Hi everybody, can anyone advise please. I have a four and a half year old Rotti, who up until now has had sweet breath and clean teeth. I do rub them with a dry face cloth (he HATES the taste of doggie toothpaste) and I can scrape them with my nail.
However, over the past few days I have detected that certain wiff of doggy breath.
He is on IAMS because it seems to have stopped his licking habit, so I am reluctant to change his diet. I don't allow bones but chewies worry me because they only last a short time and if eaten in large lumps could either cause a serious problem or an excess of gas!!!
We do have a lot of close up conversations and I don't want to upset his feelings.
Jan

Hi Jan

Some agree with bones, some dont, but in my opinion you just cant beat a huge meaty bone from your butchers for him to have a knaw at. One that wont splinter, given raw, never cooked, willl give him hours of enjoyment and give his teeth a lovely shine.

You could also ask the vet to check him out to make sure he's got no rotten teeth, or nothing embedded.

Hope this helps
Chloe

Thanks Chloe,
I know what you are saying about the bones, but I have a pooch who doesn't like raw meat! Neither did the one before him. He carries it off and licks it, then brings it back to me with an expression that says "Can you cook this please?" After a couple of days they are much more smelly than the original problem.
Jan

Hi Jan,
I recently read that an "old wives tale" with people had been found to be true after all - that many people with bad halitosis also have worms . The inference was made that perhaps bad "dog-breath" can also be due to this? Is he due a worming? :)

Thanks for that, he is certainly coming up to that time. The vet will love that, last time she had to check his anal glands, something he seemed to take quite personally. He is very happy to let me do whatever, but this woman who sticks needles in him and other unmentionable things, is not on his list of favourite humans!

Now there's another possibility for his bad breath - anal glands
Or maybe something rotting is stuck in his teeth? It can also be an indication of illnesses like kidney diseases and diabetes.
Lara x

If your rotty has no tartar on his teeth then check that he has no eczema in the folds of his lips. This can be very smelly, my mothers cocker had it. It would be advisable to see your vet.

Karen