Your breath smells delicious!

Summary haiku:
Clean teeth are even
more important on dogs, even
though they don't smile.






When we first got Archie in June, he wasn't in the greatest of shape.

He'd been dumped out of a car, was missing all the fur on his tail, wasn't neutered, showed signs of possible abuse and had the most disgusting brown, tartar-caked teeth I'd ever seen on a dog -- and he was only 4, which seemed too young for such dental peril.

We hooked him up with love, health care and toys and most of his issues have been fixed. And after a few months of chewing rawhides and Nylabones, his teeth have gotten so much better.



Even so, his breath could still peel the paint from the side of a school bus.

But in order not to give him a complex(and to try and trick myself into thinking it wasn't so offensive), I'd compliment him daily, comparing his stench to things that made me happy. I made sure to use different comparisons each time.

"Oh Archie, your breath smells delicious. It smells like pumpkin pie and fresh spring showers!"

"It smells like banana bread and barbecue!"

"It smells like tandoori chicken and buttermilk pancakes!"

"It smells like freshly brewed coffee and peppermint sticks!"

But then one day, I had to face the facts: His breath smelled like a sack of wet, dirty socks and cooking broccoli.

So today, he had his teeth cleaned. They are sparkling white, and guess what? His breath -- it smells like Thankgiving dinner and Nag Champa incense.

For real, this time.















(Disclaimer: The first picture is not Archie's mouth -- he's too grouchy from his vet visit to be doing all that to his face right now -- but it that fresh and clean.)