TONGUE
Pink in colour.
Moist.
No obvious injuries, ulcerations,
or lumps,
Discoloured areas
not due to natural
pigmentation.
Panting is one of the main ways
dogs lose heat, but if excessive or
when at rest, it can indicate pain
or stress, as well as being a symptom of
disorders such as heatstroke or heart failure.The tongue is controlled by
eight pairs of muscles and
kept moist by multiple salivary
glands. As well as responding
to taste, it helps guide food into
the mouth, assists with chewing
and swallowing, is used to groom
and clean parts of the body,
to explore objects, and curls
backwards to act as a ladle
when drinking.DID YOU KNOW?FASCINATING FACT
A sense of taste is present right from birth, although not as well developed as
ours; a dog’s tongue has around 1,700 taste buds with which to process fl avours as
compared to 9,000 in humans.FASCINATING
FACT
Most adult dogs have 42
teeth, which have diff erent
functions:
● 12 incisors, used for
nibbling.
● 4 canines, used for
grabbing and puncturing.
● 16 premolars, used for
tearing and shearing.
● 10 molars, used for
crushing and chewing.BREATH
May smell
doggy but
shouldn’t
be offensive.
TEETH
● Clean.● Discoloured.
● Hard yellowish to brown-coloured deposits.
● Diffi culty eating; reluctance to eat hard
foods, chewing on one side, food dropping
out of the mouth.
● Loose or broken teeth.
● Loss of appetite.Pawing at the mouth.CHEWING
● Helps relieve puppy teething
discomfort and aids in shedding
milk teeth.
● Causes the release of calming ‘feel
good’ chemicals called endorphins,
making it a pleasurable activity for
dogs of all ages.
● Can be a coping mechanism
for bored, lonely, anxious, or
frustrated dogs.
● Helps keep teeth clean by physically
scraping plaque off , while the saliva
produced has a rinsing action. Always
supervise any chewing activities.GET BRUSHING!
● Reduce plaque formation by brushing daily,
using a doggy toothbrush, fi nger brush, or
microfi bre fi ngerstall.
● Specially formulated tasty-fl avoured canine
toothpastes and gels can make it a more
enjoyable procedure for your pet, and some also
have antibacterial and enzymatic properties.
● Never use human toothpaste as some of the
ingredients may be toxic to dogs.
● If you’re unable to brush your dog’s teeth,
or there are areas you can’t reach, some
preparations can be introduced directly into
the mouth from an applicator. Alternatively,
products are available that can be added
to food or water to help reduce bacteria
and plaque.DID YOU KNOW?
Dental and gum disease are
common health issues, aff ecting four
out of every fi ve dogs over the age of
three years. Plaque build-up is one of
the main problems; forming
a fi lm on the teeth, it provides an
ideal environment in which bacteria
can fl ourish, leading to infection and
infl ammation. This can give
bacteria easy access to the
bloodstream so infection
can spread.A dog’s tongue helps to
control his temperature.Canine toothpaste can be tasty.Chewing helps ease teething discomfort.http://www.yourdog.co.uk 21The tongue plays an
important role in temperature
control. The blood vessels
dilate, causing the tongue to
swell and extend.
Air passing over the tongue
and the evaporation of saliva
cools the blood.DID YOU KNOW?20-21 YD MOT CS(SW)ok.indd 21 19/03/2019 15:42