# Fish breath???



## dexter0125 (Mar 20, 2011)

There are probably a lot of things it could be.
It could be his food.

Or maybe his anal glands need to be expressed, that can smell fishy..and they lick back there when they need to have it done. Have you noticed a foul smell back there/him licking a lot? (this happened to me, I thought it was his breath too, but it turned out to be his anal glands and where he was licking back there....) :yuck:

Or, I guess dogs can have halitosis just like humans.


----------



## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

Gibbs began to smell a little fishy after a few months of being fed a salmon formula food. I switched to the lamb variety of the TOTW and he no longer smells. I think sometimes after the dog has been fed a food for a while that they can sometimes smell fishy. I know of someone who fed Orijen 6 Fish and had a similar experience to mine.

If his teeth all look fine, no decay, etc-- I wouldn't worry just yet. Are you feeding a fish formula?

Are you sure the smell isn't coming from the other end?  Could be anal glands.


----------



## vcm5 (Apr 20, 2011)

I haven't really noticed a smell from the anal glands - but how exactly should I go about expressing them??


----------



## jweisman54 (May 22, 2010)

I went through this with Izzy has a puppy. Had no idea, vet had no idea, it wasn't anal glands, it wasn't food, it just happened. Thought maybe it was the flea protection I was using so changed that. It was here for a few months and then, poof, it went away.


----------



## dexter0125 (Mar 20, 2011)

I got the vet to do mine...well, Dexter's...it was $18. You can google it...I'm sure. Lol


----------



## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

I wouldn't do the anal glands yourself unless you know what you're doing. They can be ruptured. Perhaps your vet can show you. It isn't hard but you need to know what to do! The more that anal glands are expressed, the more that they need to be expressed. Try adding some fiber to the diet to help them better express themselves... canned pumpkin, a few shredded wheat each day, etc.


----------



## dexter0125 (Mar 20, 2011)

Yeah, I was worried I'd mess something up, plus I read that it smells absolutely awful..and I can't handle the fishy smell..so. One of his glands was full and the other was almost empty. Since then, I've smelled it maybe once more (and that was when he got scared because he pulled two $500 lamps off the coffee tables and broke them...& was terrified), but now that I've changed his food, I haven't smelled it at all.

Not saying that's what it is, but just my experience.


----------



## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

does he have a lot of facial folds along his mouth...could he have a bit of a yeast infection in the folds?


----------



## MarieP (Aug 21, 2011)

How old is your dog? My golden went through the same thing while he was teething. It was pretty gross. Didn't matter how much we brushed his teeth. He would walk into a room and pretty much clear it out. It started (and stopped) really suddenly. This won't help you if your dog is beyond this stage, but just a thought.


----------

