tried to find a place with cheaper shipping, maybe I just need to look harder.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

Spazmelda said:


> I will try the ultra clear next time. I should have gone ahead and ordered it, but the $12 shipping for a $9 item irked me.  I tried to find a place with cheaper shipping, maybe I just need to look harder.


 Yes, look harder. That would irk me too. Did you look direct thru the company?


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## Spazmelda (Jan 27, 2013)

Graco22 said:


> Yes, look harder. That would irk me too. Did you look direct thru the company?


That's what I was looking at, and I just noticed that you have to order $25 for them to even ship to you. Bleh.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

Spazmelda said:


> That's what I was looking at, and I just noticed that you have to order $25 for them to even ship to you. Bleh.


Hm. Ya, I guess thats because they are a professional supplier. When I order from them, I usually get half the freight if not all the freight paid..lol But I order about 4, 5 gallon jugs of product at a time. Love all their shampoos though. Great small company. I have been a faithful professional user of their products for over 10 years.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

Oh oh oh! I just remembered...a groomer was selling some in 16 oz bottles for $8 plus shipping on the Barter FB group. Are you on fb? If so I can add you and tag you. Probly $5 or less for shipping...PM me your FB name if you are and I will add you to the group so you can check it out if you want.


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## Spazmelda (Jan 27, 2013)

Thanks for the info Graco. I'll order some when the guy gets back to me and tells me how.

Lenny is back from the vet. His neuter went fine and he was extremely happy to see me. The vet said his anal gland were fine and that the peas were a good way to add fiber if the dog likes them (which he does, but he loves any kind of people food). Said maybe they got a little full which would cause the smell and then emptied naturally. He went ahead and expressed the glands anyway and charged $18 for it. Lol.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

Awesome. I know she was asking if you wanted more shampoo, since she uses a flat rate shipping box. If you are considering it, I think she said she has two of the Ultra Clear bottles, and a third option to try would be the Premium, regular scent. Its a very light scent, that is gone after rinsing..the Pearl Scent is stronger...Just an fyi in case you were wanting to make use of the shipping. 

Ah, $18 for the glands. Seems the standard charge for it around here by the vets too. I include it in my grooming services, IF the dog needs it, and ONLY external expression. Vets usually just go right to internal expression. Most dogs dont need help with them, unless they are always getting them expressed by someone, they can become dependant on them being manually expressed. Nice of him to just automatically express them anyway...;-)


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