Why Does My Dog's Breath Smell So Bad?

Any owner who walks around with a bad breath dog may actually ask himself the question, “Why Does My Dog’s Breath Smell So Bad?”. Without going to the vet, the answer may actually lie in the care that he is giving to his dog. Well meaning as dog owners are, the way we treat our dogs may actually be the cause of his foul smelling breath. So we can actually take a look at this checklist to see if we are causing more harm than good to our dog. Better check to find out if your dog is getting what it deserves.

Soft Canned Food versus Dry Food

No doubt that there are advantages to both types of food. For its part, soft canned food is more palatable than its dry version. As such, the dog easily finishes its food when fed with this soft and wet food. It easily chews its way to the last bit so it able to get its fill and nutrition. However, this soft food encourages the growth of plaque and bacteria because it stays stuck in between the mouth for some time. For its part, dry food is typically hard so the dog scrapes the plaque in its mouth as it chews on the food.

Dog Food and Its Ingredients

As responsible pet owners, we should always check the label of our dog food. Some ingredients may be the real cause of us having a bad breath dog. Look at it this way, feeding our dog salmon can actually cause bad breath in our dog. Some makers of dog food include bits of salmon into their feed. Without knowing it, they create a dog's bad breath. Thus, better check on the ingredients of the food we give our dog. For all we know, we may be feeding him too much of the wrong stuff than the good.

Dog Food Plus Table Scraps

Think of it like this. Our dog has nutritional needs that are quite different from ours. That way, it has to have foods that are well-balanced and nutritionally satisfying as well. It is for this reason that pet care companies create dog foods that are fit for the dog’s nutritional needs. Besides, they are meant to be hard so that the creaking motion between the food and the teeth helps to clean the dog’s mouth from bacteria and plaque. Feeding our dog table scraps may actually do more harm than good.

For one, its nutritional content may not be balanced enough to meet the dog’s needs. Second, some food from the owners table may actually encourage the onset of bad breath especially if we feed our dog sticky food that sticks in between their teeth.

These are just some of the many possible ways be which a dog owner can actually check on if his dog has fallen victim to the stench of halitosis. In due time, if he carefully examines the way he takes care of his dog, he will stop asking himself the question, “Why Does My Dog’s Breath Smell So Bad?”. Who knows maybe he might even start signing a new tune.