holistic health

Question
I have a 8 mo. old mastif dog that i saved as a puppy he smells like foot fungus i have to give him a bath every 3-4 days to rid his odor do you know of anything else i could do for him the vet told me its pretty common in larger dogs but maybe something i can add to his shampoo or feed him that could help.

Answer
Hi Wendy,

Thank you for writing to me about your big puppy!  A puppy should always have that wonderful puppy perfume odor and puppy paws smell like popcorn.  

When you describe your puppy as smelling like foot fungus, I am reminded of a yeast infection.  I would advise that you have your puppy checked out by a canine dermatologis who will take skin samples and microscopically investigate the reason for your dog's odor.

Giving your dog a bath so often is not good for him.  It washes away all the protective oils.  The solution is to get to the cause of the problem.

Start off by changing his diet.  Move him to a high quality organic food. He could possibly have food allergies which are throwing his chemistry off.  When my dog had food allergies her skin had a foul smell.  She now has her sweet odor back and it's refreshing!  I would recommend a food like fish and potato and see if this doesn't make some difference.

Of great importance is to add omega oils to his diet.  Give your dog a high quality fish oil and add some olive oil to his food.  Build up to high amounts of the omegas.  

Add live culture yogurt to your puppy's food. The good bacteria in yogurt will help build up the healthy flora. You can also put acidopholus into a tub and let your pup soak in it, then rinse him off with plain water.

I wish you the very best of luck.

Regards,
Shelley Davis