[Henry]

That's so great that everything is working out. How about some pictures of your nicely bathed doodle.
_________________
Susan, Andrew & Henry

[deepnite10]

i was a little concerned about Toby s smell as well..i was told that it kennel smell..a smell picked up from his siblings and kennel enviorment..

after the 3 bath the smell was gone..in addition i use what i call a gentle
foofoo shampoo with a coconut scent..additionally i have coco. wipe s that i use on him after a bad day at the dog park..

those interested in Costco dog food..if u read the ingredients, it s not bad..NO GREAT but, IMO better than most stuff u can pick up at Walmart..
it s made by Diamond pet foods..they along with quite a few other pet food companies were bash d during the recall of contamitated dog foods..

Google Diamond dog food and read up on whats on Costco s shelves is all i can say..since the recall..they have dictated to Diamond what go s into their dog foods..

[sweetp]

I have looked up info on costco's food, ingredients, quality, etc. I noticed a lot of people seem to like it.
I also did some diggin on the royal canin/medi-cal diet that the vet wholeheartedly recommended, and it didn't seem all that different (without going into all the ingredient details). I have to say I am thoroughly confused! I wanted to get him on canidae, but don't know if it's better to stick with vets recommendation or go out on our own!

Would love to post some pics of our beautiful Bosco, but can't figure out how! Is there a trick to it?
Oh, and I am relieved about the smell. He still smells a wee bit doggy when he gets wet (rainy grass today), but much better than it was. We'll give him another bath in a week or two (don't want to overdo it) and hopefully that'll be it. I've been using a natural oatmeal shampoo that smells delicious.
"kennel smell" makes sense..figured it might be something like that.

[my Boo]

Congrats on your new puppy! Bosco sounds like a real sweetheart!

Here's some handy posts about putting pictures on the forum:

http://labradoodle-dogs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7489
http://labradoodle-dogs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7490

Is the smell like a "wet dog" smell? Our dog Boo, also an Australian labradoodle, had a strong "wet dog" smell when we gave him his first bath. We found that switching to a different shampoo/conditioner helped decrease the smell a lot. But he still has the smell to a lesser degree (only noticeable when wet) and he's almost a year old.

I'm no expert, but I kinda think that Boo's smell comes from the lab side of him. My friends' labs always had a strong wet dog smell to them, but my previous dogs- poodle and Portuguese Water Dog (ancestor of the poodle), never had the wet dog smell. I've also heard that labs have a lot of oils in their coat (to keep them warm while retrieving in water), and that the oils are the source of the wet dog smell. Not sure if this is true though. I have noticed that Boo's smell gets stronger the longer he goes without a bath.

You might want to try switching shampoos. We used to use an oatmeal shampoo on Boo, but when we switched to a non-oatmeal one the smell got better. We currently use Kennel Management Whitening Shampoo and KM Coat Conditioner, its what our breeder uses. (Its kinda hard to find though- we had to order it in gallon size online. Not sure what the fragrance is, but it smells fruity, like peaches or something.)

[Linda]

Dog food is confusing. I still think Costco is a good food but because it is inexpensive some do not think it is that good. My problem with Diamond was the aflotoxin recall they had before the recent dog food scare. The corn shipment they received was bad and the proper inspections were not done by Costco and many dogs died from the mold in the food. I would imagine they are more vigilant in their inspections now, but the food can only be as good as the quality of the ingredients. The whole mess really angered me.
I would say your vet is recommending top shelf food (Royal Canin), let's say an "A". I would say Canidae might not be AS good, but it is still a great food, let's say and "A-". If you plan to supplement with high quality people food, leftover meats, maybe tuna fish, etc, liver as treats, then you will be just fine with Canidae. If you are feeding JUST kibble, I would go with the best I could afford.

[sweetp]

Here is the new and improved Bosco! All clean and relaxing in his kennel and puppy bed...

[blueteal]

Ahhhhhhhhhh Bosco
what a little doll baby..............
_________________
Sue & Denver
http://blueteal.net/denver.htm
A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.
- Josh Billings

[sweetp]

Thank you all so much for your help! Got the photos up with no problems.

I have new shampoo for Bosco...had used "essentials luminescence" for golden/brown coats but found that "Bio-groom" natural oatmeal anti-itch shampoo smells much better (and it doesn't smell like oatmeal!).

[windex]

Formore info on the Costco Kirkland food:
http://www.lionhounds.org/id16.html
It is the same food as the Diamond Naturals brand puppy food. And ever since the whole dog food toxin scare the company does over the top testing and I, for one, think that his food is probably safer than ours now.
Bodzin is on it and I swear his coat is looking great since switching.... also LESS POOP! It ranks high on the ratings every time and I switched from a more expensive, more hard to find, premium food.
I know of a few breeders that use it.

[Labracadabra]

Bosco is adorable!
_________________
--Jody and Louie
Every puppy should have a boy. ~Erma Bombeck

[Lucky Me]

What a little beauty Bosco is!!!
He has all the signs that he is going to be a real beauty as an adult too!! What a NICE coat he has!
_________________
Judi,Tuesday& Marley(and little Reba too!)
"Happiness is a warm puppy with wet kisses"

[lindamarie]

Bogie had an odor too.......I think I even posted stinky puppy somewhere when he was first home.....it does go away...THANK GOD!!
But the paws will always smell like Frito's.........hahahaha!
_________________
Linda & Bogart
Dogs=Unconditional love
"We have it all! Just like Bogie & Bacall!"

[sweetp]

Well thank you!..and Bosco thanks all for the lovely compliments!

We're loving his coat..deep chocolate, my favorite! He's so soft as well. He's lightening up a bit already. His momma is lavender, so I was hoping his coat might change a bit that way, but he seems to show more reddish brown in sunlight...ah well, we love him just how he is!

[sweetp]

Have an update on our smelly puppy!

Thank you all for the tips on checking ears. We did have the vet check them when we first took him in, and she swabbed and found nothing of concern.
Since then, we've taken him in again for his shots, and ended up with another vet. We were persistent with getting the ear thing checked, as we'd still been noticing a smell (most strongly when he shook his head, flapping his ears around). This vet checked and confirmed that there was definately a bit of something growing in there. We got some cleanser and an antibiotic cream, which we've been using 2x a day for the past week.
It turned out that the problem was in fact his ears, even though the first vet cleared him.
Happy to report Bosco is a smelly puppy no more!! He is now a sweet smelling doodle...with maybe just a little bit of 'frito' feet!

[annieG]

Good on you for being persistent....no all vets are created equal. Nice to hear he smells good. As far as the Frito feet....something we just learn to live with. Our cat loves Tanner's feet and always tries to lick them
_________________
AnnieG & Tanner

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. ~Roger Caras