Doggie breath

[Gripenfelter]

Over the last 2 weeks my puppy's breath has gotten really bad.

I haven't changed his diet at all but he is 4 1/2 months old and teething again.

I've given him a rawhide bone, he eats dry dog food, only drinks water, eats crunchy dog biscuits.

Any tips?

[heidiho]

Do u ever brush his teeth??

[kandy]

Could your pup be eating anything weird outside? I know that some dogs just have really bad breath, while others aren't so bad. I also know that there could be a medical reason, or he could have teeth problems. I would have a vet look just to make sure he's fine, but for a brief respite, try breath buster dog biscuits.

[Gripenfelter]

I don't brush his teeth. Should I be brushing them?

Yes he eats grass in the backyard sometimes but his breath smells like stale milk.

He's still the same hyperactive dog. No change in his behaviour. His stool is a little green from the grass.

[Prin]

You should be brushing his teeth if only to desensitize him to it so when you have to do it when he is older, it won't be such a fuss.

Diet is probably the only other thing, besides teeth problems. Maybe he just digests the grass funny and exhales some component of it. Since he is teething, do you check often to see if there are any inflammed gums or infected teeth?

[Gripenfelter]

His gums look pink but not red.

He bleeds on his toys once in a while since he started teething.

How often should I brush his teeth?

Should I use doggie toothpaste or make a paste out of baking soda and water?

[Princesss04]

I would start brushing his teeth now so when you have to start brushing them he will be use to it. OH and by the way raw hide bones are not good for your puppy or dog for that matter.

[Prin]

I use doggy toothpaste because they love the taste of it. It's also enzymatic, so it's more than just brushing with friction.

[kandy]

Princess04- Good Catch on the rawhides that part didn't stick for me I guess. I never feed my dogs rawhides - they swell up and don't digest easily (some people say they don't digest at all).

I've never brushed my dogs teeth, maybe I need to try that. I've always given different shaped bones, etc. that advertise they clean the teeth.

Gripenfelter - Let me know if you try brushing the teeth and how hard it was to get your dog used to it - also, if you could have someone videotaping or taking pictures that first time - I would love to see the pix!

[claudia666]

My puppy has bad breat too. I got some stuff from the pet store called Burgham Pro plus breath check. You add a teaspoon of it to your dog's water everytime you refill his bowl. It refreshes your dog's breath.

[Gripenfelter]

Well I bought some beef flavoured toothpaste and some charcoal mint biscuits.

The biscuits didn't do much. I would probably need to feed him half a dozen to see any improvement.

My pup has pretty good head control so he lets me hold his muzzle closed while I pull up the lip with one hand and brush his teeth.

He loved it. Kept trying to lick the toothpaste off the brush.

Sorry no pics last night. I'll take pics on the weekend.

[Trinitie]

Please exercise caution when brushing your pup's teeth, as he's teething and his gums are VERY tender. Use very light pressure, almost to the point where you're not doing much brushing at all. Once his adult teeth come in, you'll be able to do more brushing, and be more effective at it.

If you apply too much pressure, his teeth may come in uneven and could cause him problems when he's older. You may also want to give him bones to chew (not cooked - but rather smoked or raw). As long as you don't have any issues over who's top dog in your house, then there should be no problems giving him a bone. You should be able to take it away at ANY time without him being upset. The more he chews bones, the less likely he is to have teeth problems later.

[Trinitie]

Another note:
His breath is most likely bad because he's swallowing blood when his gums bleed. No "day old" blood smells good!

[Princesss04]

The whole idea of brushing puppies teeth is to start to train them to get use to it when they are adults and it needs to be done. But as Trintie said brush easy becuase they do have tender teeth and gums right now. Good luck and we would love to see pictures!

[Gripenfelter]

Thanx for the advice. I spent about 2 mins in total brushing his teeth. 1 1/2 minutes of that was getting his head into the proper position.

I'm not keen on giving him beef bones because of the stink. I saw some big ones at Petcetera last night and took a whiff. Made me want to hurl.

And yes I think its blood we're smelling.

What do you guys think of DINO BONE? It was in Safeway and had a tag on it saying "Specially made for Safeway". Didn't smell like a real bone but looked like a huge cow thigh bone.

[mona_b]

If you are not keen on Beef Bones,then what about DentaBones.They are made from Pedigree and have different sizes.I give my dog this and he loves it.So did my previous one.

[Prin]

I don't know if dentabones would be too hard for a teether? I guess they're not harder than normal bones so maybe..

[Heinz57]

Dentabones: Your dog is a tad larger than mine and close in age Gripenfelter. Mine has dentabones eaten in minutes. No more dentabones here until we go for a check up and see if they're ok to EAT lol. If he still has puppy teeth, he may fare a little better. I give rawhides under supervision so he doesn't eat the pieces, just chomps and naws.

[Trinitie]

Originally Posted by Gripenfelter

What do you guys think of DINO BONE? It was in Safeway and had a tag on it saying "Specially made for Safeway". Didn't smell like a real bone but looked like a huge cow thigh bone.

That's the trick. It doesn't smell like a good old bone to you, so dogs loose interest in them rather quickly. We may not like the smell of the things our dogs eat, but if it doesn't smell good to them, it may not fly in their eyes.

I mean, you could always buy one and see how your dog likes them.

[Gripenfelter]

I give him Dentastix about once a week.

He finishes them in under 5 mins. My breeder said it was ok to give to him once he got his adult teeth.

As for the Dino bone...I'll try it and let you guys know.

[Copper'sMom]

Well, I must be sick because I love puppy breath!! It's just so.....puppylike! Zoe still has puppy breath .

Just for the record, I don't like anyone else's breath!!!