caring for your house cat

Does your gag reflex go into overdrive whenever your dog breathes in your face? Do you see a yellowish build-up on your dogs' teeth? If you answered yes to those questions, your dog may have a plaque problem. In addition to taking your dog to the vet for a thorough cleaning, there are also some things you can be doing at home to alleviate the problem. Here are four tricks that will help eliminate your dogs' plaque and bad breath problems.

Brush Those Teeth

It can be difficult to brush your dogs' teeth, especially if you didn't start the habit while it was a puppy. However, with a bit of persistence, you can get your dog in the habit of having its' teeth brushed twice a day. Start by showing the toothbrush to your dog. Gently lift its lip and stroke the brush across its teeth. Do this several times a day until your dog accepts having its' teeth brushed.

Reach for the Carrots

If you're still having trouble brushing your dogs' teeth, try reaching for a natural toothbrush. Give your dog several pieces of carrots to nibble on a couple of times each day. Your dog will scrape away the odor-causing plaque while it chews up the carrots.

Spike up the Toys

Plaque can build up between your dogs' teeth too. Unfortunately, you might not have much luck flossing its' teeth. That's where chew toys come in. Pick up a few spiky chew toys for your dog to play with. It will enjoy its' new toy and it won't even realize that the spikes are removing the plaque that's building up between its' teeth. Treat it with a new chew toy once a month to keep the spikes firm enough to remove the plaque.

Go Dry

If your dog is on a moist food diet, you may want to switch to a dry diet instead. Dry dog food gently cleans the surface of the tooth during every meal. If you don't like the idea of giving your dog dry food on a regular basis, try rotating moist and dry food throughout the week.

If your pet has bad breath, don't ignore the problem. Visit a veterinarian at places like Murrells Inlet Veterinary Hospital to ensure that it doesn't have any health problems that are causing the odor. If the odor is caused by plaque build-up, use the simple tricks described above to clean your dogs' teeth and get rid of the odor.