What causes bad breath? (Update!)

Get Benny on a great diet, brush his teeth more often, and give him Dental Bones. If that doesn't work have the Vet check him for a gum disease (which causes bad breath just like in a human)

Well, one of my concerns is that when I do brush his teeth (which is a great struggle and takes two of us), his gums bleed even if I am gentle.  Maybe I'm not being gentle enough?? 

georgie4682

his gums bleed even if I am gentle.  Maybe I'm not being gentle enough?? 

Nope you are probably doing just fine.

Dog teeth and human teeth... eh teeth are teeth. If I don't brush enough or floss enough my gums will bleed a lot and become very sore. Bleeding is a sign of gum irritation. Brush more often (for now) and supply dental toys like a rope dental toy and dental bones. This will help floss Benny's teeth :o)

If the bleeding persists then I would go to the Vet to do a gum disease check

For brushing tips what I do is I put some tooth paste on my finger and let Kayla lick a little bit of it and I praise her. I then put it on the "finger" tooth brush and praise her. After this she usually lets me brush her teeth easier. I never use an actual tooth brush, she hates that.

 Thanks for the advice.  So how often should you brush?  And how often do you give dental bones?  I give them occasionally, but not on a regular basis.

Kayla and I play with her Dental Rope once a day. I will have to initiate play with it (since it's not her favorite toy) then once she's done playing tug-of-war she'll take it in the corner and chew on it.

I give a Dental Bone once every two days.

I brush her teeth once every two weeks to "as needed". If I don't brush them once a week, it's not the end of the world since she's on a strict diet, doesn't eat many treats, and I'm very concious about her "flossing". I will lift up her mouth once and awhile to check out her gums & teeth to see if I should do another brushing.

Poms also do have a history of gum issues so being conciencious about their dental health is important.

If Benny does end up having something that's okay. The Vet will have a solution and you'll just know for future reference some new cool tips and ideas to keeping his teeth/gums happy.

 Also, right now he is eating Nutro Natural Choice, but I want to switch away from that.  I am planning on waiting until his traing class ends in 3 weeks.  I tried switching him to Eagle Pack, but he absolutely refused to eat it (and since I'm using his food to tarin him with, it'll have to wait).  It's no good if he won't eat the food...  So after the class ends I will find something that he likes and is healthier.

Natural Balance! ;o) www.naturalbalanceinc.com

or check out other Nutrition threads. I created a new POLL & I have that "Yum!" thread.

NUTRO is beyond horrible, stay away, hehe

Make the vet the FIRST stop. It's very likely that it is periodontal disease which is VERY VERY common -- it leads to heart disease and tons of other stuff.  Then ALL she said above plus you may want to give a raw marrow bone occasionally (mine get it once a week if possible) and even the little old peke with almost no teeth (never cared for before *I* got her) cleans it!!!! 

But the bleeding gums is often the hallmark of gum disease - get it out of the way first -- it hurts so it's one of the reasons why the dog hates it's teeth cleaned.

Another thing that works for ME is to pair teeth cleaning with doing something AWESOME like going out someplace, pet therapy or whatever we do.  So they don't hate it because it *means* something awesome is gonna happen. 

Thanks Callie!  I really have been a bit concerned about it lately especially since it hasn't gotten any better in the last 10 months that I've owned him.

 So what am I looking at in terms of vet care if it is gingivitis?  I did a little reading online and it seems that gingivitis is reversible, but periodontal disease is NOT.  Do they do a surgical teeth cleaning and he will need to be anesthetized?  I'm just curious.  And what if it is periodontal disease, what do they do for that?  Could he really have this disease at only 2 and a half years old??  Before I had him he never had things to chew on.  He only got his food and maybe a treat here and there, but that was it.  Now he gets more to chew on, but it hasn't improved things at all.

He'll probably need to be sedated and have his teeth cleaned. Sedation is the only way to do a really good dental exam on most dogs, anyways. Emma just had a dental, and it was not a big deal, really. She was a little sore for a couple of days, then returned to normal. 

Rascal has just genetically very bad teeth. His breath can be ATROCIOUS, and this is after thorough vet dental and anti-biotics. I don't let it worry me too much. I figure my BF has really bad morning breath, too - some people are just prone to it.

Ideally, I brush Rascal's teeth briefly every day. I have some Petzlife gel which theoretically works, but I'm dubious. That aside, it has a high alcohol content and I'm guessing works much like Listerine. So, if I'm feeling really frisky, I brush Rascal's teeth during the day and then right before bed rub a pea-sized drop of the Petzlife on his gum line.

Ruling out any additional medical problems, with daily teeth brushing, even if Benny has naturally disgusting teeth you should be able to halve his dental necessities in half at least, I would imagine. I don't think Rascal will need another dental for at the very least 2 years because I try to do as much preventative maintenace as I can.

I think it takes a while for the gums to "settle down" even when they're being brushed frequently - if you brush every day for a week or two, do his gums still bleed as much? 

We have a vet visit tonight followed by training class so I will update later tonight or tomorrow!  Thanks again.