<p>Our elderly (12 years old) golden just started having REALLY bad breath a few days ago. He’s never had this problem before and the vet has always complicated his teeth. Could it be something he ate? We haven’t changed his diet and besides licking dinner plates, he doesn’t get people food.</p>
<p>I’d take him to the vet. He may have a digestive problem.</p>
<p>Our late 
collie used to eat paper napkins and paper towels. At one point he got a lot of paper material impacted into one of his gums under/next too his tooth. They had to do surgery to take it out ($$). I would have the vet check his teeth and gums as well as the digestion. Also he may have eaten something you don’t know about. Does he seem in good spirits otherwise?</p>
<p>Maybe he has a decaying tooth. I’d get his teeth cleaned if it’s been awhile.</p>
<p>One of our dogs had sudden bad breath and it was because a black stick (same color as the inside of his mouth) had got wedge between his upper fangs. It was real hard to see. Very stinky but easy fix.</p>
<p>I like the stick idea. He’s had numerous sticks in his mouth before but we could always tell because he would paw at his mouth a lot. We would get them out with luring him with peanut butter on a spoon and then popping it out with the back of the spoon. This may be harder if it’s been in there for awhile…</p>
<p>This happened with my dog and he had some tooth decay way back around his back molars that are difficult to reach to clean. If it’s that bad he is probably in some pain, I would get him to the vet.</p>
<p>We actually found it when the vet knocked him out to look around his mouth for the odor. It had blended in with the arches of his mouth and was wedged in tight. I never saw him paw at his mouth. Hope you figure it out soon.</p>
<p>Somebody could make money marketing scented dog biscuits that help with tarter control and also give old dogs with bad breath minty puppy breath!</p>
<p>^ Those things exist lizard. But they don’t fix the underlying problem.</p>
<p>We took our dog to the vet this morning and she decided that she would have to knock him out to determine what was going on. She called us a little while ago while he was out on the table and gave us a bizarre reason and we are now more confused then ever. She said it looked like he had burns on his inside bottom gums as if he had bitten an electrical wire! There was a lot of dead tissue and that’s what was stinking up his mouth. After talking to her my son and I went outside and looked all over the yard and found nothing at all that he could have picked up electrical. Lot’s of sticks and squeaky balls but that was it. We just can’t figure this out. The good news is that she didn’t find anything serious and he’ll be all cleaned up.</p>
<p>Wow!! That is scary!! I am glad you took him in, it may not have healed on its own and become worse. </p>
<p>I hope you can figure out what he got into so you can prevent it from happening again.</p>
<p>Could it have been on a neighbor’s property? Could it be chemical burns instead of electrical burns? Could it have been from something inside the house?</p>
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<p>I think the image of the dog being lured with JIF is hilarious. I can imagine how long it takes to wipe the last bit of peanut butter from his teeth. </p>
<p>Should be on You Tube. :)</p>
<p>PS I am happy the dog will be well again.</p>
<p>We just can’t think of what it could be. He’s not one of those dogs that chews stuff. He likes toys (squeaky anything) and sticks. He doesn’t chew furniture and hasn’t shown interest in a cord since puppyhood. We’ve looked all around and can’t find anything. He doesn’t go out of our yard ever, even if a squirrel tries to lure him! The thing about any burn is that there is nothing at all on the outside of his mouth. It was only at the Vet’s that I noticed a gray bulge towards the back of his mouth on his gum and that wasn’t huge. His tongue looks fine.</p>
<p>Do you have an electric buried fence?</p>
<p>We do have a buried electric fence but 1) We couldn’t find any evidence that it had been unburied anywhere and 2) It stopped working about 6 months ago so we took our dog’s special collar off. He hasn’t seemed to notice.</p>
<p>I would make sure the power to the electric fence is actually turned off. Have you checked the entire line. </p>
<p>I don’t know much about how they work but…</p>
<p>My husband assures me that the fence is turned off. Dog is home and acting just like normal. I snuck his meds in his dog food with chicken broth and he ate most of his food. He even carried up part of the newspaper for me, something he stopped doing last week when his mouth started hurting. Better yet, he asked for, and got, two doggie biscuits! Those things are fairly hard so I was very glad to see him eat them. So far, so good.</p>
<p>That is good news, kathiep!</p>