Who doesn’t love to cuddle his adorable dog? But if the pet’s mouth is full of bacteria and filthy odor, will it be a pleasant experience to hug your dog? The answer is simply no. A dirty mouth of a pet is less likely to attract the owner let alone drawing attention of other people. So it is very important to disinfect your puppy at a regular interval to keep him free from any bacterial, infectious disease.
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Therefore to disinfect, you need to clean the pup’s teeth, gum, tongue and muzzle with extensive care. And it should be remembered that teeth and gums are of utmost importance, because these parts are usually infected by bacteria, microbes or germs (for human mouths it is also true). So let us rush towards the methods of cleaning a dog’s mouth.
There are numerous methods from which you can choose based on the suitability of your dog’s health. You can also choose more than one method simultaneously to get better results.
METHOD 1 : DENTAL TOYS FOR CHEWING
It is often used by dog owners to avoid any complexity. These chewing toys are specially designed to satisfy your dog’s natural instinct to chew, and at the same time to scrape away undigested food clinging to the teeth and tongue. In this procedure, the dog is given some toys, preferably toys that are liked by the pet, to chew. As he chews he will begin to salivate naturally. Dog’s saliva has natural power to cope with any germs or bacteria (same applies in most of the mammals). Saliva will wash away the microbe into the stomach where acid will destroy its power to do any harm. Any residue of the food will also be wiped out by constant chewing. The gums will be free from tartar and plaque. And the toy can also freshen the dog’s awful breath. But make sure that your puppy chews the toy several times as his own instinctive manner and he doesn’t swallow it. Otherwise, the toy will not work properly to remove the unwanted germs.
METHOD 2 : MANUAL WIPING
You can disinfect your beloved canine’s mouth by manually wiping through it. If your dog allows you to put your finger inside his mouth, you can try this. First take a clean piece of cloth and soak it into antibacterial liquid. Draw your puppy closer to you and place your left hand on his neck to get control over his mouth. Take the soaked cloth into the tip of your finger and gradually open his jaw. Then put the cloth in the teeth and furbish with a slow speed. The dog may not allow you to put your hand into the inner part of the teeth. That’s why you need to slowly progress into the deeper part without hurrying.
As you progress, cleanse the gums and then tongue with that cloth. Don’t forget to soak it into the liquid again and again. Change the part of the cloth you used earlier to get the best result. Don’t push your hand forcefully into his mouth. It will threaten the dog’s peaceful state and he may begin barking or even biting. Moreover, after cleaning the inner part of the mouth you can clean the jaws and muzzle also. The dog will endure it easily being accustomed to the method. You should have complete control over your dog to succeed in this process.
METHOD 3 : USING GERM PROTECTIVE SPRAYS
Using sprays into the mouth can help you a lot if your dog can endure a little spray machine’s presence into his mouth. There are numerous germ protective sprays available in the market to disinfect and scrape off any plaques or tartars from the dog’s mouth. First buy a reliable spray that is favorable to the dog’s taste. Then after opening the dog’s mouth spray the liquid into the outer part and inner part of teeth respectively. After that, sprinkle the spray into the other part of mouth following method-1. Don’t buy any odd tasting spray disliked by your puppy.
METHOD 4 : BRUSHING WITH TOOTHPASTE
This method is regarded as the most successful and widely used around the globe. Any tartar or plaque can vanish by the magic wand of toothpaste from teeth and gums. But can you use human brush and paste? The answer is not at all. Human brush may hurt the dog’s mouth to a great extent. Moreover, pastes used by humans are not suitable for dogs since they find it peculiar for their taste. Therefore, they often try to swallow or throw it out to get rid of it.
Then which brush and paste to choose? There are especially designed brush for canines that ensure best service for their teeth and gums. Or child brushes can help as they are also soft. Choose any of them (preferably the former would do better). Then buy dog toothpaste with the flavor liked by your pet. First, give the dog some paste to taste it to familiarize him with its smell. If he takes the substance willingly without a complaining cry, then he can also take the brush with it.
Take paste in the brush and open the dog’s mouth. Begin brushing the outer teeth slowly and then advance toward the inner part. The dog is likely to dislike your access to the core of his mouth. So play the reward game by rewarding him something that he loves to positively reinforce his mindset. Then softly brush the gums with the same method and avoid the dog’s effort to swallow the flavor. You can use negative reinforce if he tries to prevent the brushing or swallow the paste. Interestingly, most of the toothpastes are of fresh minty flavor that will help to remove any bad breath as a bonus.
