Ban Bad Breath
By Arlo the Hound with help from Honor Tarpenning
Do your dog’s kisses turn you green? Do flowers wilt when he pants nearby? Does your dog take the term “dog breath” to new levels of gross? The following ideas can help. Keep in mind that Fido’s bad breath is more than an icky inconvenience; his dental health can affect his brain and heart health as well as other vital systems in his body.
Brush, Brush, Brush!Bad breath is often caused by an overabundance of bacteria in the mouth. Brushing your dog’s teeth on a regular basis cuts down on the bacteria buildup and keeps your pooch’s mouth fresh and clean. Learn more about teaching your dog to accept
Brushing at Home.
No Table ScrapsMany people foods can help contribute to bad breath. Most vets say it is best to stick to a healthy diet of dog food and leave the people food out all together. This also means you need to keep a tight lid on the trash can to keep Rover out. Spoiled foods in the trash can make your pooch sick and make his breath especially rank.
Crunchy FoodMany vets recommend feeding your dog a crunchy kibble as opposed to a soft, canned food. Crunchy kibble scrapes plaque off your dog’s teeth as he chews, which helps keep his mouth healthier and breath fresher. If your dog is so used to canned food that he turns his nose up at kibble, try mixing just a little kibble with his usual soft food. Gradually add more and more kibble and less and less canned food to make the changeover as smooth as possible.
Chew ToysChewing stimulates saliva production which helps breakdown the bacteria in the mouth. It also helps scrape plaque from the teeth. Some chews are made with raised bumps to scrape off extra plaque, and others, like Nylabones are made to allow ridges to rise with chewing that help clean teeth.
Stuffable ToysOther toys, like the Kong Dental Stick are made with ridges that can hold doggy toothpaste. As your dog chews, his teeth slide in and out from between the ridges, ridding them of harmful plaque, and filling his stinky mouth with breath-freshening and tasty dog toothpaste.
Crunchy TreatsTreats with a nice CRUNCH to them, like Buddy Biscuits or Pet Life Biscuits will help scrape plaque from your pooch’s teeth and pave the way to healthy breath.
Dental TreatsThere are tons of treats on the market with ridges meant to scrape plaque off your pooch’s teeth and choc-full of healthy, breath freshening herbs, vitamins, and minerals. Greenies, Booda Bone, CET Veggie Dent, Nutri Dent, and Hartz Denti Chews are just a few examples of eatable treats that clean your pooch’s teeth and freshen their breath too.
To the VetIf the above remedies combined don’t do the trick, it’s time for a trip the vet. Bad breath can be a sign of more serious dental problems that cannot be cured by the above. Your vet may elect to perform a professional teeth cleaning while your dog is sedated. This will allow him or her to get to hard-to-reach places and remove tough stuck-on plaque that your dog probably wouldn’t stay still for you to handle at home. You can avoid your dog’s dental problems reaching this advanced state by maintaining a regimen of regular tooth brushing from day one.
Underlying health issues can also cause bad breath, and taking your dog to the vet can rule out these problems. Some medical causes of bad breath could be a bacterial infection in the saliva, diabetes, problems with digestion, or food allergies.
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