Tips of Keeping Your Dog’s Teeth Clean

Did you know that regularly brushing your dog’s teeth and providing her with a healthy diet and plenty of chew toys can go a long way toward keeping her mouth healthy? Many pooches show signs of gum disease by the time they’re four years old because they aren’t provided with proper mouth care—and bad breath is often the first sign of a problem. Give your dog regular home checks and follow the tips below, and you’ll have a very contented pooch with a dazzling smile.

1. The Breath Test Sniff your dog’s breath. Not a field of lilies? That’s okay—normal doggie-breath isn’t particularly fresh-smelling. However, if his breath is offensive and is accompanied by a loss of appetite, vomiting or excessive drinking or urinating, it’s a good idea to take your pooch to the vet.

2. Lip Service Once a week, with your dog facing you, lift his lips and examine his gums and teeth. The gums should be pink, not white or red, and should show no signs of swelling. His teeth should be clean, without any brownish tartar.

3. Signs of Oral Disease The following are signs that your dog may have a problem in his mouth or gastrointestinal system and should be checked by a veterinarian:
1.)Bad breath
2.) Excessive drooling
3.) Inflamed gums
4.) Tumors in the gums
5.) Cysts under the tongue
6.) Loose teeth

4. The Lowdown on Tooth Decay Bacteria and plaque-forming foods can cause build-up on a dog’s teeth. This can harden into tartar, possibly causing gingivitis, receding gums and tooth loss. One solution? Regular teeth cleanings, of course.
5. Canine Tooth-Brushing Kit Get yourself a toothbrush made especially for canines or a clean piece of soft gauze to wrap around your finger. Ask your vet for a toothpaste made especially for canines or make a paste out of baking soda and water. Never use fluoride with dogs under six months of age—it can interfere with their enamel formation. And please do not use human toothpaste, which can irritate a dog’s stomach. Special mouthwash for dogs is also available—ask your vet.

6. Brightening the Pearly Whites Taking these steps will make brushing a lot easier for the both of you:
First get your dog used to the idea of having her teeth brushed. Massage her lips with your finger in a circular motion for 30 to 60 seconds once or twice a day for a few weeks. Then move on to her teeth and gums. When your pooch seems comfortable being touched this way, put a little bit of dog-formulated toothpaste or a paste of baking soda and water on her lips to get her used to the taste. Next, introduce a toothbrush designed especially for dogs—it should be smaller than a human toothbrush and have softer bristles. Toothbrushes that you can wear over your finger (or a clean piece of gauze) are also available and allow you to give a nice massage to your dog’s gums. Finally, apply the toothpaste to her teeth for a gentle brushing, as in step 7. A veterinary exam beforehand may be helpful to find out if your dog’s gums are inflamed. If your dog has mild gingivitis, brushing too hard can hurt her gums.

7. Brushing Technique Yes, there is actually a technique! Place the brush or your gauze-wrapped finger at a 45-degree angle to the teeth and clean in small, circular motions. Work on one area of your dog’s mouth at a time, lifting her lip as necessary. The side of the tooth that touches the cheek usually has the most tartar, and giving a final downward stroke can help to remove it. If your dog resists having the inner surfaces of her teeth cleaned, don’t fight it—only a small amount of tartar accumulates there. Once you get the technique down, go for a brushing two or three times a week.

8. Know Your Mouth Disorders Getting familiar with the possible mouth problems your dog may encounter will help you determine when it’s time to see a vet about treatment:

a.) Periodontal disease is a painful infection between the tooth and the gum that can result in tooth loss and spread infection to the rest of the body. Signs are loose teeth, bad breath, tooth pain, sneezing and nasal discharge.
b.) Gingivitis is an inflammation of the gums caused mainly by accumulation of plaque, tartar and disease-producing bacteria above and below the gum line. Signs include bleeding, red, swollen gums and bad breath. It is reversible with regular teeth cleanings.
c.) Halitosis—or bad breath—can be the first sign of a mouth problem and is caused by bacteria growing from food particles caught between the teeth or by gum infection. Regular tooth-brushings are a great solution.
d.) Swollen gums develop when tartar builds up and food gets stuck between the teeth. Regularly brushing your dog’s teeth at home and getting annual cleanings at the vet can prevent tartar and gingivitis.
e.) Proliferating gum disease occurs when the gum grows over the teeth and must be treated to avoid gum infection. An inherited condition common to boxers and bull terriers, it can be treated with antibiotics. f.) Mouth tumors appear as lumps in the gums. Some are malignant and must be surgically removed.
g.) Salivary cysts look like large, fluid-filled blisters under the tongue, but can also develop near the corners of the jaw. They require drainage, and the damaged saliva gland must be removed.
h.) Canine distemper teeth can occur if a dog had distemper as a puppy. Adult teeth can appear looking eroded and can often decay. As damage is permanent, decayed teeth should be removed by a vet.


