My dog’s breath is so bad

[Anonymous]

What can I do about it?

He’s a 3yo golden and his breath is so foul. Smells almost fishy. I can’t give him those dental treats because he has allergies and has to be on a special diet. Is this just normal for dogs (this is my first), or is there something I should be doing?

[Anonymous]

Clean out his ears. Sometimes dirty ears causes bad breath.

[Anonymous]

Not to be a jerk and state the obvious, but do you ever brush his teeth? If it still doesn’t improve after that, I would suggest a bet visit to rule put infection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not to be a jerk and state the obvious, but do you ever brush his teeth? If it still doesn’t improve after that, I would suggest a bet visit to rule put infection.

That was my first thought.

[Anonymous]

Tooth decay can cause this.

[Anonymous]

So I'm thinking it's his food, but it's a two-fold process of fixing the immediate problem while fixing the diet.

You can get someone to brush and scale his teeth. You do not need to go to a vet and have him put to sleep for this. I do this with my dog every three months (although I could do six, but I started with three to fix it, and I like the person so much that I haven't gone to "maintenance mode.")

Second, honestly it's the food. What are you feeding your dog? If any kind of kibble, consider supplementing with DinoVite.

However; my dog truly benefited from switching to a raw meat/veggie diet. The teeth cleaner recommended this. we use Darwin's and it gets shipped to the house. Darwinspet.com.

I resisted at first because I didn't like the idea of handling raw food....totally unfounded; you don't need to touch the food, the way they package it. She eats beef, lamb, duck, chicken, and turkey. All with some veggies (bc wolves actually do eat some vegetables/grasses; that's a longer story)

The breath smell, tarter and inflamed gums stopped. She had an itch and it stopped. Her coat became beautiful. And she stopped being uptight/nervous. Finally, her poop was as it should be--hard, so it naturally expresses the anal gland (an organ that dogs have that we don't have). So you never have to take her to the vet to get that expressed. After you see a healthy poop, it's hard to watch poor dogs squirt out some soft gooey thing. You instinctively know it's wrong and they are not eating well.

[Anonymous]

Think about how bad your breath would be if you hadn't brushed your teeth for 3 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So I'm thinking it's his food, but it's a two-fold process of fixing the immediate problem while fixing the diet.

You can get someone to brush and scale his teeth. You do not need to go to a vet and have him put to sleep for this. I do this with my dog every three months (although I could do six, but I started with three to fix it, and I like the person so much that I haven't gone to "maintenance mode.")

Second, honestly it's the food. What are you feeding your dog? If any kind of kibble, consider supplementing with DinoVite.

However; my dog truly benefited from switching to a raw meat/veggie diet. The teeth cleaner recommended this. we use Darwin's and it gets shipped to the house. Darwinspet.com.

I resisted at first because I didn't like the idea of handling raw food....totally unfounded; you don't need to touch the food, the way they package it. She eats beef, lamb, duck, chicken, and turkey. All with some veggies (bc wolves actually do eat some vegetables/grasses; that's a longer story)

The breath smell, tarter and inflamed gums stopped. She had an itch and it stopped. Her coat became beautiful. And she stopped being uptight/nervous. Finally, her poop was as it should be--hard, so it naturally expresses the anal gland (an organ that dogs have that we don't have). So you never have to take her to the vet to get that expressed. After you see a healthy poop, it's hard to watch poor dogs squirt out some soft gooey thing. You instinctively know it's wrong and they are not eating well.

OP here- wow, it sounds like you’re describing my dog! If I let him eat regular dog food and treats or if anyone slips him table food, he gets sooo itchy and gets ear infections. So the vet has him on a very strict diet of prescription dog food. So expensive and sad for him. His anal glands stink so bad all of the time, and he’s a nervous/anxious mess. Although, his poops seem normal. Maybe I should talk to the vet about the raw diet that you explained. Can’t be that much more than this stupid prescription food he’s on!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Think about how bad your breath would be if you hadn't brushed your teeth for 3 years.

Dogs are not people. Do you think dogs in the wild brush their teeth?

Give your dog a cooked soup bone to gnaw on. In one afternoon, their teeth will be clean.

[Anonymous]

My dog had really bad breath from an abscess by a tooth. She had a dental at the vet and the tooth needed to be pulled. Go to the vet for a proper dental. The enamel on dog teeth is not the same as ours. It's very delicate.

Cleaning the ears is good advice! We have a golden retriever and need to regularly clean her ears with a solution from the vet. Ears need to be dried well too to prevent infection.

[Anonymous]

Do you brush his teeth? It's pretty standard practice now, for you to do, twice a week.

[Anonymous]

Is his bloodwork normal? Bad breath can also be a symptom of kidney problems.

[Anonymous]

Fishy breath can mean his anal glands need to be expressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fishy breath can mean his anal glands need to be expressed.

I came here to say the same thing. I did not know raw food would give harder poops which might naturally express anal glands. I might try that with my dog. my dog’s breath is also starting to get bad and I stopped going to the vet to get his anal glands expressed due to COVID-19. I was actually planning to google how to do it myself from home with gloves

[Anonymous]

I also suspect it’s an anal gland smell. My dog’s breath has always smelled like anal glands. Even the vet recoiled when they smelled it. His anal glands are fine and I never see him lick back there. The vet was not concerned — guess it’s his natural scent.