bad breath

Okay, I know that dogs don't necessarily have the best breath going... but my soon to be 7 month old terrier mix puppy (Lola) has got the nastiest dog breath ever....ewwwww I've just never had a puppy have such bad breath.

I'm thinking it might be the food she is currently eating. I have been planning on getting her the innova dog food.. but I was out sick for a couple of weeks without pay and to be honest money is a tad bit tight right now... so I was gonna let her finish up this last big bag of purina puppy chow we have. I've had other dogs over the years on the same puppy chow because I didn't know any better and none of them had bad breath like she's got. It literally gags me.

She's been to the vet recently for her last set of puppy shots and got a clean bill of health... and naturally I had a list of questions for the vet and forgot to ask him about the bad breath.

This is gonna sound soooooo discusting... but I am wondering if this has any factor in her bad breath. Okay, dont' read any further if you get grossed out easy, cuz this really is gross.

She goes nuts for dirty maxi pads, tampons, feminine wash pads dirty with blood. She shreds them all over the house! Yes I have put the trash barrels out of reach, or so I thought. But sometimes my daughter moves the bathroom trash barrel off her sink and forgets to pull it back up and we have the joy of cleaning this shredded mess up everywhere. We've tried keeping the bathroom door closed... and then one of us will go use the bathroom and walk out forgetting to close the door. I guess we just need to do a better job of keeping the dirty feminine products out of her reach.

I had a co worker coming to my house yesterday to pick me up for work and just before she got here.... out of the corner of my eye I see Lola run toward the living room with something hanging out of her mouth. I ran after her and there she stood ... busted red handed with a dirty always with wings hanging from her mouth!!! I would have died if my co worker saw that.

I wonder if that may be contributing to her bad breath... i never noticed her breath being like this until she started shredding those things. I guess I'll try real hard to keep her from them and see if that doesn't help with the breath problem. I'm sorry if I grossed anyone out. I'm just puzzled at how a little dog can have such horrendous breath when her teeth and gums are in excellent shape. She doesn't even have any tarter build up. Her teeth are bright white and shiny clean.

A couple of tips for you. Yes, it could be her dog food. Every dog's system is a little different and it could be causing the problem. Another thing you can do to help with the bad breath is to brush her teeth after she eats. This will ensure that any plaque on her teeth (especially her back teeth) will be removed.

I'm thinking it's the tampons and pads. Don't worry, it's not just yours, mine would do it too if they could. Just try to put those things in a safe place where the dog can't access them. Those things stink, so I'm not surprised a dog eating them would have a bad breath.

My dogs get their bad breath from eating cat poop outside, I've found that the old mother hubbard treats called 'give me a kiss' help some. They're parsley/mint flavored. I just give them one when their breath is getting bad.

One of my Goldens had a piece of a stick wedged in his mouth...it rotted and pew !!! Chippy's breath is sweet ...

I'm sure you're right about the food. Also letting her gnaw on some knuckle bones (yes the raw ones) will help clean her teeth and keep her busy.

Maybe keep the bathroom door closed? Or get garbage cans with lids?

Oh and get things checked out with your vet. I think there is something that could cause it but I can't think of what right now.

yes I would take her to the vet, a puppys breath shouldnt smell, something is causeing and she may need her teeth checked to make sure she doesnt have an infection

she just went to the vet, and he said she was in fantastic condition and he looked in her mouth. Her teeth are in perfect condition. I just completely forgot to ask him about the bad breath while we were there. And we do keep the bathroom door shut... it's just sometimes one of us uses it and forgets to shut the door again. And the trash cans with lids don't work... she can get the lids off...lol. Right now our trash barrels are on the sink counter..lol

Well keep the door closed! And put something heavy on the lid. My dogs can get into their kibble (what we have left) if I don't put a rock on the lid.

And if you didn't mention the bad breath he couldn't check for everything could he?

http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/caninehealthdogs/f/FAQ_badbreath.htm

http://www.petplace.com/article.aspx?id=60

well, i figured since he looked in her mouth and commented on how good her teeth looked that he checked it. And I do try real hard to remember to keep the bathroom door shut... it's like she has a homing signal when the door does get left open and sneaks in there...lol. And believe it or not... the only thing putting somethign heavy on the lid accomplished was a loud noise when it hit the floor...lol. This little pup is unbelievable when it comes to getting into the trash. And it's just so gross that her first choice of trash to chew on is nasty feminine products... Maybe I need to put a reminder sign on the bathroom to remind us all to keep it closed all the time.

Did you read the links I left? They say that kidney stones and lung cancer can also cause bad breath. I still think it's worth mentioning to your vet. I guess the garbage cans fall over because they are narrow. My food bucket is too wide to be knocked over so the rock works. What about putting those childproof lock things on your cupboards and keeping the cans in there?

Yes, I did read the links, thank you. I will mention it to my vet just in case, it's better to be safe than sorry. Hubby pointed out that she's gotten into the cat food too... I think it may be a combination of things that she in ingesting including those feminine products because today she definately has not gotten into the trash and I purposely opened her mouth and smelled in there and it's not quite as horrendous as it has been, although still pretty rank. I like the idea of the trash under the bathroom sink cabinet... I won't even need to put those child locks because she hasn't figured out how to open cabinets. I just hate it that I spent extra money to get a matching trash barrel with all the bathroom stuff and now it will be hidden....lol. Oh well, I'd rather that than have her keep shredding maxi pads and tampons all over the house. Hubby thought he was picking up a dead leaf from a plant on the floor only to discover it was half a dirty tampon with the string still attached... ewwww. It was old... who knows how long it had been hiding there behind the floor plant. He was so grossed out when he realized what it was. I can't say I blame him. I think what kills me the most is that she is hardly EVER out of my sight. She's usually glued to my side and follows me everywhere... so I'm surprised that in a matter of seconds or few minutes being away from me she does this...lol. She's just a shredder and always has been.... she must associate it with playtime or something. Here's a pic:

[/IMG]

ha ha ha!

what did I do mom? lol

too cute