Dogs - How to Cure Dog Breath

by
Michael Russell

If you have a dog whose breath packs a powerful punch, chances are that plaque is the culprit. Plaque is the same bacteria film that covers our teeth if we don't brush for a while. It can also lead to smelly and sometimes dangerous gum infections. With a little bit of care you can help prevent your dog's breath form turning to stinky.

Just think on how your breath would smell is you didn't brush your teeth all week. Yuck. Brushing your pet's teeth as much as you brush yours would be ideal, but twice a week is okay for your dog.

Brushing your dog's teeth may sound like a horrifying event, but if you start brushing their teeth while they are young, your experience will soon turn into a pleasant one. Don't start brushing immediately or you will get a big protest. First start by handling and stroking your dog's mouth. Do this for a few minutes a day and reward them for good behavior. After a few days of handling your dog's mouth, you should begin lifting you dog's lip with a piece of gauze on your finger and begin brushing in circular motions. After a while you should be able to move on to more teeth after they get used to it. After a little longer you can graduate to a soft bristle brush designed for a dog.

They even have toothpastes for dogs. Some are flavored like chicken, beef or a malt. This will make their experience a lot more pleasurable. Don't use human toothpaste as it will foam and dogs can't spit and it will upset their stomachs.

Even after all that practice and your dog still doesn't like having their mouth handled, you can get a toy. There is a hard rubber toy that has grooves in. Vets recommend this particular toy for dogs who don't like having their teeth brushed. It is specially designed for your dog's teeth. You can put a little of your dog toothpaste in the grooves and your dog can brush their own teeth.

There are some people who make oxtail soup. For those very few, you can give your dog the cooked oxtail. The tail's tendons will help massage the teeth and gums. It will help clean those hard to reach places.

If you don't make oxtail soup, try a raw carrot. A little bit of carrot, that you can give as a snack, can act a tooth scraper. It will be pretty mild, but it will help scour away the stinky plaque. There is even dog mouth sprays and they do the same thing for dogs as they do for us.

You can stop giving your dog canned food. When you make the switch to dry food you will help to improve mouth odor. Dry dog food scrapes the surface of the teeth. Also, do not let your dog nibble throughout the day. The harmful bacteria in your dog's mouth are always active. Pick up the dog bowl if your pet doesn't finished within a half an hour. If you only feed your dog a couple of ,times a day then you only feed the bacteria a couple times a day.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Dogs

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