Dear Dr. Fox: I have a 4-year-old purebred male Basset hound. I feed him Purina One dry food. Twice a week, I mix it with Alpo wet food.

The problem is that his fur stinks terribly. It would be an improvement if it were a doggie smell or "an open bag of chips" smell -- the hallmark smell of a Basset. But this smell he has will send people running out of a room.

We wash him once a month with an oatmeal shampoo and rinse him well. Two days later, he smells like a dog; one week later, the smell is an atrocious, pungent odor.

Someone told me it could be his anal glands, but the smell is nowhere back there -- it's all over, and the vet cin't tell me why. Any suggestions?

-- T.M., Middletown, N.J.

Dear T.M.: You should consider transitioning your dog to a homemade diet or try other brands of canned and dry dog foods (listed on my Web site) that contain whole-food ingredients, ideally organically certified. There are even frozen-raw and freeze-dried pet foods with human-grade quality ingredients that can make a world of difference to a dog's (or cat's) vitality, health and odor. I would also give your dog raw organic yoghurt and probiotic capsules to help improve the health of his digestive tract flora/bacterial population.

The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns. Visit Dr. Fox's Web site at www.twobitdog.com/DrFox.