Stinky - is it down to the breed?

[mintbiscuit]

Currently have a lab and border terrier. Both intact males

Lab smells lovely. I liken it to digestive biscuits. No stinky breath. Can bury my head in his fur and be in heaven.

BT stinks. Breath and fur. Totally cute so kind of forgive him 😂 Regular check ups at vet and no oral/other health problems. He’s only 2. It’s not anal glands.

Both have raw bones for oral health. Admit I’m a bit shit on regular teeth brushing. (Few times a month). both have raw diet.

Is it the difference in coat - short vs wire?
Is stinky breath related to length of snout/size of mouth?
Is it terriers? Every terrier I’ve ever known stinks! Although I’ve owned newfies too and they stink (is it the coat?)

Is it a breed thing? Is there any hope for my stinky yet very cute and loveable BT?

My cocker stinks! His breath is vile and I am on the brushing! He has yoghurt, coconut oil, all sorts to try to stop the smell! Nothing works! It's worse in the morning too ! His first stinks too. He's lush though! Believe it or not!

My working cocker smells a bit mushroomy/bit biscuity, not too bad for a male who loves playing in dirt 😁

Their coat really traps dirt and crap so if you are not stripping every few month he’s going to smell. We let ours blow the first couple of times and then had her stripped but the groomer stopped so I had a crash course in rolling from someone who shows hers and it’s seriously easy and her coat looks so much nicer too. The colour is coming through stronger. It’s 10 minutes every few weeks with a stripping stone. I’d rather that then a few hours every few months.

Does rolling just mean taking out the longest bits? I have a PRT and I use a stripping stone in a really haphazard way just to keep on top of the hairs that are most ready to come out (especially around the back of his neck and the very top of his shoulders - I swear he is half lion and would grow a mane if I let him).

I would love to do that a bit better and a bit more, without aspiring to be able to do a full and formal strip. Is 'rolling' what I should be attempting, or is it quite a technical exercise?
EDIT: He is broken coated so I feel I should be able to keep on top of things without going to a groomer

Yeah pretty much. A Borders coat has a follicle which has several hairs in. One undercoat and quite a few top coat of differing lengths when they get to the longest they die. Those are the ones you take out. So every couple of weeks I take out the longest with a thin stripping stone. They’ll only come out of dead and you can’t break them with a stone. That makes room for new ones hence the coat looking good. If you let them blow or the whole coat part it means they’re all dead and they all need to come out, hence the stripped to the undercoat look.

I trim her beard and under bits and comb out the undercoat.

My Samoyed smells like a cloud 🥰

Thank you @Newpeep that is a really clear and helpful explanation. Especially interesting to hear that you can't break the hairs this way. I keep reading about the importance of not breaking the hair but it sounds like so long as I am only positioning the stone and my thumb to take just the longest hairs there isn't much danger of my doing much damage.

It is soooo satisfying. I guess we have evolved to take comfort and pleasure from grooming our chums. DDog sometimes enjoys it too, but he prefers it when peanut butter is also involved.

I grasp a clump at a time but only the longest come out. If you try to pull short ones then the skin comes with it so I guess they’ll only come out when ready. I use very little grip when I do it and plenty come out. I’ve only just started doing it so I’m sure it’s not perfect but it is very satisfying.

My Leonberger stinks when his coat starts to shed. Once he’s blown it, he smells lovely again. Breath no so much tho…😂