Any suggestions on what to bath a smelly dog in?

Most effective thing for skunk, I dunno about...just dog, but this worked really well several times.
~quart of hydrogen peroxide, 1/4ish cup of baking soda and a little tiny squirt of dawn. Dilute with maybe a gallon or so of warm water.

Mix the soapy solution up and use immediately. For skunk, usually 2-3 baths and the smell was well over 90% gone, but will return residually when the dog gets wet again. When my sisters dog was skunked, he got 3 of those bathes, and one the next two times in rained, and then it was not noticeable at all. I know it seems like a lot of work for several bathes, but after several other attempts, this was by far the most effective for not only killing the odor quickly, but was able to completely remove it longterm.

Another option that works a little better without having to do as many cycles is to put the concoction on the dog without diluting, but only let it sit for a minute or two and rinse thoroughly.

I use two different things.... an oatmeal based shampoo for dandruff and shinny coat, but I don't think it's that smelly. The other shampoo I use is more for smell than anything, but it's a bit expensive to use on an outside dog, it has aloe and coconut in it.

Maybe if you could find a coconut based shampoo at Walmart for people? Coconut seems to be an awesome smell that really lasts. I use the coconut dog shampoo on my little chihuahua and he smells like coconut for a week straight :banana:

Remember that dogs need a soap with a slightly lower pH than normal "adult" shampoo. General the skin pH for dogs ranges from between 6.2 to 8.62 so you need to choose a shampoo in that range. But it does depend on the dog. For example. A GSD has a much more alkaline skin than a golden retriever.

What kind of dogs are they?

Anyway. Palmolive liquid dish detergent has a pH of 7.3. You should be safe with that, or Dove liquid dish detergent (pH of 7.0). You want to match the soap as closely to the dog's skin pH as you can to avoid unnecessary scratching and dry skin. Dogs, especially outside dogs need their natural oils to stay warm.

Also remember that you should not bathe them too often ;).

Scrub thoroughly with non-scented antibacterial hand soap, take some cheap shampoo at the supermarket dilute the shampoo to about 2/3 water. That's what I usually do.

My shih tzu has some serious BO. I swear, sometimes she smells worse than my outside dogs. I use the TropiClean shampoos. They make one specifically for smelly dogs. I scrub her really hard and let it sit for a couple of minutes. She tends to give herself hot spots because she has such bad allergies and it works really well on getting the discoloration the hot spots cause on her skin. For really stinky dogs, I suggest using the Nature's Miracle for skunk smells. It works REALLY well. Hope that helps!

I have used plain shaving cream the cheap stuff to help neutalize odors (don't laugh yall it works)

Johnson and Johnson baby body soap \ shampoo. Tearless, smells good, delicate on the skin. Cheap.

When washing and rinshing, be sure to get up under the folds, under the leggs, etc. Rinse well. A hose attachment helps. Also, a good bristle brush is great to use as you rinse, comb through. Helps remove dirt and helps ensure you are getting to the base layer of fur closest to the skin (some dogs fur is so dense that you don't reach the under-fur unless you try really hard...).

An old trick from the breeder my Dobermans are from...


Take cheap dishsoap, the antibacterial kind. Orange Ajax is the best, the green palmolive works too.

Take an empty milk jug, and add just enough dishsoap to cover the bottom about 1/2 cm deep. Then, add 1/2 C of vinegar. Fill the rest with water, and shake well.

This makes a GREAT degreasing, antifungal, antibacterial, mild shampoo. It's what my breeder uses on her dogs, and they look great.

Yes, this dog is bathed in vinegar and dishsoap... hard to believe, but true!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1.../Savannah4.jpg

That does not make much sense. Vinegar is acidic (a Ph of like 2.4). Yes it will give them a good sheen for a few days, but I would think it would play hell with their skin.

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Yes it will give them a good sheen for a few days, but I would think it would play hell with their skin.

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You'd think so, yes. But for some reason, it works - and doesn't affect their skin at all.

She's been doing it for forty years, and her dogs have the nicest skin and coats that I've ever seen.