9. Chew on This chew toys can satisfy your dog’s natural desire to chomp, while making his teeth strong. Gnawing on a chew toy can also help massage his gums and help keep his teeth clean by scraping away soft tartar. Ask your vet to recommend toxin-free rawhide, nylon and rubber chew toys.
P.S.: Gnawing also reduces your dog’s overall stress level, prevents boredom and gives him an appropriate outlet for his natural need to chew.

10. Diet for Healthy Teeth Ask your vet about a specially formulated dry food that can slow down the formation of plaque and tartar. Also, avoid feeding your dog table scraps, instead giving him treats that are specially formulated to keep canine teeth healthy.

Story Source: http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/dog-care/dog-care-dental-health.aspx

DOG GROMMING IS ESSENTIAL FOR

HIM, YOU AND

  YOU’RE ENVIROMENT

The skin is the anatomical and physiological barrier between the dog’s body and the environment. It protects your pooches from physical trauma, chemical insult & microbiological injuries. This body coat (skin) of your dog is the mirror of his health.The skin of you pooch is covered with hair. Hairs are flexible, elastic horny threads. The hair coat of dog may be divided as normal coat, short coat and long coat depending on the texture and total hair length. Hairs never grow continuously like claws or nails; hairs usually grow in a cycle. Each cycle consists of growing phase known as anagenic phase known as Telogenic phase, when the hair is retained in the follicle as dead and subsequently lost. In general, hair grows only 0.04 to 0.18mm (approx) per day.

It is desirable to have good and shiny coat on the body of the dog. A shining body coat is the first beauty of your pooches. The puppy coat is soft and sometimes wooly appearance. Puppies generally shed their coats when they are 9-10 months of age. The puppies born in winter may shed their coat in spring. Even the color of the coat may also be changed while that duration. 

Adult dogs change their coat once in a year. Now these hairs usually create problem when these fall on carpet, chairs, clothes and floors. In order to minimize the trouble the dog should be well groomed, specially at the time of shedding. Daily brushing is the good practice. This keeps the dogs coat shining and healthy. Some dogs, particularly white coated ones may shed their coats to a certain extent all through the year. In such cases, use of medicated shampoo (Selenium Shampoo), careful grooming and multivitamin tablets prescribed by your vet may alleviate the problem.Brushing and grooming will give your pooches a sense of well being. Besides, it helps to maintain a clean environment around you. A groom kit should include brushes, comb, rake, shear, thinning shear, electric clipper, stripping comb, a good quality medicated shinning lotion or cream prescribed by your Vet and a towel.

First apply brush to remove the external dirt then comb it to stimulate the cutaneous circulation. Then polish the coat with shinning lotion and towel for shining the coat.  All dogs should be washed to keep the skin coat clean, to remove his odor and to avoid skin problems. Dog should be washed once or twice in a week in summer and on every two weeks or three weeks in winter. The water should be luke warm about 85 degree/Fahrenheit. Water should be poured on the body until the coat is wet. Preferably sulphur contain soap should be used. The soap or shampoo s should be rubbed thoroughly over the coat to form lather all over the body, after that dog should be thoroughly rinsed and washed with clean water. Finally, it should be dried up with a clean dry towel and kept in a warm place to make the body dry. No water should enter the ear canal, to avoid it ears may be plugged in with the cotton plug while bath. Regular attention and grooming of pooch will change the enviroment and mood of both yours and your pooches.

Before Grooming :-  

 

 Note:

A dog should not be bathed every day since it may remove natural oils and thus make the skin coat dull.

Human soaps which contain carbolic acid should not be used on dogs coat it can be harmful for his coat.

After Grooming :-

Story source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_grooming

Note:
Materials may be edited for content and length both further information please folow the source cited above.

