Why do dogs smell so stinkin' bad? One of our dogs, not sure which, has gas bad enough to initiate any one's gag reflex. Honestly, worse than rotten milk mixed with garbage that's sat in the sweltering heat, sitting on top of a dead, maggot-ridden rat. There is now a quite flammable, putrid cloud hanging over the living room. Whatever crawled up and died in their anal fissures needs to find it's way out, and fast!