METHOD 5 : USING COCONUT OIL
It may sound odd to you first about the utility of coconut oil to disinfect a canine’s mouth. But coconut oil is regarded as a natural solution for any sort of bacteria or microbe growing into your pet’s mouth, thus threatening his healthy jaws. In this process, once the pet is accustomed to the taste of coconut oil, he will go bonkers for it (as coconut oil is loved by most of the dogs). First take a cake or any fruit that the puppy loves. Then making a small hole inside it, sprinkle some coconut oil into the core of the substance. Give it to the dog to eat. Mix a little amount of oil at the beginning and increase the amount gradually. However, in most of the cases the dog loves the flavor of coconut oil and you can mix a considerable amount without facing any problem. The oil will wash away any tartar or bacteria from teeth and from tongue; thus effectively disinfecting the mouth.
METHOD 6 : ADDING WATER ADDITIVES
Interestingly, oral care has become easier by the advent of water additives nowadays. They are used to wash away bacteria, germs and microbe. Their utility is no less important than that of chemical additives. These additives can deal with tartar build-up. What you need to do is simply buy an additive, mix a few drops with the dog’s water and let the dog drink that. It may happen that at first, the dog dislikes the taste or smell of it. So make sure you have brought pet friendly flavor. The dog will acclimatize the taste with the passage of time. These additives are powerful weapons against bacteria and germs. Therefore, it can help you enormously to disinfect your adorable companion’s mouth ensuring oral hygiene.
METHOD 7 : ASKING HELP FROM A VET
If you still face any problem regarding disinfecting your puppy’s mouth, then you should take an appointment to a certified vet. He can judge the condition in a better way. Moreover, it is often advised that at least once in a year you should disinfect your puppy’s mouth by a veterinarian. The vet will apply anesthesia and clean every small part of the mouth be it teeth, gums, tongue, jaws or muzzles. It can revive the dog’s oral power tenfold; yet it is a costly process, of course. But everything worthy comes at a cost.
PRECAUTIONS:
Precautions will help you to avoid any kind of mess in future. Most important precaution is the choice of a healthy, natural diet. As the human mouth can worsen by eating chocolates a lot, unhygienic food also can cause oral problems in dogs. Dead animals and unnecessary meats should be avoided. Contained meats are often made of musty, stale byproducts that can cause bad breath, gum infection and a lot many other nuisances. So choose your pet’s food considering his oral health. Moreover, if the dog is found to be infected by any abscess in his mouth or any teeth disease you should contact your vet immediately. The sooner you deal with the problem, the better.
6 DON’TS
There are several things you need to avoid strictly in order to disinfect properly. These are as follows:
- Don’t give the dog edible and tasty toys. He can swallow it without chewing. Don’t give big toys also; it can choke him
- Don’t shove into the pup’s mouth in a sudden, abrupt manner while wiping or spraying. It can frighten him unconditionally. It can also trigger the defense mechanism and therefore he may commence aggressive behavior as retaliation.
- Don’t haste while brushing his teeth. Be as gentle as possible while brushing the gums.
- Don’t add too many additives or coconut oil at the preliminary stage. It may create problems for the puppy’s taste.
- Never use human brush or toothpaste. As you will feel awfully awkward to taste canine’s paste, the dog will feel the same to use yours.
- Don’t forget to reward the dog’s any initiative to collaborate with you. Rewards rejuvenate pup’s desire to work according to your command.
CONCLUSION:
So as you know the methods of disinfecting your adorable companion, you have less possibility of falling into any mess. Your puppy can enjoy astonishing oral hygiene. Therefore, you will be able to cuddle him without any horrific experience further. Your next door neighbor or your friend may hug the pet with greatest affection after your extensive oral care to disinfect him at a regular interval.
Despite utmost care, there may be unexpected situations such as abscess and infection inside or around the dog’s mouth. There can also be stomatitis, gingivitis, and various inflammations common in dog’s mouths. In these cases you need to take the help of a reliable vet to overcome them. You should always keep a keen eye on puppy’s food habits to avoid any dirt and filths to be chewed or taken. Try to keep his mouth as healthy and hygienic as possible and enjoy his splendid company.
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