Ok, I’m not talking about the wet dog smell during rainy days or the pungent aroma that occurs when they decide to just let it go.
What I am talking about is their every day musk –
the smell that they naturally exude when strutting around the house, playing in the great outdoors, or on a day out and about town.
Shiba Inu Sephy has a sexy, spicy musk about him. Maybe sexy curry, with special ingredient herbs, that I can’t really identify.
Siberian Husky Shania smells like fresh air and sunshine, on a crisp winter morning.
Contrary to common belief I think dogs smell pretty good.
Their natural musk, I think, has a very calming, feel-good. effect on people. So perhaps there is a future in dog-based perfumes – what do you think?
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my adorable Toy Poodle smells like Bacon and sunshine…he has this smokey bacon smell and i love it!
his ears smell like moldy towels…
they are good for us
they are precious angels on earth
Bacon and sunshine sounds wonderful!
So very true. They would look awesome with wings.
I found shibashake while looking for someone to confirm that dogs exude a strong and pleasant odour when petted. My whole family knows this, but it does not seem to be generally recognised. Dogs also give off a strong awful smell when scared. Can anyone tell me about mood related smells? My Dad always said he’d much prefer the smell of puppy’s paw as a perfume than the flowery fragrances sold to women. See http://www.katiepuckriksmells.com/2010/02/viewer-mail-i-want-to-smell-like-my.html where Mike agrees. My border collie comes happily into the vet’s rooms, browses round with her nose in the waiting room and shop, but gets very distressed when I take her to the rooms. I don’t think this is memory related, but smell related. What does your vet think of this?
Hello Dave,
You bring up a really interesting topic. This Wikipedia article on natural dog odors explain some of the sources of what you describe -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_odor
And in the section on anal glands -
In terms of the vet, my Siberian does not even want to enter the door to the office. My Shiba Inu will go in, but as soon as he sees the vet, he wants to leave right away. I think it has to do with both visual and scent cues and the association of those cues with negative experiences. I.e., the vet and/or the smell of the vet’s office reminds them of pain.
It is probably similar to when I hear certain songs and they remind me of high school exams, or high school parties.
why dose my dog smell good like coffe ,baby lotion, pineapple. ? its
weird
Yay! Another curry dog!
I wonder if dogs like the way *we* smell. Maybe they are thinking – ok I get good food, but boy that smell is awful – lol.
Lol. I am soooo happy I find this blog because I thought I was going crazy. I was sitting here, got a whiff of my goldendoodle’s “musk” and thought, “Is it weird I kind of like that smell?” I think he smells a bit like curry and dirt, but good dirt.
Hahaha – what a lovely story zekenessbuddy08! Yeah I love going to sleep next to my Siberian as well. I really love her fresh outdoor smell. She snores tho – very loudly – so I usually wake up after a bit
Brownie sounds like a really awesome dog. You are lucky to have so many dogs in your family. I am hoping to get a few more myself
I thought I was the only one who loved the way my dog smells. We have four actually. They each have a different smell, a different musk. We all have our own dogs. Joey is my mom’s dog, Penny is my dad’s dog and Zoey is Nicha’s dog and Brownie is my dog. I love the Brownie smells. Every morning when I wake up to take him out I lean to the foot of my bed and bury my face in his fur. It’s amazing. It’s so comforting too. Whenever I lay next to him and bury my face in his fur and cuddle with him, I get really tired and feel like taking a nap.
Yeah – I like my dogs’ natural smell as well. Sometimes I shampoo my Shiba Inu with this green tea dog shampoo – and he smells like green tea afterwards – lol. I do like that smell – it is understated, but good. Haven’t done that in a while tho.
My dog smells like stale bacon and fresh air mixed. Weird combination, I know, but that’s the only way I can put it into words.
My grandma perposefully masks her dog’s natural smell and covers it with this flowery stuff that you can smell for days just around the house. I feel bad for her, having to smell like that perfume crap. I swear she doesn’t even want a dog, she just wants a little furry human she can keep forever. When the stuff starts to wear off she’ll say “I had to give Kaleah a bath, she was starting to stink.”
they are so cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :] ;] =]
[Jared] lol – I wish my guy smells like the great outdoors. I didn’t notice a change in smell for my Shiba after he got neutered, although that is an interesting notion
Since dogs don’t sweat, they may have a leg up on humans when it comes to natural musk. On the other hand, they also like rolling in skunk …
[5 huskies] So awesome of you to get involved in Husky rescue. They really are an amazing breed. I just took my Husky girl to the vet a few days ago and she was such a trooper. The people there really love her and after getting her shots she gave the doctor many kisses. My Shiba is a totally different story …. I also really like the husky smell. Their undercoat is a lot less dense than the Shiba undercoat, so they smell a lot more airy, and outdoorsy to me. My girl also really likes spending time outside whereas my Shiba boy is an inside kind of dog.
Some dogs smell great…some not so much. I rescued an 8 year husky (Wolfie) 5 years ago..she had a wonderful sweet smell, like none before. Sadly I lost her to cancer after 2 years, she was a wonderful big red and white beauty with the bluest eyes ever. In Sept. I heard of another big red and white with blue eyes that was in desperate need of rescue. I took her in and I’m convinced she (Rusty) is related to Wolfie….not only do they look alike, but they SMELL alike, with that same wonderful sweet smell. She, too, is a real love, just like Wolfie.
My wife often says that our Shiba (Mossimo) musk smells good. He’s a boy, so maybe there is something to it with females. We just got him neutered (he turns 5 months on Sunday) so it’ll be interesting to see if his smell changes.
I think he smells like the outdoors. I often smell similar after a walk in the park. Not sweaty, but like the great out doors. (smells self).
[kman] lol – popcorn dogs. That sounds yummy. That would really spoil my diet plan though
[Linda] Hey Linda. How are things going with Mochi? As for the ingredients, this is my first pass: take the undercoat from when your dog blows his/her coat or just loose fur around the house, add water, put in blender, and go for puree
[Roselie] Wow that is interesting. I didn’t know that they had perfume for dogs. I would do some research on the ingredients first before putting it on. Sometimes these manufacturers do not put much thought into the safety of their products because there are very few laws controlling dog products.
[Nicole] That is a very good point. I always wonder if other people would like the smell of my dogs as much as I do
– probably not. It would be fun to do a blind “smell test” of the various breeds and see if there is actually a particular breed that smells better than the others.
I have friends who have dogs and have never been particularly fond of their smell, I would touch them as little as possible and then do a quick sniff of my hand after petting them to see if the smell had rubbed off on me. And then came Zoe, my angel, a sweet little girl that stole my heart and I have to admit I am drawn to her smell much like I was to the smell of my children when they were born. When we lay on the couch and cuddle I prefer her to be curled up under my chin so I can bury my face in her fluffy cream fur.
I recently received a Fruits of Passion basket for my puppy which included a sample of their eau de toilette and a fragranced mist, both specially for dogs. Do you think i would be going against nature if i used them on my dog once he gets older?
Ohhh that’s an awesome idea!
It’ll be interesting to come up with the ingredients.
sure does !… i think our flatcoats thru ages smells/elled like popcorn =) but when you mention it, and the dog lies in the couch sleeping now.. it does have this “special ingredient herb, that I can’t really identify” and a very camling effect yes…