BAD BREATH IS BAD NEWS
4 ways to keep your dog's mouth healthy

Salt and pepper.  Shampoo and conditioner.  Dogs and bad breath.  For years, these things always seemed to come in twos—and all were considered harmless.  But a growing number of veterinarians and dog experts insist a dog's bad breath is actually a warning sign of much greater problems to come, and they want to change the perception that pooches and putrid breath inevitably go hand-in-hand.

"When plaque gets backed up, it can get beneath the gumline, which can lead to bacteria anywhere else in the body—the heart, especially," says Dr. Katrin Lavell, a veterinarian with Pets are People, Too, in Atlanta.  "There is definitely a link between a dog's oral health and his or her quality and length of life."

With research from the American Veterinary Dental Society showing that more than 80 percent of dogs develop periodontal disease by age 3, the importance of takign care of your canine's mouth is clearer than ever.  The following are four ways dog owners can boost their pups' oral health, from the obvious (brushing) to the surprising (bet you didn't know Rover's tennis ball is actually good for his teeth!):

1. Scrub thos pearly whites.
OK, in your dog's case, they may be lemon yellows.  Still, it's not too late to give those chompers a good cleaning.  "Brushing your pet's teeth is one of the easiest ways to prevent serious health consequences, like loss of teeth, periodontal disease and infections to the organs," says Alicia Leithauser, president of Keep It Clean, a company that created a travel dental kit for animals.  And we don't mean you should brush your dog's teeth once a month—we mean every day.  "It's the same as it is with people; you have to do it daily," Lavell says.  "If you only brushed your teeth every few weeks, your mouth would feel pretty rotten.  Same goes for dogs."  Does your pup squirm or even snap when you try to give his or her teeth a cleaning?  Vets insist dogs will get used to brushing over time—and the effort your expend coaxing them beats the alternative.  "When I tell clients that not brushing their dogs' teeth means they may have to put their dogs under anesthesia for scaling or extractions, they find a way to start brushing," Lavell says.

2. Get chummy with your vet.
Make an appointment with your veteranarian for your dog's veterinarian for yoru dog's routine dental cleaning, asking him or her to identify any problem areas they see.  "just like people, dogs should get a dental cleaning every six months," Lavell says.

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