# Removing "Kennel Smell" HELP!



## Michelle Kutelis (Sep 28, 2006)

Ok, as some of you know, I got a dog last weekend. She is an adult GSD, and has lived in a kennel run situation prior to this, in a VERY moist area of the world. 

She was bathed prior to her flight, I could smell the shampoo, but now I smell the musty, wet dog odor I associate with dogs that have been kept on concrete runs that get hosed down and/or exposed to rain.

From my experience, bathing a dog like this won't help, it's almost like she needs to DRY out somehow. (I DO live in the desert- so putting her out in MY kennels is an option) Her skin looks great, her coat just has that nasty, musty smell.

I CAN use a medicated shampoo, and dry her with the force air dryer, but before I do all this stuff I wanted to get some ideas so I'm not spinning my wheels.

Any ideas/advice? She's stinking up the house...


----------



## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

BRUSHHHHH. Brush until she's bald and let it grow back in.

My older dogs stayed with a friend in his stinky kennels for 3 weeks and I had to get rid of the same smell. Cujo seems to get rid of all odors simply by brushing him with a rake and then spending some time with the shedding blade.


----------



## Kristen Cabe (Mar 27, 2006)

Not to sound like a broken record, but NUTRITION will help, too. Most kennel-kept dogs are fed cheap food, which can result in that nasty 'wet dog' smell.


----------



## Lynn Cheffins (Jul 11, 2006)

Like others have suggested grooming with a rake and also I would try a grooming blow dryer(the dog type) as moving alot of air thru the coat and blowing out the old coat helps quite a bit. You can try rubbing with a bit of self-rinse shampoo and really towelling her before you blow with the dryer and it helps to freshen them up a bit.


----------



## Michelle Kutelis (Sep 28, 2006)

Thanks everyone for the advice, I just brushed her very well with the rake and gave her a once-over with the dog dryer. Will keep it up.


----------



## Greg Leavitt (Aug 31, 2006)

I was thinking you could probably rub some raw fish on her coat and get rid of the kennel smell.


----------



## Michelle Kutelis (Sep 28, 2006)

Hmm... Greg, that is a great idea, and would certainly remove the "kennel smell"- and my husband- from my home.


----------



## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

How much do you like your husband?????????????????


----------



## Greg Leavitt (Aug 31, 2006)

He is her primary decoy she like him alot. lol


----------



## Michelle Kutelis (Sep 28, 2006)

I guess I like him enough to keep him around, especially when he decoys for my dogs on occasion, and works my puppies...

So, back to the drawing board, the fish won't work...


----------



## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

I've heard this really works for skunk, maybe it would work for kennel smell:

http://briansplace.ynt1.com/skunk.php


----------



## Michelle Kutelis (Sep 28, 2006)

I don't think it would hurt to try, Susan. I'm stuck at home with a daughter that has a fever (5 year old) so I need to see if I can dig up the ingredients...

I found an article that claimed dog's hair is VERY porous, so it absorbs odor easily. Of course, you can find LOTS of articles about lots of things that are not true on the internet.


----------



## Anne Vaini (Mar 15, 2007)

Get some orange essential oil and put a couple drops in the shampoo. And dilute your shampoo before you use it so it covers the dog more easily and rinses out more easily.


----------



## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

Dirt works really well. Just let her roll around and the smell goes away.


----------



## Michelle Kutelis (Sep 28, 2006)

Actually Jeff, that is the M.O. for today. It's dry, dusty sand, which should suck up that mildew odor like a charm.


----------



## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

LOL Actually Jeff is right, a roll in clean (ie odor free) dirt will do a lot to help. Also the "waterless shampoo" or whatever they call it. The powder stuff you just put on the dog, then brush out. Put that on her, and leave it on for awhile. If you can leave her outside, you can leave it on until it works its way out of her coat on it's own. Otherwise you can brush out what you need to so it doesn't get all over, but don't brush her out 100%. 
You can do the same thing with baking soda, which also absorbes odors well.


----------



## Michelle Kutelis (Sep 28, 2006)

Yeah I wasn't kidding either. I figure the smell is from her coat still being moist, and that dry air and dust would help remove it. 

Hadn't thought of talc- had some keep Torro's toes dry when he had his cast on, some of that brushed through her coat might help as well.

It IS getting better, but ick I hate that smell.


----------



## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

Yes, dirt, the Marines best friend in the field. LOL Works better than Thi stone, and is readily available.


----------



## jay lyda (Apr 10, 2006)

Dirt.......get it and use it because it seems that there is getting less of it and they quit making it some time ago.


----------



## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Kristen Cabe said:


> Not to sound like a broken record, but NUTRITION will help, too. Most kennel-kept dogs are fed cheap food, which can result in that nasty 'wet dog' smell.



Yep. 100% agreed.

People will say about a stinky dog "He has that doggy smell" .... 

No, he doesn't. He has that "Doggy on grain-heavy food smell."

Also, what Mike said about brushing.

I haven't tried clean dirt yet, but it makes total sense to me.


----------



## Lynn Cheffins (Jul 11, 2006)

> I haven't tried clean dirt yet, but it makes total sense to me.


 - well, that is why my dogs are so un-smelly - they are not digging holes, but just keeping themsleves "fresh"....


----------



## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

Cujo likes to dig in a water bucket then roll around in the mud. He gets it all over his face and everything. As a pup his poop was always multicolored from the dirt he swallowed :lol:

But hey he never smells


----------



## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

susan tuck said:


> I've heard this really works for skunk, maybe it would work for kennel smell:
> 
> http://briansplace.ynt1.com/skunk.php


I've used this on skunked dogs a few times. Works pretty good but the smell comes back a bit when the dog gets wet again. 
I've also seen a terrier that was rubbed down with lots of sawdust. Seemed to help also.


----------



## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Mike Schoonbrood said:


> Cujo likes to dig in a water bucket then roll around in the mud. He gets it all over his face and everything. As a pup his poop was always multicolored from the dirt he swallowed :lol:
> 
> But hey he never smells


Plus a lovely blemish-free complexion.


----------



## Michelle Kutelis (Sep 28, 2006)

Well, we have dirt-a-plenty out here, I can box some up for anyone interested. Good quality scrubbing sand. 

Nutrition is not a case in this bitch, she was VERY well fed in her kennel situation. In fact, by bringing her here and putting her on Canidae I've cheated her quite a bit, but what can I say, I have to feed what works for me. But I do agree poor nutrition can cause a dog to have that "doggie" odor.

I have to say that the powder really did the trick yesterday.


----------



## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

i'm thinking that all of the above may provide a quick, temporary fix, but i'd bet that, as with skunk, it won't totally go away until she sheds out the smelly hair.


----------



## Leo Hinojosa (Sep 4, 2007)

I hate the kennel smell, 
I went out and purchased a raised bathtub for dogs, and at least once a month we bathe each dog. 

We feed a combination of holistic dog foood and raw, this helps eliminate the smell in the runs. We also clean twice a day and brush on a regular basis.

We also rotate our dogs from the runs to the house, and they stay in for a week at a time. This helps fight the odor at least for a little while. 

There are some products out there that can hide the smell but I feel if your going to actively fight the smell you must do so by attacking the source and not giving up for a moment.

Though I cant say the dogs do not have a Kennel smell every now and then but we try out best to control it.


----------



## Anne Vaini (Mar 15, 2007)

A furminator would probably be about the best thing for getting out the max amount of smelly hair.


----------

