[epic1129]

What's going on here? I used dermacare shampoo/conditioner and made sure I worked the shampoo thoroughly through it's coat and gave her two rinses. After my first attempt to dry her off, I took her to the living room for a little playtime and realized she smelled horrid. I was assuming it was because she was still a little damp so I used a blow dryer this time. But even after she was 95% dried off, she still has this foul foul smell like she had a bad release of gas or a little like her stool!

Is this normal or what can I do?? She'll be seeing the vet tmr for the first time for her checkup and 2nd shot btw.

Regards,

Bill

 

[kaznalf]

Its rule of thumb that labs dont need bathing, the shampoo ruins their coat and strips their natural oils. Ive never ever bathed my 2yr old lab, he swims and thats enough for him and he doesnt smell at all. My mom baths her lab mix alot and he sheds more than mine and stinks

 

[Hank09]

maybe your puppy got scared and expressed his anal glands??? you may want to wash the back end again.
Manda

 

[amazongold]

Do not use soap to bathe a Lab, for the reasons given above. Their coat naturally sheds off dirt. Even if your pup gets muddy, it will dry and fall off.

When we started fostering champ, he had been bathed regularly, and stank to high heaven. It took over three months of no bathing before he started to get back to his natural, sweet, Lab smell.

Have the vet check your pup's anal glands. I'm thinking that by rubbing her to dry her off, you may have stimulated them like their mother does when they are tiny puppies.

 

[epic1129]

I appreciate all the help! I'll be sure to make good note of that.

Now, goal number 2 is a poop-free home... =( not quite there yet. But Zia is smart, anyday now!

 

[sarah]

I agree sounds like she released her anal glands during the bath. I don't bath our lab either unless she has rolled in something really bad. Usually a hose off with water and then a dry and brush is enough. I have had Milly 18 months and still have the original Oatmeal shampoo I bought her when she was 12 weeks old

 

[jzgrlduff]

I agree with the others! Frankie is 4 and has never had a bath....Tucker is 8 and we used to bath him like every other week when he was little. We didn't know any better. You can really see it in his coat now, it's nothing like the typical "lab" coat. It's still nice, but not the same.

 

[sarah]

Yes what Amy said.. the sleek, shiny lab coat is never achieved when you bath them regularly. I had a person come up to me at the dog park and they also owned a chocolate lab. She said "Can you tell me how you get your lab's coat to be so shiny and CLEAN?" I said "sure... I just don't bath her" bwahaha.. you should have seen this woman's jaw drop! She was bathing her lab every fortnight! We saw her almost 2 months later and he hadn't had a bath and she said she had noticed a dramatic improvement... especially in how he smelt!