I have a 5 month old Boston Terrier. He has the worst breath ever! I know it can't be tooth decay because he's so young. He also drinks his urine when he's in his kennel. Does anyone have any suggestions to help me with these problems? Thanks!
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Did you get puppy from a pet store or large breeder? This is usually a result of the dog being caged for extended periods of time in its youth and it becomes habit when they move to a better environment. Try puppy a puppy pad in the crate with him to absorb the urine. He may just also be bored, so leave a toy with him, such as a Kong stuffed with peanut butter. This doesn't explain the breath though, since the urine only has the bacteria the dog has in its body.
If he has tarter build up, which is improbable, but possible in a dog that young, this would make his breath stinky though. The two may be unrelated. Smaller dogs have more problems with their teeth than large dogs, especially if they eat canned food instead of dry. Pull back his lips until you can see his back teeth, that's where tarter shows up first typically. They should be uniform in color, nice and white, the gums should be a healthy pink, not light pink or red and irritated looking.
Another possibility is the pup has a urinary infection. You can take just a sample of the urine to your vet, instead of the whole dog and paying for an office call.
Urinary problems can cause hydration issues, and the pup may feel so thirsty he drinks his own urine to alleviate that. If he has an infection that causes the thirst it can effect his breath, as well as dehydration.
Try to monitor how much water the puppy is drinking through out the day, and how often. Does he drink the bowl dry every time as soon as you refill it? If his drinking is excessive, he should go to the vet, or at least his urine should to start with.
I hope something in all of that helps!
Our dog has horrid breath too. We took her to the vet and had her teeth cleaned, this didn't help.
My dog had the same problem until I went back to feeding Kibbles and Bits.
Real bones from the meat department of your supermarket or butcher. Dogs who chew on real bones rarely have bad breath or yellow teeth.
Your dog drinks urine in its cage - could it be because your Bossie is desperately bored? If you exercise him enough to wear him out to be happily tired, it will help. Chew items as described in other posts will help. Can you minimize cage time as much as possible? (see if you have a neighbor or friend who can care for him so he can play all day with their dog too).
Petkin.com has a liguid that you put in the dog's water bowl that will help with his bad breath. You can buy it online or you can find it at the PetSmart store - possibly some other pet stores, as well. Good luck, and God bless you.
I have a 12 week puppy with the same problem, he also drinks extreme amounts of water. I just received a call from my vet my new (12week) Min schnauzer puppy was taken this morning to the vet to get his ears cropped. When they did the blood test the kidney enzymes were elevated. They are thinking he might have some type of kidney disorder we have not went for further testing as of yet, just found out today. In my case the problem was due to kidney Problems... I would get the blood test done.
As the first responant said, kidney disease can cause bad breath and "tanking up" at the water bowl. At six years, we are suddenly faced with the knowledge that our sweetheart Boston Terrier was apparently missing one kidney completely at birth, and didn't have much of the other. Bad breath and heavy water drinking are strong signs of kidney problems. In all other ways, she seems active and normal. Get the dog's blood and urine checked. We also had a sonogram and blood pressure checked. Heartbreaking.
My Boston has just recently started having bad breath after we started the crate training. He drools so badly, from seperation anxiety, I am fairly sure he is dehydrated from it. He is around 4 years old. He was found wondering lost in my daughters neighorhood, covered with ticks and very thin, I took him in and nursed him to health. I have never been able to leave him unattended for any amount of time without coming home to either an eaten window seal, or bathroom door, or a pee stain on the rug. It looks like it is another trip to the vet.
He hates the crate btw, tries to get out of it too, by biting the wires together. Lickily his head is too big.
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