Since her dental surgery, Blondie eats readily, has more energy and is generally a much happier dog. The moral of this story is that, although getting close to a friend and sniffing their breath is probably considered rude in most cultures, you should regularly practice this with your dog no matter what look they give you. A little bad breath is acceptable. When the odor emanating from their mouth knocks you into another room, no matter how much their tail might be wagging, they need to see the vet. And if your dog starts backing off and giving you odd looks every time you bend down close and try to sniff their mouth… well, they might love you but they probably already think you’re a bit strange – after all, your the creature who pushes their face away when they are just trying to say a friendly hello to your butt in the morning as though this were wrong. So giving them one more reason to think you’re weird is really no big deal.