My 1 yr old dog has bad breath and weird smelling urine

by Lindsey
(Catskill NY)

Hello,

I have a 1yr old mix breed he's shepherd great dane mix and i bought him when i lived in California he came from a Animal University (shelter) they stated he was very healthy which i believe he is.

Only thing that gets to me is his foul breath i caught him eating cat food a couple of times but i gave him dental bones and still nothing has worked. Also when he goes outside to pee his urine has a musty smell to it at first i thought it was my 9yr old black lab who smelled like that due to old age but then i got a whiff of the puppies pee and i couldn't believe it.

Any idea what it could be from? I mean he is very active gets lots of excercise, eats great, drinks enough and is overall healthy i believe.. please help

-Lindsey


Hi Lindsey
Otto is adorable, love those ears!

I'm afraid I'm not a veterinarian, so I can only give you my personal thoughts on this, but I hope I can help.

The most common cause of bad breath in dogs is gingivitis or tooth decay/damage. Your pup is pretty young to be suffering from these, but if he wasn't given a good diet when he was younger it's possible, or he could even have something caught between his teeth or in his gums/throat that is causing the problem.

Take a good look in his mouth and if you notice any redness or swelling of his gums, or build-up on his teeth, that could be the answer. Your vet can de-scale his teeth and treat any gum infection or damage.

The urine odor could just be normal, big male pups can have pretty smelly urine, but being neutered tends to reduce this and I'm guessing that as he was a rescue, your pup has been neutered. If he seems to urinate more frequently than normal, or seems to need to 'go' urgently and then only passes a few drops, he could have a UTI. Your vet could diagnose and treat that quite simply.

It's also possible that he's sensitive to one or more of the ingredients in his food, or even has dog food allergies. I'd suggest trying a food designed for dogs with food sensitivities and definitely avoiding those that contain a lot of chemicals, additives, preservatives and so on.

As he seems happy and healthy in every other way, this doesn't seem to be an urgent situation and you may want to get a professional veterinary opinion on this by using my Ask A Vet page. Asking an online vet gets you a quick answer, for a lot less than a veterinary office visit. But it's best to use this sort of service only for non-emergency situations (like this one).

Hope this helps and that Otto is soon doing better. Best of luck with him.