Rank smelling Sheltie breath

[Love_My_Labs]

My sheltie has the nastiest breath you'll ever smell... I have brushed them as well as used my fingernail to pick stuff off of his teeth. Yet, he still has nasty brown like teeth and rank breath enough to stop a train.

Any ideas on how to stop this before I need to spend $175.00 for a teeth cleaning? I actually considered buying him some tic-tacs...lol

I don't get it either... my labs don't have nasty breath but my sheltie does and they all eat the same food.

[GretaJack]

How old is your sheltie? What condition are her gums in? Bad breath can be cause by more than just plaque on teeth. A dental is well worth the money if the gums and plaque are serious. The vet I work for runs spring specials for dentals since a lot of people don't think they should have to spend a fortune on having their pet's teeth cleaned. I agree.

What kind of bones does she chew on? 100% natural rawhide can be good for teeth. Mine chew on fresh beef shank bones. Kongs are also great. And I assume (and you know what that can do) that she is not as much of a chewer as your labs are. If she is not, then your labs teeth most likely are going to be more healthier than your sheltie's

[daisysmom]

I give my Mini Doxie the plain rawhide chips. She loves them and her breath is sweet and teeth gleaming.

[weezyNollie]

There's a product by Burt's Bee's for breath. Not necessarily for cleaner mouth or anything, strictly for breath. It's called "Breath Drops for Beast and Man". You put on their tongue or in their water. It's usually sold anywhere that sells Burts Bee's products, or even online.

http://www1.burtsbees.com/webapp/wcs...egory_rn=10001

My sheltie growing up had the WORST breath too. We'd call her Lobster Fest. ICK.

[goldensammy]

I think a lot of it depends on the age of your dog. Puppies have AWFUL breath smell. But this puppy breath usually passes within a few months. I remember Sammy's puppy breath. YOu couldn't come near his mouth the first couple of months !

If your dog is an adult, or as an adult, this smell persists, I would recommend doing what the above members have said.

[weezyNollie]

GoldenSammy- Puppies have bad breath from about 5-6 months (plus or minus a month or so) because they are losing their teeth! How would your breath smell if you had open sores in your mouth!? I couldn't figure out Ollie's bad breath around that age either.. then I realized why. Now his breath is fine at almost 8 months.

[GretaJack]

I love skunky puppy breath!!

[goldensammy]

Originally Posted by weezyNollie

GoldenSammy- Puppies have bad breath from about 5-6 months (plus or minus a month or so) because they are losing their teeth! How would your breath smell if you had open sores in your mouth!? I couldn't figure out Ollie's bad breath around that age either.. then I realized why. Now his breath is fine at almost 8 months.

Oh! I never knew that. But it def makes sense now that you said it.

Sorry about that.
golden

[Dobified]

Teeth, how clean are they ?

Bones, raw bones. The big knuckle bones the bitcher sells for soup are great for cleaning teeth, but you mudt feed them raw. Once cooked they become brittle nad they can splinter.

I feed these all the time and other raw bones as well. Our dogs have clean teeth and good smeeling breath. They are 4 and 5 years old and no tartar on their teeth.

Get your dogs teeth cleaned if you don't want to feed the raw bones ( although they are very good for you dog ) . Bad teeth and gum disease are major contributors to other diseases in dogs.

[Love_My_Labs]

Tucker will be 4 years old July 17th.

His gums are a nice pink color, but the nasty brown on his teeth are just nasty looking. The vet said that they need to be cleaned. But if you ask me, some vets are just salesmen. (my opinion of course)

Rawhides...I wish that I could give him one. If I give him one and the two labs, it works out great for the first 5 minutes, then Tucker will get up to move and drop his rawhide and DJ will grab it and then I have a dog fight on my hands that just isn't pretty.

So, any other suggestions? Or should I just eat crow on this and take him for the teeth cleaning?