by Bel Eve Forver

Created on: January 08, 2009

Halitosis or bad breath can only be treated temporarily with a treat. Anything from a good dog bone to a gourmet breath mint can do the trick. Yo can even make your own doggy breath mint by giving your dog a few tablespoons of flavored yogurt or mint ice cream. Remember no chocolate! there are some more treats listed at the end of this article if you just want to do a quick clean up of your dog's breath

But bad breath, not doggy breath, is always a sign that something else is going on with your dog. If your dogs teeth are brown and in bad shape then the smell is from the bacteria building up around his gums. This is why having your dogs teeth cleaned or brushing them regularly yourself is so important not only to your dogs health but also for your comfort. Your vet or even the local Walmart can supply you with all you need to clean your dogs teeth. If you feed your dog mostly wet food, occasionally give him something hard and crunchy to chew on to clean out food particles still in his mouth.

Sometimes all you need is a damp cloth to help clean your dog's teeth. After your dog is done eating, pull back the sides of his mouth one side at a time and wipe along the gum line. After you do both the top and bottom of all teeth you can see try doing the inside. Think of it as a game. Can you get this tooth? Can you get that tooth? If you and your dog have fun at this then he will start looking forward to playing with you and you might be able to move on to brushing his teeth.

If your dog's teeth are in good condition and you brush his teeth regularly then it could be that there is a digestion problem. What does your dog eat? Does his stool smell also? Do you hear a lot of sounds in his belly? If your dog has other digestive problems then this can be affecting his breath also.

And lastly, make sure your dog has access to lots of clean water. A dry mouth can also cause your dog to have bad breath.

Treats you can give your dog that you probably have around the house:

mashed potatoes with lots of parsley - Parsley is a good neutralizer of odor.

carrots - these taste sweet to most dogs and are crunchy so they help clean your dogs teeth and remove bacteria.

breath strips - I doubt if your dog will consider this a treat but as long as it doesn't contain xylitol it won't harm your dog. Just remember not to use this method of freshening your dogs breath often, as it is intense and completely chemical.

Your dog will think a nice game of tug with a specially made rope toy is also a treat. Many pet specialty stores have special rope toys that are made to "floss" your dogs teeth as they play with the rope. These stores also have many rubber and latex toys that will help clean your dogs teeth as they play.

If your dogs teeth are yellow and stained and he or she has bad breath the cost of cleaning his teeth at the local vet will be worth the added years to your dogs life and to the

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