Theresia

I recently bought my boyfriend a basset hound for v-day, which he loves!! I should of done a little more homework on this dog before I bought him and now I'm kicking myself in the butt.

Why does he smell so bad? Is this just my dog or is it every basset hound? And how do I make the smell go away? We give him a bath once a week, towel dry him and comb him out. Please if anyone has any ideas on how to make it so my whole house doesn't smell like stinky dog I'm all ears! Thanks in advance!

Dasanii19

Are you cleaning his ears? I am sure there is some sort of powder you can put on his hair after he has been cleaned. I would suggest calling a groomer.

emmasmom

Are you talking about the normal hound smell? <_< Because some people find that offensive. I don't happen to mind it so I have no idea how to get rid of it because I've never tried.

p.s. I don't think a weekly bath is good for your boyfriend's dog.

faysie

CHECK HIS EARS! Take him to a vet for a check-up. Make sure the glands are clear, etc.

It has been my experience with my own dogs that some dogfoods can also make them smell icky. Look into what he's being fed. There are many possible reasons for a smelly Basset. Just go down the long list until you solve the problem.

Try to figure it out without scrubbing his skin off

Midge n Hazley

What are you feeding your hound? From my experience, some of the less expensive foods with a lot of fillers will contribute to houndie odor. I feed my girls Wellness and noticed a lot less odor from them.

BubbaLeroy

Go up to SEARCH in the top right hand corner of the screen. Click there and then type in "Odor" and it should bring up that topic with several different threads and some interesting feed back and discussion for you. Often it is the food that contribuutes to the odor especially those containing a lot of corn products.

Bogie does not have a houndy smell at all. We feed him Innova dry kibble which is more expensive than many, but he has a beautiful shiny coat, no skin problems, and is very active and healthy.

We bathe him about every two months, unless he rolls in something disgusting. Also frequent bathing can contribute to the odor problem. The more you bathe, the more the basset oil glands kick in to protect the skin, and more odor. Brushing Bogie every other day keeps him clean and the shedding hairs at bay.

.

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You don't own a Basset, a Basset owns you!!
Aroooooos from Bogie !! - Trumbull's Who's Teasin Bogart CGC- Born April 21, 2005
ATB: Bubba - (Trumbull's Surley It's Stormin Norman) Sept. 8, 1998 - Dec. 20, 2005

Beverly Anne

Bubba Leroy's right. You're bathing too much which, if nothing else, will give the poor dog pretty itchy skin. Once a month, at the most, but preferably once every 2-4 months.

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Francis's Bevy

Theresia

Thank you so much for all the advice! We will cut way back on bath time. He has smelled horrible from day 1 so we just thought we had the stinky dog on the block, but it may have been that they were feeding him cheap food too. We feed him Purina but maybe we will look into a different type of food, hopefully that will help. When we took him to the vet for the first time in February we found out he had worms and his ears were very dirty! She gave us cleaning pads which we stay on top of cleaning. Over the last 2 1/2 months I'm slowly realizing that basset hounds are a lot of work to keep healthy! Oh well it's a great learning experience and if it keeps my boyfriend happy then it's well worth it.

shakerag

Rub his velvet ears, his loose skin and paws and give him lots of kisses on his hound muzzle and do not let him hear you talking about him. He will have you trained in no time!
don

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If it's not a Basset, it's just a dog

Elmer-n-Button

We had problems with odors at first, but we have switched to quality food (Innova) and we don't have any more odors, or at least the "houndy smell". Its considerably more $$ but totally worth it when you consider the fact that in the long run, the dog will be healthier due to the human grade ingredients that they use. Also, read and try to evaluate the labels on the food bags. Many supermarket brands use things like PEANUT SHELLS as their main protein source. They don't have to list it as peanut shells, they just call it protein content. I think dogs need meat and vegetables, so in addition to their Innova weight control formula, I give them boiled chicken breast and green beans and carrots and they are doing great!
I found an interesting article online which explained (or claimed) that many supermarket pet food brands are owned by human food manufacturers and they use the by products from those foods in the pet foods. Renderings of God-knows-what, restaurant grease, you name it -- could be found in your pet's Supermarket food, according to this article. I guess you get what you pay for: No company can give your dog total nutrition for $10 for a 40 pound bag. The reason they can afford all the expensive advertising is because of the huge profit margin. Therefore they can be very convincing with all the cute commercials. There are many who say their dogs do fine on these foods, but I prefer the premium dog foods for health and odor control.

Congratulations on your new adventure! Bassets Hounds ARE more work, but totally worth it! Our long short friends with the big hearts! Good Luck and hang in there! We love pictures, so hope you will post some soon!

Link to that article:

http://www.preciouspets.org/report.htm

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Arrrooooos from Bubby Boo, Dee Dee and Elmee Too!