Both of my hounds smell great. Belle smells like a baby and Gunther smells like fresh cornflower. I swear.
Anyway, when we adopted Gunther from the Humane Society he had major coat issues - tons and tons of shedding, dry coat, hot spots, ear infections and giardia which translated into very loose poops. When we adopted Belle, she had drippy eyes and was otherwise healthy. They didn't smell "houndy" but not great either.
Anyway, after a ton of reading and battles with Gunther's hotspots and ears - major problem because he is very sensitive in general and doesn't like to be picked on - we switched to 100% human food and have been feeding that since January.
Hot spots went away, ear infection is gone, skin problems and shedding went away, eyes don't drip, stools are great - except every now and then. AND they love thier meals. Gunther sits by me in the kitchen while I prepare it and he is so happy to eat he spins around and around. Before, he would look at his kibble (Perscription Diet, Solid Gold, Royal Canin - all high-quality foods) and just look at me sadly.
I wanted to add this, because every dog is an individual (of course!) and will do well or not well on certain diets. There was one posting about "no human food ever" which clearly works for many, many dogs, so I just wanted to add another perspective. Of course, if my dogs didn't do well on a home-made diet, I would switch.
We feed raw chicken necks, beef, heart, liver, lamb (yesterday they each got a lamb shank), eggs, some grains (barley, millet, brown rice - we tried no grains, but the poops got loose), brocolli, green beans, apples, carrots. Their teeth are awesome.
The best part is that preparing their meals is a pleasure - I feel like a mom
which is fun since I don't have human babies.
Good luck - there are so many good suggestions in this thread.
Susan O.