To consider giving away my dog because he STINKS.

[Honestbonniest]

This upsets me to be writing this but this is where I'm at.

I have a gorgeous, in tact, nearly two years old small breed dog (a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) who absolutely stinks of wee. I honestly think it's gotten worse over time.

He doesn't have particularly long fur, but does have feathers. When he wees, he shoots pretty horizontally all over his front legs and belly. I have to fully wash with shampoo (I use a mild puppy one) his front legs and belly after every walk, including if he has just done a wee in the garden. He marks constantly so he is constantly weeing.

If I don't do this religiously, he stinks and makes all the furniture and carpets he lies on stink as well. This really, really bothers me, but the constant washing multiple times a day is also really draining for me.

I could trim his legs and belly right down to the skin, but then I see so many other dogs with long hair or feathers - do they stink of wee too? Plus he sometimes wees straight onto the leg, not just the feathers, so trimming the feathers in those cases won't help.

I have tried baby wipes and deodorising sprays etc but nothing gets rid of the stench apart from a proper shampoo wash and rinse.

I'm so tired of constantly washing him that I'm considering giving him away. I didn't think having a dog would be like this. Doggy smell is fine, but wee smelly is just awful.

Am I terrible?

WTF. He’s been a member of your family for two years and you’re considering “giving him away” because he smells, rather than trying to help him?

Feathers?! 😆

Yabu
Have him clipped down there to keep him clean for goodness sake and take him to see a vet too
Doesn't matter if others of his breed keep their feathers you need to do what's necessary for him and there's no way you should consider giving him away for this reason
You're being an irresponsible dog owner I'm afraid

Can’t the vet have a look?

Nonsense!! Only untrained dogs with shitty owners “pee everywhere” ffs! 🙄

Why do you think someone else would want to deal with this? Get him checked by the vet, Get him groomed and clipped where he is splashing himself and stop treating him like a commodity

So you chose not to castrate your dog ... and now want to get rid of your dog... for behaving like a non-castrated dog?

Yes you are terrible. If you weren't you would have taken him to the vets as it could be a physical issue.
If no physical deformity to his penis/urethra, he definitely needs to be castrated as that will lessen the smell and the marking as now he is mature and trimmed appropriately.
To answer your question no - not all fluffy dogs pee on themselves!

https://amzn.eu/d/cjXvZMn

This is amazing for neutralising pee smells.

No, I haven't... And I've only had one dog breed, which may be a factor.

FFS !

just when one thinks one has seen and read it all on MN
now we get this !

YABVVVU - lots of avenues open to you as outlined in this thread - please follow these all through before you even remotely consider giving your family member away. Plus please stop using baby wipes on your dog - their skin PH is different to humans, you need to get grooming wipes specifically for dogs.

Why haven't you taken him to a groomers or vets? Why is your initial go to solution to get rid of him?

I had a cavalier with the exact same problem! I even took him to the vets about it and they sampled his urine for infections etc. No medical issue found. We had him shaved every 6 weeks to overcome the issue. Not a traditional cavalier haircut but he still looked cute!

Google it.

Feathers refer to the long silky bits you see on legs and chest of certain dog breeds like spaniels.

Get him a puppy coat so the fur is short all over

Puppy cut I mean

And vet ASAP without question

IME male greyhounds, whippets and lurchers are the worst for this, don't know if it's because they're generally lazy dogs or what. In your dogs case though I would definitely take him to the vets because cavs are notoriously poorly bred and he might have an issue.
Also get him neutered FGS.

So you’ve gone straight to rehoming without actually trying anything to help? You could have him groomed shorter, have him neutered, take him to the vet?

Yes, you’re terrible.

Get the vet to check it out. Human males can have a urethra that exits at a different angle than on the end, so presumably dog males can too. What you are describing isn't a normal dog issue.

Previous posters are correct that 1) an intact male dogs urine will stink more, and 2) dogs love being stinky, they don't have the same sense of disgust that we do.

My lurcher will occasionally wee on his front legs if he’s trying to wee in a hurry to get on to the next smell but it’s uncommon.

He’s intact too though and I’ve never noticed him smelling of anything other than generic dog smell.

Op needs to take her dog to the vets and to the groomers.

You would give him away? To whom? There are so many dogs in rescues without problems like this, that I think it would be very difficult to re-home him.

I'm just reiterating what everyone else has said - first consult your vet. Why hasn't he been neutered?

Have you joined groups online for his breed? There may be people out there who have experienced similar and can offer better insights into ways of helping your poor dog.

Tell me you don’t understand how dogs think without telling me you don’t understand how dogs think 🤣