7 month old german shepard mix

Question
Hi,

I have recently adopted a german shepard mix. He has very short hair, so I was hoping that grooming him would be easy. However, he smells very strong. In comparisson to my friends dogs he is by far the smelliest.
I have tried a dozen different shampoos/sprays/deodarants/waterless shampoos. Non of them produced results that lasted more than few hours.
I've heard that he might have alergies so I switched him to rice and lamb food, with no difference. His skin does look dry and flaky. He scratches somewhat often but not all the time. I've heard from another friend that he might have skin condition very similiar to human dandruff, and that I should try leaving human dandruff shampoo on him for 15 minutes, but there is no way he will sit still for 15 minutes once I put it on him...
I've also heard that his smell might be strong due to the fact that he spends at least 1 hour running in the woods everyday. This doenst make any sene to me.

Do you have any advices? Do you think this might be a skin problem and should I take him to the vet?
Thank you for any comments/ideas.

Neb

Answer
Hi Neb!  
I would definitely recommend a vet visit.  Your veterinarian will perform a skin scraping.  This is where a few skin cells are gently scraped (painlessly) from these dry areas.  The cells will then be studied under a microscope to detect anything abnormal.  Mange would cause this kind of dry skin and an odor.  Mange is actually caused by mites.  These mites are too tiny to be seen by the naked eye, but can be seen under a microscope.  This would be treated by an ivermectin injection and some oral medication.  The skin scraping will also determine if there is a bacterial skin infection present, which can be quite common.
You can also purchase a special shampoo from your veterinarian. There are anteseptic shampoos that help tremendously with skin problems.  Human shampoos can actually make a skin ailment worse, as dogs have a different pH balance than humans do.
I would definitely have your veterinarian take a look at him.
Please let me know how he does and congrats on your new addition!
Best of luck and I hope this has been helpful,
Hilary