smelly feet

Question

why do my dogs feet smell so bad that they smell a whole room?

Jaybay · Answer

Good point!  I'm sure your poodle isn't the only dog with dribbling issues.  :-D

MarineSniper · Answer

Actually i have to toss in on this one here. Our poodle has extremly bad food odor but his is due to when he goes outside and the position that he is in when he relieves himself sometimes the urine flows to his paws and and then the smell begins. This is gone once he recieves his bath but if you go a little while you get the very pungant odor of something has went south so to speak. and it is horrible.

Jaybay · Answer

I had a dog whose foot odor permeated every room she was in.  It always happened in the summer, and usually went away for a while with a simple bath.  Then one summer it got worse and worse and she was obviously uncomfortable because she kept licking her feet, so it was off to the vet.  Turned out to be a yeast infection that was cheaply and easily treated with Dermachlor Flush Plus.  It's a simple antibacterial and antifungal solution in a bottle.

Chica never much cared to have her feet handled, but I discovered that allowing her to stand up created no issues.  I slowly ran a hand down the targeted leg and picked up one foot at a time just like I would with a horse.  Next, I squirted a few drops between her toes.  It only took a couple of treatments before she knew exactly what was coming and she would give me her foot as soon as I touched a leg.

Initial treatment was twice a day for 5 days, and as soon as I started noticing foot odor, I'd give her a 2-day treatment.

Foot odor in dogs is really pretty obvious.  It's like the "doggy smell" only extremely strong, and a bit more sour.  If your dog does have fungus, your vet will know it as soon as he smells it.

Ghilly · Answer

I have the same question that wannabenana does.  Are you certain that it's the dog's feet that are smelling?  I have known dogs that suffered from such bad periodontal disease that their breath smelled up a whole apartment, and it's also possible for anal glands to smell up a home.  I have never heard of a dog, however, whose feet smelled so bad that the smell permeated a whole room.

Dogs cannot perspire in the same way that people do.  They don't sweat through glands under their skin, they cool off by panting and they also sweat through glands in their paw pads.  It's possible to smell a dog's body odor in their feet.  I have never, however, heard of a dog with such strong body odor that its feet smelled up a whole room.  If it's this severe, and it IS, indeed, the dog's feet, then I would take the dog to a vet to see if there was some underlying health issue going on that caused his feet to smell that badly.

Ghilly