(93) Dog Breath

Halitosis is the word we use for bad breath, rather chronic bad breath. Dogs don’t have halitosis. They have dog breath. Puppies are different. They have a sweet, milky breath that makes a person want to get really close, and cuddly with them. Dogs, however get into lots of stuff that can temporarily make their breath smell like a garbage dump in a small package! Ugh!
To be honest I couldn’t tell if he did or didn’t. I got right down there and put my nose to his mouth, opened his jaws and stuck my nose into his mouth to smell. I smelled coffee. I smelled garlic, I smelled tomato sauce. Maybe... I was smelling my own breath reflected in his mouth. I often hear that dogs breath smells bad. And I have to agree that whenever Beeks decides to eat something rotten or absolutely disgusting, like duck droppings or other … (put in your own gross animal byproduct), well I know it does stink. I also put my nose in Max’s mouth. I thought that he would be a better candidate for foul breath since he has all that drool sitting in there but actually he smelled Okay as well. The only discernable ingredient I could make out from Beeks was a sweet grassy smell. Max smelled a little like sweaty hair or paws. Dogs only have sweat glands, in their paws and in their noses but they really aren’t for regulating temperature. Back to the point, I researched and read that if a dog regularly has dog breath it may be an indication of periodontal disease. One article I read suggested that it is believed that 80 percent of dogs over 3 years of age have some periodontal disease. I know that when we take the dogs to the Vet, she will look in their mouth and check their teeth for tarter build up. If a dog has too much tarter build up it may lead to gingivitis, which is treatable and then to Periodontitis. In other words tooth decay. I have shared how I have been brushing Beeks and Max’s teeth and so maybe this is one reason I couldn’t smell any bad breath. I also like to give them treats when we are training (I rationalize these are training treats, Right!). The treats they get besides the sweet potato is from the makers of their dog food. The little circular treats are essentially their dog food with other ingredients, such as mint. Yea, the mint really helps, I think it smells good. Just goes to prove that the added ingredients are for human enjoyment and not for the dogs’. This reminds me of the time when my sister and I gave Certs to some horses we came across when we were camping as young children. We thought their breath smelled bad and so we decided they needed Certs to clear up the matter. I hope they didn’t die from it. Their breath did improve a bit and we stayed just long enough to give them the whole roll.
I guess for now my dogs don’t have chronic Dog Breath, and hopefully the teeth brushing will continue to help. Chez the cat is different. He doesn’t like his teeth brushed and he doesn’t like me to get right in his face either. Maybe I should give him some Certs.