 

Steps to Save Your Shoes from Your Chewing Canine

What happen when you walk into your bedroom to find your dog, and you find your dog chewing up your favourite pair of shoes. What will you do and how will you stop it from happening again. Sometimes when you first get a puppy, he or she will start chewing on your shoes for fun, comfort or just because they are there for a good chew or Here are some steps to reclaiming your shoes, your socks, your sofa, and any other household object .

1.) Put your shoes out of his/her reach -Try keeping your shoes in a spot that is too high for your puppy to reach.

2.) Remain calm.

Unleashing your anger on your dog won't accomplish anything. In fact, it can further unbalance your dog - and move him to seek another object to chew to calm down!

3.) Create a disincentive. Buy a dog-deterrent spray from a reputable pet store or vet. One possibility is bitter apple spray. This carries a scent that people normally don't notice but it disgusts dogs. Your puppy may try to chew a shoe, but won't like the taste and will stop.

4) Be consistent with deterrent sprays.Whenever the spray scent fades off, spray some more on. Make sure you cover every part of the shoe, as well as the bottom and the inside. Eventually, after a while of keeping this up, your puppy will lose his chewing habit.

5.) Correct your dog. Do not try to grab the object away or take the dog away from the object. Instead, you can use a light touch correction on the neck or hindquarters to get your dog's attention away from the object.

6.) Find safe chew toys. Many dogs use chewing as a way to calm themselves. Puppies who are teething chew to relieve pain. Provide an object that they can safely chew, such as a chew toy or a bully stick.

7.) Distract the puppy. When you notice the chewing, call him or her. Wave around an alternative toy, such as a rubber bone, a chew rope or other enticing goodies.

8.) Go for energy-busting walks. Take puppy outdoors as often as possible for runs and tumbles. This will be the best distracting activity possible and will go a little way to tiring puppy out.
　
　
Story Source:http://www.wikihow.com/Stop-Your-Dog-from-Chewing-Things-it-Shouldn't

http://www.cesarsway.com/tips/problembehaviors/5-Steps-to-Save-Your-Shoes-from-Your-Chewing-Canine


Note:
Materials may be edited for content and length both further information please folow the source cited above.

New Rabies Vaccine May Require Only A Single Shot, Not Six

A replication-deficient rabies virus vaccine that lacks a key gene called the matrix (M) gene induced a rapid and efficient anti-rabies immune response in mice and non-human primates, according to James McGettigan, Ph.D., assistant professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University.
"The M gene is one of the central genes of the rabies virus, and its absence inhibits the virus from completing its life cycle," Dr. McGettigan said. "The virus in the vaccine infects cells and induces an immune response, but the virus is deficient in spreading."
The immune response induced with this process is so substantial that only one inoculation may be sufficient enough, according to Dr. McGettigan. In addition, the vaccine appears to be efficient in both pre-exposure and post-exposure settings.
Currently, the World Health Organization standard for rabies infection is post-exposure prophylaxis. The complex regimen in the United States requires six different shots over 28 days: five of the rabies vaccine and one of rabies immunoglobulin.
The current standard vaccine is made from inactivated rabies virus, whereas the experimental vaccine is made from a live rabies virus. The virus is modified by removing the M gene, thus inhibiting its spread within the vaccine recipient.
Worldwide, the annual number of rabies-related deaths is estimated to be 40,000 to 70,000. The disease is endemic in developing areas, where the six-shot post-exposure regimen is not feasible for many people due to cost and availability. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 10 million people worldwide receive the post-exposure regimen, which presents a financial burden to both industrialized and developing countries.
"Developing countries do not have the resources to vaccinate people six times after exposure, so many of these 10 million do not receive the full regimen," Dr. McGettigan said. "Therefore, simpler and less expensive vaccine regimens are needed. The alternative may also be to treat people pre-exposure, as they are with many of the current vaccines used. Although our vaccine was tested primarily to be a post-exposure vaccine, the data we collected show it would be effective as a pre-exposure vaccine as well."
Dr. McGettigan recently was awarded a four-year $1.5 million R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue his research on novel rabies vaccine approaches.


Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Thomas Jefferson University

Note:

Materials may be edited for content and length both further information please folow the source cited above.http://www.jeffersonhospital.org/