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Cleaning teeth

arealhuman

arealhuman

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Any advice please? I'm trying it after his evening walk in the hope he'll be a bit tired and less likely to object. I'm using proper doggy toothpaste and brush. Over the last couple of weeks I've let him lick the toothpaste off a finger, then progressed to gently rubbing it around his gums. All this is done in a fun atmosphere and is followed up with a treat. When using the brush he will let me lift his lips but won't open his mouth and he's not too keen on the brushing, but will reluctantly let it happen. Can anyone offer any suggestions on how I can clean his teeth better? I know you can get those finger brush thingies which will be my next thing to try, we've also tried a solution in his water too. Oh, and my wife has to hold him gently so he doesn't run away, but as I say this is all done in a positive way and he's not pinned down or anything like that!

As always, any advice greatly appreciated, thank you :D
 
I have heard that it's the gum side rather than the tongue side where tartar builds so that's the best place to start. But I only have one source for that info so may be corrected by someone who knows better.

I actually found raw chicken wings to be the best thing for my dog.
 
No dogs teeth would need "toothpaste" if raw bones were used 2 to 3 times a week.

Unfortunately our dogs convenient kibbles do nothing for our dogs teeth or gums.

As suggested chicken wings can help so much, they provide good exercise for the jaws and are good for gums and tooth care too.

Economy wings from the supermarket are quiet convenient, if you have a butcher near by you could ask for chicken carcasses, pork and lamb bones, all of which are edible and soft enough to clean your dogs teeth. All bones must remain RAW !

If the edible raw bones were used these must be counted as part of daily food rations, they are very nutritional!
 
Thanks both for the replies. Regarding toothpaste, just following the vet's advice ;) They also said there's a gel called Logic which you can just put on their teeth and this also does the trick.

Confused: I thought eating bones - particularly chicken bones - was dangerous as they tend to splinter and cause problems as they pass through the dog's body. Is this not the case? It sort of goes against the grain to feed them bones (I know, I know, dogs & bones go hand in hand but it just doesn't sit right with me!). i'm not questioning your advice, just trying to square it with my own little mind :>
 
I can promise you that feeding raw bones of any kind including chicken or rabbit , turkey, pheasant and all other types of bone are all perfectly safe!

They must never be fed cooked and are all part of a natural raw meat and bone diet.

There are dogs that are fed processed foods and kibbles that are also fed chicken wings to help keep their teeth clean and in good condition.

Don't panic Mr Mannering, it is OK!! Ha ha. :))
 
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Yes, what Excuseme (our food guru) said! And if you look at the Gentle info, you will see it is suitable for feeding alongside raw. We don't feed 100% raw because we travel and can't be sure we could always get what we need but we do substitute a couple of meals with a chicken wing each week.
 
This is very interesting. I also felt a little uneasy about giving bones. Thanks to both of you for putting us straight. One question though JoanneF does one chicken wing equal one meal of kibble then? Evie is fed twice a day.
 
I only have a little dog so for him it replaces a meal. If you have a bigger dog you could feed as a snack but remember chicken skin is quite fatty so maybe even cut back a little on another meal. Sorry to be vague!
 
I once worked under an Australian vet who advocated feeding raw chicken wings to all the dogs he saw. Poor owners came out really bemused :)
 
To begin with I was a bit of a wuss so I held the chicken wing and let Timber gnaw and crunch away at the other end so I could supervise it closely, but now I just let him get on with it if we have a grassy surface. If we are camping and the ground has sand with little stones I still hold it but that's to make sure he doesn't ingest any gravel.
 
Thanks for putting me straight, as PeeGee said ;) I'll really have to pluck up some courage for this! I do understand that it's close to a natural diet for a dog, but well, you know..... ;) Thank you again.
 
It really helps and is a lot easier than brushing. There's a stringy bit that does a sort of flossing action and the Dog likes it a lot better than the toothbrush.
 
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I'm definitely going to give this a go. Will report back!
 
Peegee said:
I'm definitely going to give this a go. Will report back!
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Me too, but will hold off a while whilst we go through a bit of a diet change. Please let me know how it goes!
 
If the raw bones route does not work out then speak to a vet nurse at your practice for advice on teeth cleaning. It is mostly just taking things very, very slowly. One tooth at a time with lots of rewards and tickles for good behaviour.
 
Well, Evie has just had her first chicken wing - raw, of course, and she survived. She absolutely loved it. Took her a few minutes to work out how to get going with it but once she did she was well away. It also took her about 10 minutes to eat rather than the 30 seconds to eat bowl of kibble. I decided to use one chicken wing to replace one of her two meals. She is still receiving a fair few treats with all the training daily so I don't think she will go hungry. I will definitely introduce raw bones once or twice a week to improve her diet and to help her teeth. Thanks everyone for your advice and good luck to you 'arealhuman' when you decide to give it a go.
 
Welcome to the raw club!
 
Thanks. I think we're still a long way from fully raw. I will need to investigate further as I don't fully understand what this actually means. How you buy it, measure portions etc.
 
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