Get rid of your dog's bad breath

4 important tips to help get rid of your dog's bad breath

Dog breath can be one of the most nauseating smells to most people. Everyone loves to run up and pet a dog when they see it walking with its owner but it is a huge turn off if your dog's breath smells like week old trash!

If your dog has a problem that is causing his breath to wreak of bad odor, then the chances are that the root cause is plaque. With easy care you can turn those dog teeth around to brand new. Below are some tips:

1. Start off by getting into a routine of brushing your dog's teeth about twice per day, just like you probably do for your own teeth. Remember, a dog's teeth will develop plaque just like our own do and if you have not brushed your dog's teeth in a long time then you can probably imagine what it would be like for your mouth if you went the same amount of time without brushing.

2. Brush your dog's teeth from the time they are a puppy. Attempting to brush a full grown adult dog's teeth for the first time will probably prove to be disastrous because it's quite an odd experience having something jammed up in their mouths. So, if you do have a puppy or are planning on getting one then it would behoove of you start the teeth-brushing ritual early so that when the dog becomes an adult it will be conditioned to the experience of having its teeth brushed.

3. Try feeding your dog carrots as an afternoon snack. Be sure that they remain raw when you feed your dog because they act as a gentle 'tooth scraper' which helps to rub away the plaque.

4. Trade in the canned food for hard food. I realize that your dog probably loves the soft texture and the juicy flavor of his favorite canned food but your dog's dental health will improve with hard foods, should you make the switch. A major benefit to switching to dry food is that the odor of the dog's mouth clears up. This happens because the hard dry dog food acts as a 'scraper' to the plaque.

What is a Boxer?

To the casual observer the Boxer dog might appear to be a somewhat ugly and ungainly animal, but taking a closer look quickly dispels this idea because we soon see the intelligence and elegance in the Boxer. This breed has many qualities and is admired both by experts in the field and dog lovers in general.

The perfect Boxer is described as being a medium sized, well muscled and intelligent dog. He is square built with short hair and one of his most distinguished features is his muscle tone, which should be well defined and without a hint of fat. He usually walks with his head proudly up with a strong, steady step, or with his head down and body wiggling if he is being silly. His eyes express more intelligence than practically any other breed and he is always alert.

In size the Boxer dog is classified as a medium build dog and should be no more than twenty five inches for males and twenty three for females. The Boxer’s body is meant to be proportionately square so when measured horizontally from his chest to the back of his thigh and vertically from the ground to the highest part of his back (the withers), the two measurements should be quite similar.

One of the most familiar characteristics of the Boxer dog is his distinctive head. If you were to measure from the tip of his nose to the back of his head, then the muzzle would optimally occupy a third of the space. His forehead should also be clear and free of wrinkles when he isn’t alert. The eyes of a Boxer are deep and full of expression. Their color should be a shade of brown and in proportion with the skull. One of the most admired features of the breed is that the eyes should be alert.

The Boxer’s ears have been clipped almost for as long as the breed has existed, although more and more people these days are preferring to leave them as they naturally are.

When you look at a Boxer’s body the first thing you should see is that there is no access of skin hanging and they haven’t been overly spoilt with too much bacon and ice cream. He should have a muscled neck and firm back and you should also be able to see his ribcage smoothly moving inwards towards the rear.

The Boxer’s color really endears it to its owners. He will typically have two colors: faun and a darker brown brindled color with a typical white splash on his chest. Breeders consider having too much white is not good and there is considerable debate in the breeding field as to weather a completely white Boxer should be part of the breed.

Through the years the Boxer breed has evolved into what we know and recognize as today’s Boxer. He may come in different sizes, colors, and patterns but it is these distinctive markings which we now all know and love to be that of the Boxer. Click here to learn more about Boxer Dog

Training your dog to retrieve or fetch

What you need to know before training your dog to retrieve or fetch

Would you like your dog to learn to properly fetch when you command or to retrieve your morning paper without tearing it up? The process is rather simple but has many variables.

There is the “Retrieve” portion of the dog task. There are quite a few behaviors that the dog needs to learn in order to retrieve anything. They are:

1. Approaching the item that you wan them to fetch.
2. Lifting the item up with its mouth.
3. Holding the item in place without dropping it.
4. Carrying the item back to you.
5. Lastly, dropping the item in front of you.

Some dogs, if not most, already know how to retrieve on their own. It comes rather naturally at times from playing with your pet. Others still, will require a lot more patience. Other factors are involved such as the dog's breed and how many 'prey dive' behaviors exist in its genes.

If your dog is having trouble to retrieve on command then you may want to try the following trick:

Each day, start your retrieving sessions off when the dog is hungry before a meal. Offer your dog some food on a spoon, like peanut butter (dog's love peanut butter), and as the he goes to grab it with its mouth – should the command “Get it!” or “Take it!”. Once this has been done enough times for the dog to retrieve the food on command, then introduce the object that you would for the dog to retrieve in place of the food.