We, as pet parents, love our pets with our whole hearts. But sometimes dogs can have bad breath that will not go away. You may feel like you’ve tried everything and nothing seems to work. We at Friday’s dogs have a few dental care tips to help your dog’s breath stay fresh and smell good.
Brush Brush Brush
Fresh breath means good dental health. So, all fresh-breath guides aren’t complete without teeth brushing and teeth cleaning. The best way to guarantee your dog has good oral health is by brushing and having a consistent brushing habit. And use doggy toothpaste! They have flavors that interest your dog, so you don’t have to work hard to keep your pup sitting still. You may also have to give your dog treats at first to encourage teeth brushing, even if giving food to a dog with bad breath seems counter-productive. You should be able to brush more often without positive reinforcement once your dog is no longer running away at the sight of toothbrushes. And after a few brushes, your dog’s breath and mouth should look and smell cleaner.
And you don’t have to use an ordinary toothbrush. Regular toothbrushes can make teeth-brushing a nuisance. Try out toothbrushes that go over your finger or have a curve. These can make brushing easier on you as these brushes are more natural for dogs’ reaction to getting their teeth brushed. Dogs tend to move their head away during brushing to get away from the foreign feeling. Even with doggy toothpaste, your dog will probably be resistant the first few times. So, trying out different toothbrushes can make your life a little easier.
But teeth brushing can be a lot of work after a busy day, even if it does crush bad breath. If it has been a long commute day or you’re not feeling it today, then some alternatives need less effort from you. All while keeping your dog’s dental health in tip-top shape.
Foods and Toys
Other easy options are food and toys. For example, you could give your dog a toy to chew on so that your dog starts to clean its teeth on its own. Or even a rawhide, so your dog must chew to get to the tasty center. Chewing helps get at the tartar buildup and grime, which gives your dog bad breath. Though keep in mind, some doggy treats don’t have a fresh springtime scent.
Many other food options still clean your dog’s teeth without as much effort. For example, you could feed your dog certain herbs and fruits. Particularly strong-smelling plants will help a lot with the doggy breath smell. Some bigger dogs can even have citrusy fruits. It wouldn’t be so bad if, instead of 3-day-old bacon, your pup’s breath smelled like oranges, would it?
It’s worth a try but be careful how much you give. Too much citrus can hurt a dog’s digestive living. Other options are herbs like rosemary and parsley. They have a fresh plant scent which will help a lot with the doggy smell.
Before you start busting out the herbs and spices, research so you don’t hurt your dog’s tummy or accidentally poison it. Thankfully, most of the toxic options aren’t things you would use to improve your dog’s bad breath anyway. For example, garlic and onions are both harmful to dogs. Don’t get too nervous about your dog leaping into your plate for some spaghetti though. Dogs need a generous amount of garlic to be lethal. It takes about 15-30 grams of garlic per kilogram of body weight. That means it would take several tablespoons of pure garlic before you truly damage your dog.
However, other options you would consider to fix bad breath like cinnamon and nutmeg are also not great for your dog. These won’t poison your dog like chocolate or garlic, but they may cause your dog to have an upset tummy. Small amounts are acceptable, but more than a teaspoon will likely give your pooch some indigestion. Garlic is unlikely to prove lethal and cinnamon and nutmeg will probably not hurt your dog in normal doses. But it’s still better to not feed your dog these spices anyway so it doesn’t get sick.
Water Additives
The easiest option by far is a water additive. It’s sort of like doggy mouthwash in that it kills bad bacteria. All you have to do is put the additive in the water, and voila! Your dog is cleaning their mouth! All alone too! Measuring it is pretty simple too. Just add a teaspoon for every 8 ounces of drinking water. Water additives save you time and effort with how easy they are to use. To maintain your dog’s teeth through water additives, you only have to change your dog’s water every day. Even though water additives are potent, leaving a still water bowl full of dog germs will not make your dog’s breath smell much better. But by changing your dog’s water bowl daily (which you probably do anyway), you can significantly change your dog’s foul breath.
And the ingredients are perfectly safe even though they’re like a doggy mouthwash. We all know not to drink mouthwash but not many people know why. The reason you shouldn’t drink your mouthwash is because it contains high alcohol content. In some cases, it also contains menthol, peroxide, and methyl salicylate. High alcohol content won’t hurt you, but it produces harmful effects in conjunction with high doses of menthol and peroxide.
What makes water additives safe is that they don’t use these ingredients. There is no alcohol in our water additive, and we don’t use methyl salicylate which gives some mouthwashes their minty flavor. Methyl salicylate is poisonous for consumption which is a problem since your pup needs drinking water! Our water additive stops tooth decay and plaque buildup without the downsides of menthol and peroxide. So, Water additives make a great low-effort solution for bad breath and busy lifestyles.
Smell Peacefully
Try out these tips and see how they work for you. They should give you some improvement immediately. Although you may want to consider going to the vet if you don’t see any significant changes after a while. It could mean your dog has health conditions like digestive issues, gum disease, or other serious problems like liver disease. But if it’s just smelly breath, then these tips should help! After a week or two, your dog should begin to get fresher breath, and you can smell peacefully again.