Dogs are our best friend and companion. Whenever we come back home my dog is always happy to welcome me wagging her tail crazily! I can even make out a smile too! Well one way to show how much you care for your dog is taking care of their oral health. What we give our dogs to eat can have an impact on how healthy their teeth and gums are and can the reason why your dog is sick.
We all have to brush our teeth daily to maintain healthy teeth and gums and surprisingly research has shown that there is a connection with good oral health practice in humans and decreased risk of heart disease. Therefore if oral health has a really important part to play in people it makes sense it can have a huge impact on our dogs health too.
I remember buying a little toothbrush for my puppy and brushing her teeth - well it was more like her biting the tooth brush and me getting frustrated that she thought it was a game! But it is important to regularly brush your dogs teeth to stop a build up of plaque and tartar. You can get some chews from the pet shop that help remove tartar and that your dog will really enjoy. Preventing plaque also stops that awful dog breath!
Lets think about what we give our dog to eat. Think about these questions.
Do you feed your dog canned food or dry food?
What type of rewards or toys do you give for your dog?
These factor affect your dogs oral health.
I'm sure we all give our dogs food that is nutritionally sound. However feeding dry food to your dog instead of wet canned food is inn fact better for your dog. Remember your dog loves food and doesn't care if its dry or wet - if your dog is fussy then to be honest thats probably your fault for pampering them! Dry food is hard and the this surface rubs against their teeth as they eat and helps remove and reduce any plaque.
I mentioned in a previous post (my dog is sick) that my dog vomits after drinking and so I have to moisten her food with water. Unfortunately this does remove some of the hard surfaces on the food but not all of them as I don't totally soak the food just partially.
The type of rewards you give to your dog are also part of the diet just as snacks are to us. Think about the treats you are giving your dog.
What do you give? Bones, rawhides, doggy biscuits or other treats? Many of these will be just calories. However there are some good treats that are beneficial especially to oral health. Hard treats will help remove tartar and plaque.
So remember that what you give your dog to eat can be a real help to their teeth and gums health - in particular go for hard food and treats and try to find treats that are nutritious in some way too.