OK all you experts out there....

I have always given my 2 golden retrievers Wellness Brand dry dog food (chicken) and am very happy with it. From time to time I will give them a spoonful of wet Wellness food...fish to beef to venison to chicken....Angie has been complaining about there breath so I picked up some cans of MERRICK...assorted flavors to scoop on top of their dry dog food...

is Merrick ok?...it looks fine as far as I can tell and the dogs love it!

but then they love ANYTHING!!!

Small world, I live in Orange County and have two golden retrievers who also eat Wellness food! They get the Wellness Core Reduced Fat (more volume for fewer calories - my dogs have much better waistlines than I do!). On top of that, I put a spoonful of lowfat plain yogurt. They are so spoiled and stare at me if they just get dry kibble as if they're saying, hey mom, where's the tasty stuff? No breath issues with them.

HA! We have given our dogs Wellness since they were puppies...almost 6 years old now...anyway we have one that will eat anywhere/anytime/anything and another one a bit finicky...she started not eating for a while...we had some chicken broth handy so we warmed it up just a tiny bit and poured a few ounces over her kibble...wa-la....happy puppy.

Since then we have always put just a little warm water or home made chicken broth over their kibble....a spoonful of wet food on top or a few black beans...green beans...turkey or chicken...

have I mentioned my dogs are spoiled?

Do you ever give them the chewies for their teeth and breath?

No Cathy we don't. I saw on the news one day that those weren't good for all dogs so we just stayed away from them.

We have quit buying the salmon and whitefish cans and stuck with the turkey and chicken...seems to help with their breath.

Thanks gals!

If possible, you want to try to only feed them dry dog food and/or start brushing their teeth with the special dog toothpaste if you do not already. If this do not help, then they might need professional teeth cleaning.

My dog is almost 6, and I have always given him just dry dog food (it's better for his teeth and Papillons are known to have teeth problems). I switched him to Nature's Recipe Farm Stand Selects Dog Food a few years ago (which has bits of dried fruits and veggies in it) and noticed that his breath was much worse with this dog food. When I made the correlation between the food and the breath, I switched him to Canidae dry dog food, and his breath is better, but not as good as it was before. I am planning on getting his teeth professionally cleaned within the next few months.

I looked at the Merrick website, and the canned food looks fine, but beef can irritate some dog's stomachs, so watch for that. In general, you also want to stay away from corn, wheat and soy, which some dogs are sensitive to.

Thanks BABES ~ Yep my dogs don't do wheat well at all, we keep them away from corn too. We also try to stay away from the beef too. I know what you are saying about the teeth...we have one that brushes everynight...wink...with her nylabone...the other almost never...and it shows. We are thinking of getting them in for a pro cleaning soon.

Thanks again!

Funnily enough, I just bought toothbrushes and toothpaste for my 3 munchkins the other day. Haven't used it yet. Must try to brush their teeth today. I've read that brushing your dog's teeth even just 3x a week (every other day) can add up to 5 years to their life.

This is the brand I bought: https://secure.cainandablecollection...le.asp?ID=1040