Community Chat

[Another new name Sue]

On 6/23/2014 happygal said:

Jason, have you read another thread, "Our dog has bitten - again"? Not saying you should euthanize your dog obviously, but two bites is extremely serious and you are right to be very, very concerned. You must take action of some sort to isolate the dog from situations which might cause him to bite, at the very least. Even then, things happen.

I saw your concern over on the "Our dog has bitten" so sorry for this post. I tried to delete but it would not work. Good luck with your dog; I can tell you are very upset, and it's a terrible thing to experience.

[JeanLouiseFinch]

On 6/22/2014 happygal said:

Did you get his teeth cleaned yet?

In our area, we have non-anaesthetic dental cleaning which works well for some dogs.

If you haven't had his teeth done yet, you might want to get some toothpaste and a dog toothbrush and try it yourself. Use CET poultry flavor dog toothpaste (not human toothpaste). Start off giving him a little dab of it to taste (he'll like it), and just brush a tiny bit until he seems uneasy. My dog will now lay on his side with his head on a little towel to get his teeth done. I talk to him all the time telling him he's such a wonderful dog. "Yay, Puppydog!!" When we switch to the other side, he gets another tiny dab of the toothpaste as a sample. When we are done, we run to the kitchen where he gets a cheese treat because he did so well. You don't have to go inside the teeth, just outside.

My dog was recommended for anaesthetic cleaning in March, but I saw such an improvement since I started brushing that I'm putting it off for a while. It's expensive here, over $300. My husband says I'm spoiling the dog which is ridiculous. I don't do it to spoil him, I do it to delay professional cleaning as long as possible, keep the dog healthy with a good breath. See what you can do.

No, I didn't get it done yet. I thought we had everything scheduled for the 30th, but when I called the vet the other day to confirm, there was some kind of mix-up on their end and they only have him scheduled for shots. He's now scheduled for his teeth cleaning in July. It's an extra trip, but in a way I'm glad because it gives me a chance to ask the vet about some things in advance.

I've tried the enzymatic toothpaste, but didn't have much luck. I could try it again, and yet I have a feeling I will be more conscientious about it when I'm keeping the teeth clean rather than trying to correct a problem. I'd definitely have to think twice about the cost, if it was $300, but here it's only like $80.

[151949]

i always brushed my dog's teeth daily and they never needed cleaned. I woulduse those swabs they clean patient's teeth with in the hospital, hold her tongue with a piece of gauze and just clean them up. Those swabs are much easier to use than any other kind of things sold in pet stores. You can buy them at places where they sell home care supplies in a big bag of about 500 at a time.

[deb5555]

If they need any meds afterwards,always ask for generic, they are cheaper than brand name. Our dog took antibiotics afterward to prevent infection and the generic was available. Good Luck to you.

[Dharma_Initiative]

When a pet gets a dental cleaning make sure they put an IV line in so that if there's any problem whatsoever that is already done, and no time needs to be wasted doing that b/c sometimes it does take time (just like with people, finding a vein, etc). And sometimes every second counts. Better safe than sorry IMO.

I'm sure your dog will be fine. It's when they become seniors (like mine) that the worry really begins when putting them under.

[luvmyteddy4]

Normally I wouldn't do mine after a certain age but Teddy had hers cleaned last November at 15. She grinds her teeth badly and her mouth shakes so they needed cleaned and three teeth pulled that were loose. My vet uses a sedative and then gas which means that they can wake them up immed. if there is a problem.

I brush her teeth with Royal Treatment from HSN and she doesn't mind too much. Now she is 16 and I hope that's the last of the cleanings. I had her there and home in an hour. My vet lets me take her as soon as she wakes up. She did great. I would go back with her but he won't let me.

[jaxs mom]

On 6/18/2014 JeanLouiseFinch said:

On 6/18/2014 nagrom said:

We have fed our dogs raw chicken necks or wings. By chewing the soft chicken bones it kept their teeth clean into old age. Nowadays my vet recommended using toothpaste on a cotton tugawar chew so it acts as dental floss. Breath is fresh and time between dental cleanings is much longer. As my dogs get old it is not recommended to put them under anesthesia. It is a breed thing but they there can be complications.

