New Orleans Pitbull Mix

by Bonnie
(New Orleans, LA)

My dog had fish breath and I live in New Orleans. I went to upstate NY to visit my Mom and my dog started eating a lot of grass. I soon noticed that her fish breath was gone. Is there a type of grass or herb I could feed her to prevent her fish breath now that I'm back in New Orleans?

Hi Bonnie:
My Rhodesian Ridgeback, Harley, had the same problem with fishy smelling bad breath. We're located on the West Coast so I'm sure our grass here is quite different from New Orleans grass or New York grass.

However Harley doesn't eat much grass but our other dog a nine year old boxer/bulldog cross, Vega, likes a daily grass snack - she doesn't have bad breath though!

We found that it was actually Harley's commercial dog food that seemed to give her bad breath (with a real fishy smell). Note: our dogs eat different foods - Harley has a sensitive stomach and has a number of allergies; Vega can, and will, eat anything you put in front of her, and is on a mature dog food diet.

We changed Harley's food - she now eats a balance between natural, homemade dog food and a new commercial brand Orijen, which is a grain free dog food that contains fresh regional ingredients. The new food made the difference - and it's actually grain-free (grass-free).

I suspect that the grass might clean or mask your dog's breath (just like parsley does) but it's not a solution. Try changing your dog's diet to see if that helps.

Kris Bovay,
From The Dog Biscuit Website