Dog Dental Care

Tell me where all of you are at with dental care for your dogs, okay? I'm trying to do all I can to be the best "mom" for my dog Rusty. And I'm trying to learn all I can about taking good care of his health. I've had several dogs in my life and treated them very well, gave them good care, etc. But I pretty much did it in the "average" sort of way.... you know ---bought their kibble at the grocery store, took them to vet vet when they were sick, tried to keep fleas and other gross things off of and out of their bodies.
But this time with Rusty I'm really trying to become better educated on everything where dogs are concerned. And form what I've read, and from what the vets say, dental care is a big thing that sort of gets forgotten about by the average dog owner.
So I'd like to know...... how do all of you go about that doing that? I mean, is yearly cleanings and teeth cleaning chewies enough, or do you actually brush your dogs teeth on any routine sort of basis?
I'm just curious if people really do that with their dogs. I see all of the supplies for it at the stores, but haven't attempted it yet.
And is a professional cleaning once a year at the vets a good thing? I've been thinking since Rusty is around 1 year now I should think about it sometime soon. But I also don't want to stress him out until it's necessary.

 

I usually just usually let mine chew on the chew bones, that seems to be good, plus I feed them Pediagree dog food and my vet says that it's good for them. When I bring them in for their check-ups, if their teeth need cleaning than I get them cleaned, but most of the time they don't need them done. I have never brushed my dogs teeth, but I know some people that do. So I guess that would be your call if you choose to brush them. Lil Bit would eat me up if I tried, usually have to sedate her some to let the vet do what he has to do, she is a firecracker and bites!! :lol:

 

Mine get a denta bone once a week a peice. THey love it and the vet says they have very healthy teeth.

 

Harleys teeth get clean by eating/chewing bones. They are the whitest an heatlhiest doggie teeth I have ever seen. I always get the vet to check and he says they are clean and we don't need to brush them.

That being said, it is very different with smaller dogs. My dad's chiuaua has the wirst plaque on his gums. It is hard to believe my step mother went this long without noticing it. When I was there last week she showed me and was telling me how she needs to buy him a toothbrush. My friends pekenese gets his teeth brushed every evening before bed. Mind you I think that's a little much, but I'm sure it doesn't hurt.

Just my 2 cents.
Pam ,you are a wnderful mommy to Rusty, stop worrying so much silly!!

 

See, that's what I've been thinking, that probably feeding him good food and giving him the dentabone sort of things should be good. And have them cleaned at the vet's when they need it. But I also know that Rusty really isn't too fond of being messed with. I've just recently gotten him where he'll trust me to clean his ears, and we are working at nail trimming, he is still pretty nervous over that. So I think going to the vet for teeth cleaning would mean being sedated, and I hate to do that to him any more than necessary.

 

my dogs eat the denta bones and i also brush their teeth at least once a month i try to do it once a week but i sometimes forget. Jasmine has 4 extra K-9 teeth her baby teeth never fell out so i have to take her in to have them pulled poor baby.

 

Oh, I know I'm a pretty good mom to Rusty, even if I do say so myself!!
But I just want to make sure I do the best to help him live a long healthy life, cuz I love the little mutt so much!!

 

Sebastian has great teeth....must be in his genes. Natalie used to be big on chewing chew toys, bones, ect. which really seemed to help keep her teeth clean. Over the last year though she is'nt as interested in chewing as she used to be and as I result her teeth have gotten yucky. I brush her teeth but probably not as often as I should....I really need to get on a schedule and make it a daily chore. My vet does'nt recommed dental cleanings until age 5 unless needed sooner. Natalie will be 5yrs old next year. Sebastian is just about 8yrs old and has'nt needed a cleaning yet. If your dog will allow you to, I think brushing the teeth is a good habit to get into to maintain oral health.

 

I don't care what they chew on, all foods and some chew toys stay on the teeth I believe it is called plak. I sure make it a point to brush my guys teeth. I just don't see any harm looking at there teeth the same as peoples teeth. Just like us each dog has different teeth and may have very strong teeth but on the other side of the coin they may have soft teeth from genetics or having been very ill at one time. So I say get the brush out at lest once a week, it just does not take that much effort and time to do a little brushing on them. Does not everyone here take one day a week and sit down with there guys and give them the once over ? We make it a play thing, Sit check posture,come check movement in hips and gate when they walk. We make grooming time special, a time of closeness,soft touch ,soft voice. A bath can be fun we make it a game and expect to be wet from head to toe.

