My husband and I have taken in a neighbors dog. The neighbor lives across the street. The owners pitbull does not like the toy dog and so they had to give her up.

The dog SMELLS terrible I have bathed her 4x so far and still can't get the smell out. Any advice on a shampoo that you have found works well.

Also since she knows where her old home was it is heck trying to keep her from running. She shucks her collar instantly so I went to a harness that goes around her legs and clasps in the back. I have it very secure and yet she gets out of that too. She is a tiny thing is there any type of harness or collar I can get that is escape proof?

The smell might take a while to go.
What breed is it? Is it a breed that can have the fur clipped off?

Sometimes when dogs are living in bad conditions their coat can actually draw in smells from urine or feces or even just general doggy smell and it's near impossible to get out.

Another thing that can make a dog smell is bad diet and bad teeth.
You will have to get a vet to look at the dogs teeth properly but diet can be changed now to a high quality kibble.

As for the harness, I am quite partial to martingale collars.
They are a collar that is soft at the front, but has a chain at the back. It can be loose when the dog is relaxed but as soon as the dog tries to run off it tightens.
Very much like a coke chain but a lot gentler.

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Originally Posted by shazamataz

As for the harness, I am quite partial to martingale collars.
They are a collar that is soft at the front, but has a chain at the back. It can be loose when the dog is relaxed but as soon as the dog tries to run off it tightens.
Very much like a coke chain but a lot gentler.

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They also make them with the same type of webbing the main collar is made of where the chain goes. It doesn't let up quite as fast as the chain type but isn't as heavy either if weight is a problem.

I have a doberman puppy and they are notorious for slipping their collars. We got one with the chain and, more recently, one with the webbing. Both work very well. She hasn't slipped out of either one. The webbing one though does look more like a regular collar.

I've never liked using any sort of choke as a collar to be used out side, but the martingale collars that Shaz and Cat described, the ones with out the chain, do work great for escape artists. Have you considered a citronella collar?

You could always try building her a run, I'm assuming she is small so it shouldn't cost very much to build a little pen with a roof.

Try bathing her with lemon juice. Just enough to make the water smell like lemons. All you have to do is pour it over her and work it into her fur. The acid in the juice may help kill off any odor causing bacteria.

You could also try adding some vinegar to the water with the lemon juice. Both will help clean her, without stripping away the oils on her skin. I'm not sure how well vinegar works on dog odors, but it does wonders for cat odors.