Content
- Skin disease that causes a bad smell in the Shar pei dog
- Demodicosis
- Allergies
- Bad smell due to lack of hygiene
- Sharpei skin care to avoid bad smell
The shar pei is one of the oldest and most curious dog breeds in the world. With a characteristic appearance thanks to their multiple wrinkles, these dogs from China have been used as work and companion animals. With the arrival of communism, they almost disappeared as they were considered "an object of luxury".
Unfortunately, some specimens of this breed give off an unpleasant odor and many of their owners ask why they notice the Shar pei with strong smell. If you want your pet to draw attention only for its blue tongue and wonderful wrinkles and not for the bad smell, continue reading this article by PeritoAnimal and discover the causes and solutions for this problem.
Skin disease that causes a bad smell in the Shar pei dog
The Shar pei's fur has some characteristics that make it prone to suffer certain diseases that may be making the dog smell bad.
In addition to counting on wrinkles that create creases in the skin, making cleaning and aeration difficult, these animals are more prone to suffer from demodicosis than other breeds, a skin disease produced by a mite and allergies. Learn more at the following points:
Demodicosis
Demodicosis is a skin disease produced by a microscopic mite called demodex that lodges in the dog's skin when it enters the hair follicles. demodex it can affect individuals of all ages and conditions, but it is more common in dogs and in animals with low defenses caused by some other disease or by treatment with steroids (typical of allergies), for example.
Although these mites are not the main culprits of shar pei odor, they change the skin and make the dog more vulnerable to other diseases that cause bad smells such as seborrhea, pyoderma or infection by Malassezia.
Allergies
Shar pei also have a high genetic predisposition to suffer from allergies, especially allergy to environmental elements, also known as atopy, such as mites, pollen, etc.
As in the previous case, allergies themselves are not responsible for the bad odor, but change the skin, causing it to lose its protective barrier function against other diseases that cause the unpleasant smell.
As mentioned before, certain diseases cause a bad smell in the dog, such as infection with Malassezia - a rash that affects the skin, seborrhea (overproduction of the sebaceous glands) or pyoderma, a bacterial infection of the dermis. These diseases that require veterinary diagnosis and treatment can affect any dog, but are much more common in dogs with allergies or demodicosis, as is the case with Shar pei.
Bad smell due to lack of hygiene
We must not forget that poor hygiene is one of the main causes that a dog, of any breed, smells bad.
There is a popular belief that you should never or almost never wash your dog, especially Shar pei because bathing removes the protective cover they have on their skin. While it is true that this cover exists and provides benefits, it is also true that there are frequent shampoos for dogs that respect the skin, which can be used almost daily without damaging the dermis.
In any case, in general, wash your Shar pei once a month should be more than enough. However, this doesn't mean that when your dog gets dirty with dirt in the garden, for example, you have to wait a month to bathe him again (provided you use a proper shampoo). These shampoos are classified as dermoprotectors and can be purchased at veterinary clinics or specialty stores.
Sharpei skin care to avoid bad smell
As it is an animal with sensitive skin, we recommend that you offer your dog a specific food for Shar Pei, or food for dogs with sensitive skin or allergies. We also recommend that you increase your diet with Omega 3 fatty acids. Providing an inadequate diet can end up reflecting on the condition of the dog's dermis and, therefore, cause conditions that explain why your dog smells bad.
On the other hand, using a product that prevents mites from colonizing the dog's skin such as moxidectin (available in pipette format) can be a big help in preventing the Shar Pei from smelling bad and developing any of the above pathologies. Also, there are specific shampoos for dogs with allergies, as well as others able to prevent or control diseases that cause bad odor such as infection by Malassezia, pyoderma or seborrhea.
Some urban legends claim that greasing Shar Pei puppies' wrinkles with oils and various homemade products are good practices to keep their skin healthy, but they are not effective and can contribute to the bad smell of puppies when not used correctly. Therefore, we recommend that you apply the right amount of natural oils, as excess can accumulate between the folds and produce an unpleasant odor due to lack of ventilation. However, these treatments should never replace the veterinary treatment, they must only serve as a complement and always be approved by the specialist.
