Keep Your Dog's Breath Fresh

A dog’s dental health is important aspects to ensure overall good health. This article explains why and what simple steps we can embark on to ensure good dental hygiene for our pets which can ensure good clean bill of health even up till old age.

Steps

 * 1) Allow your pet to chew on raw bones at least once a month to prevent tartar build up. Regular chew on raw bones will avoid dental visits at the vet. Do not feed your dog cooked or chicken bones as cooked, and chicken bones cooked may splinter when chewed and can cause potential damage to intestinal linings of your pet. If your pet has never eaten raw bones, monitor and ensure that they are able to handle it well and not swallow the bones whole which can cause choking which is dangerous. Most dogs naturally are able to handle raw bones well. To be safe, get the huge beef or mutton bone where they cannot chew it down but use it for exercising the jaws and cleaning their teeth.
 * 2) If feeding your dog raw bones is not an option for you, go for dried bones variety instead and it is commonly found in pet shops. Ensure you purchase the huge mutton/beef bones that they cannot swallow.
 * 3) If your pet does not like bones, you will need to brush your dog’s teeth regularly at least once a day. Focus on the upper teeth as plaque tends to build up faster there. Best done when you first get your dog to get them accustomed to it.
 * 4) Biotene is a water additive that has no color, no smell and no taste.  Not only does Biotene help freshen your dog's breath but it helps remove plaque and inhibits the growth of odor causing bacteria.  The suggested usage is 4 pumps per quart of water for the first two weeks.  Thereafter reduce to 2 pumps per quart of water.  The usage of Biotene is particularly beneficial for dogs that refuse to have their teeth brushed.  It is safe for daily ingestion.  This is veterinarian recommended and was prescribed by my vet.
 * 5) Healthy diet is necessary to build your dog's immune system. Also note that crunchy snacks that may claim to have dental cleaning abilities, do not depend on this as it may not be that effective as eating such foods in the first place would cause build up of food bits stuck in the teeth.
 * 6) Visit your vet at least once or twice a year to check on your pet’s teeth before the build up becomes unmanageable. This should be done more frequently for older pets. Use regular heart worm blood test to seek your vet’s help to do a general check up on your dogs and seek advice if you should get their teeth cleaned.

Tips

 * If your pet’s breath is bad, place some doggie mouth wash (you can buy this at most pet retail stores)into their drinking bowl. About 1 teaspoon to their water bowl should be sufficient. This will kill bacteria and germs in their dental region regularly before infection can occur. Visit your vet to ensure long term dental health.
 * Supplement your dog with digestive enzymes to ensure healthy gastronomical tract.
 * Echinacea and other Herbs can be used internally to boost a dog's immune system and can also be used as a mouthwash to promote a healthy environment within the mouth.
 * If your dog is a breed (basenji for example) that likes vegetables, then an occasional raw carrot can greatly improve your dogs breath assuming the problem is cleanliness not tooth decay or infection.

Warnings

 * If your pet already has an infection in their gums, please seek your vet’s advice immediately to get it treated. In severe cases, your pet’s teeth may need to be extracted. Adding colloidal silver water to your dog’s drinking bowl as well to expedite recovery and control the condition before.

Related Tips and Steps

 * How to Fix Bad Breath on the Spot
 * How to Freshen Your Breath Before You Meet Somebody
 * How to Be a Responsible Dog Owner
 * How to Make Your Dog Smell Better

Sources and Citations

 * On Dog care Zone - Site contains precious information about dog care that saves long term dog ownership costs.
 * Dog Bad Breath Info - Contains information about how to treat this and other common dog health problems.