Smelly dog breath

[ILoveJoeBrown]

I mean more than usual dog breath. My 11 year old won't let us brush his teeth [believe me we have tried].

He had a few teeth removed early last year as the vet said they were in a bad way, but he felt no more than usual for a pet dog that's constantly exposed to food. Wild dogs wouldn't have access to a permanent food source? Not sure if he was trying to make me feel better?

Now he has awful breath again and I have noticed his gums on one side seem a bit swollen, though he's not obviously in pain. Doesn't help that the family are giving him treats far too often and his dinner is often part food scraps from the table along with dry dog food and some wet dog food when we don't give him scraps.

Is the food the issue and if not, is there anything we can do to help solve this? Dentastix?

We had thought we had solved part of the problem as we'd switched to a new brand of wet food [Butternut] and straight away his breath was awful and he was wee-ing all the time.

[Thisisconfusing]

our breeder recommended Plaque off which you sprinkle once a day on food. Our vet sells it but you can get on amazon and in pet shops too. Our Ddog ( almost two) has the most amazing teeth ( vet has commented on them ) but he also loves chewing bones, antlers and yak chews which will certainly help too . But obviously he is still pretty young so that also will partly explain good teeth.

[Girlintheframe]

Our last dog we always fed kibble and plenty of bones from the butchers. Never had an issue with his teeth or breath. In fact vets used to comment how clean his teeth were for his age.

[Veterinari]

Dentasept gel/liquid is effective

[MiniGuinness]

My last dog had the healthiest teeth ever, the vet always commented. It looked like they had been whitened. We put it down to the bones from the butcher. My current rescue came to us at 3 with terrible teeth so he could never manage bones and he has lost almost all his teeth now (12) his breath is manky, like he is rotting. So I would say the bones are the thing, but may be too late if his teeth are already bad.

[TinglyFeets]

I was going to say Dentisept also.

TBH, though, I do think genetics and luck of the draw have a much bigger say in the state of dog's teeth than people realise.

[3dogsandababy]

My dog hates having his teeth brushed too so our vet recommended plaque off. I buy it from Amazon, it seems pricey but honestly lasts forever! And it really helps, you can tell if we don't use it for a couple of days as his breath gets bad again

[RedRed9]

If you’re not into butcher bones (the vet told me that if they haven’t started young on them then don’t introduce them to them once they’re older. But no idea why or how legit that advice is) then rice bones are supposedly good for the teeth.

Plus plaque off or a dental gel.

I’m assuming you’re taking him back to the vet to get his teeth and gums checked? Especially as it’s been a year and they’re looking red and sore.

[ILoveJoeBrown]

I found some PlaqueOff at PetsAtHome, so started on that. He was a bit suspicious yesterday, but ate his dinner OK. This evening, he didn't stop to sniff it. Let's see what happens...