2pyrs

 

i really worry about Luthers teeth. When we got him the vet said by looking at his teeth he was a much older dog, because so much plaque and nastiness built up, but by his sex organs he was still a pup. But he still does have terrible teeth he hates to chew on hard stuuf (probably because his teeth are so bad) so he never chews on bones rawhides, he will only chew on soft plush toys (especially with squeakers) he hates for his teeth to be brushed also, but I have only tried once. but it was such a fight I don'T want to do it to him again. but everynow and then I spray this stuff called pflege spray in his mouth (pflege is german for clean, pretty much) but he hates that stuff, i worry one day bc his teeth are so bad i will only be able to feed him soup! if his food is too hard (he usually just has dry food) he won'T eat he can go days without eating and I think he's gotta eat sometime but no he won'T until it is softer.

 

i brush teeth once per week, and they chew on nylabones bones a lot. my vet hasn't recommended teeth cleaning yet, my oldest is 4. when they need it i'll do the teeth cleaning, but maybe not every year.

 

It's really interesting and informative to hear what everyone has to say... ANd from what some of you have said, it doesn't sound like Rusty should need a vet cleaning for awhile yet. And it does pretty much sound like it varies from dog to dog, like someone mention, maybe it's about genetics or nutrition in early life, and so on.
lil96---what kind of dog is Luther? I've hear people say that teeth sometimes are more prone for problems in smaller dogs.
And 2pyrs.....I'm interested in how you do the teeth brushing with your dogs... you say you make a game of it--- Can you give me a bit more detail of how you do it? And do you actually use dog toothpaste, or just get in there with a brush and try to clean as well as possible?
I bathe Rusty once a week, and check him over good, clean ears if needed, and so on. Like I was saying, the nail clipping thing is still a challenge, but we're working on it.
I think his teeth are healthy, he loves to chew on hard things...nylabones, rawhide, and such.

 

Each of my guys are different as to the procedure I use on them. Our Pyr does not like his teeth done and I feel that is because when we took him in he was all ready 4-5 years old. That is the problem when you take in and older dog you are not given the chance to introduce the things they need to know as pups like brushing teeth.
You well need to invest in some tools but they don't cost that much and many of them can be bought at your local drug store.
http://www.lambriarvet.com/catalog/Dent ... Rinses.htm
This is where we buy most of our products for our guys but there are many other place you can chose from.
Ok then the fun part Arthur ( big guy) first we spent a few days introducing him to the tooth past a very small drop on my finger, letting him lick it off. (Poultry flavor) but yours may like the other flavors they have.
After 3-4 days we would take just the brush and let him check it out, not put it in his mouth just let him see it smell it, we did this for the same amount of time as the paste. After seeing and smelling it 6-7 times a day he became bored with it so I add a drop of paste on it letting him lick it off. The big day, paste on brush I put very little on the brush and only put it in his mouth very briefly, more of a back and forth brushing for the first few days as Arthur is a big baby and well throw a fit when he does not like something my wife and I have worked out system she rubs his chest while I brush and she talks to him. When it is about time for a brushing the day before I give him a taste and tease him with the brush (Paste on brush not finger). Day of brushing we make it a exciting thing for him getting him all excited, he now lets us brush his teeth for 4-5 minutes now and work his gums. The inside of his teeth is the real trick we use a very large rubber bone that my wife puts tooth paste on and then holds it in his mouth at the very back and I work fast to brush. If he does not let us do the inside of his teeth I use C.E.T. oral hygiene gel. couple points I would like to make about taking cares of our guys teeth. We are not vets but I did take privet lessons from a dental assistant for people. Care in not over brushing to the point that the gums turn red or bleed, this can cause a very bad infections in some cases. I make it a point to take a look in my guys mouth often to check for stuff from sticks and other chew toys that may get stuck in the gum or between the teeth and any chipped or broken teeth.( Vet trip for the last two.)
We use a rinse after each brushing if we see inflamed or a bleeding gum line even if it may not call for it. The rinse is made for the purpose of infections after brushing. We found that a child's soft brush works just as good as the ones that sell for dogs at a higher price. I also use a finger brush but do this with the up most care and never the inside of the teeth or tops and bottoms (only on the outside of the teeth and massaging the gums.) I brush Arthur's teeth twice a week my Jack once a week she chews her bones a lot, my Collie he is done twice a week he builds up plaque very fast my female pyr is 9 years old and has very nice teeth and we do her once a week (we started them when pups). You may find you may have to do your guys more often two or three times a week you well be able to tell by checking there teeth for a few weeks everyday as to how often you need to brush. If new to brushing you may wish to use a brush called the plaque whacker till the teeth clean up.I know this all sounds like a lot of work but it is only for a few weeks and then you well find it easy to care for your guy. We each have our own way this is just the way it works for us and others I have taught.
Oh don't use red dye tabs on your guy it well scare the heck out of people and you won't get it off all there teeth. :lol:

