Hi Rene,

 

First off, offensive odors are not common to Lhasas!  So far Rotweilers are the only breed I have personally found (there may be more) that seem to me to have a "body odor." I have raised and shown Lhasas in the past as well as Pekingese, so I am familiar with both breeds. If the odor you speak of smells really fishy, like you just opened a can of sardines, then I can tell you what it is.

 

Dogs have anal glands, which when working correctly, are expressed when they do their business.  When nature's call doesn't take care of this itself, then these anal glands need to be manually expressed or the oily substance in the glands build up. To me, this seems to affect smaller breeds more often. It's an easy process for a dog owner to do, (takes only a few seconds and one paper towel), but some owners don't want to do this themselves. Vets charge about $8 for this service!  From your post, it seems that this little Lhasa is having this kind of problem. Either one occasional "expression" isn't doing enough, or in some cases, the glands just don't work properly, and they can be removed surgically in extreme cases.  If you think this sounds like Gypsy's problem, have your sister--or you (LOL) try this.  Secure the little dog with your left hand just across the chest, and with your right hand, holding a paper towel, place it across the little circular target. Position your thumb and knuckle around it firmly.  Tighten your grip a bit, then with a downward motion, rotating your wrist up as you squeeze, will express the glands. You should see a small spot on the paper towel that looks like slightly used motor oil.  It's that easy, takes 3 seconds. The proper motion is "all in the wrist."

 

Hope this helps, because when these glands are allowed to become impacted it can not only be painful for the lil doggie, but if not dealt with they can literally explode and become life threatening, and you will have emergency surgery to deal with.  I would suggest she do this about once or twice a week on a regular basis to see if this eliminates the problem. If you have any problems understanding this, send your phone number to John, to send to me, and I'll give you a call, and try to explain it better.

 

Good luck!

 

Kay