2pyrs

 

Jasper got her teeth cleaned once. I remember posting a story on here a while ago, some of you might remember it, how I brushed her teeth once and walked out to do it a few days later and found the tooth brush buried! So that kinda gave me the hint that she didn't like her teeth being brushed. I give her a pedigree bone that is good for cleaning the teeth. That's all i can do!

 

Kong Stuff-A-Ball
http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_ ... 8353686137

Denta Clean Tarter Control Mint Toothpaste,http://www.petsmart.com/ps/main.jsp


I feel if you brush your guys teeth the chances of a vet visit is slim. As with people there is always a danger when you put a dog to sleep to have his teeth cleaned, so I avoid this as much as possible by taking care of there teeth. my mothers dog got very sick and had a very bad infection two days after cleaning.
Meds and more trips to the Vet and a simple cleaning cost more then $300.00.

2pyrs

 

Dental cleanings by a vet can be very expensive, so I am of the opinion that all you can do at home to keep their teeth clean is highly worth it. Regular tooth brushing is wonderful if Rusty will tolerate it. Denta bones or Greenies are supposed to be good. We used to give one to Nala at least twice a week. I was also using something I bought from my vet called OxyFresh. You put a capful in their water and it is supposed to help keep their teeth clean.

Now we feed raw so their teeth are fine and should stay that way. We don't do the other things anymore. Bonnie had tartar on her teeth when we got her, but after a month on raw they are totally shiny and white.

Bad teeth are not just a matter of maybe having trouble eating later in life. Bad teeth can cause all sorts of other problems. Here is a quote from an article (http://vetmedicine.about.com/cs/diseasesall/a/dentalcare.htm):

Jamiya

 

Thanks jamiya, and all of you. I know I've heard about all of the problems that can arise from poor dental hygiene, that's why I want to be educated about it, and take care of it with Rusty. I'm going to get a soft child size brush and some dog toothpaste and start trying to work it into Rusty's routine. I wish we could teach the little critters how to brush and floss... wouldn't that be great :lol:
I'm going to make sure he keeps having chewing things around too, like nylabones, he really likes. I'm curious, is rawhide beneficial for this too? Because he really likes to chew on that.

 

I have heard all sorts of bad things about rawhide, so we don't let our dogs have it. Too bad, since there's so much of it in the stores.

I don't know about other bones like Nylabones - I would imagine they help to an extent. Greenies and Denta bones are the ones I have heard about that specifically clean teeth. I would think the scraping of Nylabones couldn't hurt, though.


Jamiya

 

Jamiya--- tell me some of the concerns you've heard or read concerning rawhide--- other than the choking factor, what else have you heard? I considered not letting Rusty have it anymore, but I still am since he loves it so much. But I would like to know what all fo the facts are about it.

 

This came up several times on the old board. I don't recall all the problems, but one that sticks in my head was that they tend to swallow large chunks of it and it is indigestible and therefore either sits in their tummies or tries to move along and causes blockages. I think Maisey had a story of a woman who CARRIED her rottie in to the vet over her shoulders - he was choking on rawhide (I guess it swells up) and she didn't have a car. Apparently she ran several blocks with this giant dog. Gotta love adrenaline.

I tried to search the old forum, but the search feature has changed and now it's very hard to find anything.


Jamiya