And I've read that dogs shouldn't have chicken bones.

They shouldn't have cooked, raw bones are fine.

Our dogs eat prey model raw, and eat whole raw bone in chicken pieces regularly. I've been feeding this diet for almost 10 years and one of our dogs was raised on it since puppyhood ( the other's we had before we went raw). I've had vets comment that they have never seen a dogs teeth so clean and they've never had dental cleansings nor do I brush their teeth. Part of it is that the grains and other carbs like potato that are in most commercial pet foods stick to the teeth and cause more plaque build up IMO. The other part is the benefit of chewing raw bones. It can't just be the chewing though because my German Shepherd basically picks up the whole piece of meaty bone, chomps down twice to break the bones in her mouth and swallows it whole. I've also seen plaque disappear over time after we switched from kibble to the raw diet in my pug and my German shorthair pointer, both were adults when we switched.

[JeanLouiseFinch]

On 6/29/2014 jaxs mom said:

On 6/18/2014 JeanLouiseFinch said:

On 6/18/2014 nagrom said:

We have fed our dogs raw chicken necks or wings. By chewing the soft chicken bones it kept their teeth clean into old age. Nowadays my vet recommended using toothpaste on a cotton tugawar chew so it acts as dental floss. Breath is fresh and time between dental cleanings is much longer. As my dogs get old it is not recommended to put them under anesthesia. It is a breed thing but they there can be complications.

And I've read that dogs shouldn't have chicken bones.

They shouldn't have cooked, raw bones are fine.

Our dogs eat prey model raw, and eat whole raw bone in chicken pieces regularly. I've been feeding this diet for almost 10 years and one of our dogs was raised on it since puppyhood ( the other's we had before we went raw). I've had vets comment that they have never seen a dogs teeth so clean and they've never had dental cleansings nor do I brush their teeth. Part of it is that the grains and other carbs like potato that are in most commercial pet foods stick to the teeth and cause more plaque build up IMO. The other part is the benefit of chewing raw bones. It can't just be the chewing though because my German Shepherd basically picks up the whole piece of meaty bone, chomps down twice to break the bones in her mouth and swallows it whole. I've also seen plaque disappear over time after we switched from kibble to the raw diet in my pug and my German shorthair pointer, both were adults when we switched.

Ahh, OK. Thanks, jaxs mom, for clarifying that for me. Obviously, I'm still learning.

Is this raw diet and allowing a dog to have raw chicken bones an all or nothing kind of thing? I don't know that we'd commit to doing a completely raw diet, but I'm not opposed to giving our dog the breast bones, with scraps of raw meat left on them, when I'm boning chicken at home.

Also - we were at the vet today for shots. She said the dog's teeth aren't that bad, that it should be a very short procedure. She said that since it is so short, she might use an anesthesia combination of Dexdomitor and Antisedan. It sounded pretty good, but I still have to do my research on it.

I was also very happy about his weight. He's very tall for his breed (26" at his shoulders), and I was loving him with food too much. At one point he was tipping the scales at 103 lbs. I was shocked. Within a few months I got him down to 90lbs. and thought that was pretty good. Today he weighed in at 85 lbs., so he's finally at his perfect weight.

[jaxs mom]

You can give them bone scraps but I'd keep it small and occasional, bones alone risks constipation. In raw feeding you strive to balance the bone 10% with actual meat 80% ( plus organs 10%). When I say raw meaty bones I mean whole pieces of bone in meat. For chicken, at our house, it's usually backs, thighs, drumsticks and our chihuahua gets wing tips for the bone to balance out the cut up boneless meat pieces since she's too small to eat a whole piece. You can do kibble and raw but I'd feed it at separate meals. One meal kibble, one meal raw. Raw food is digested much faster than kibble is and the droppings are much smaller since it is much more highly digestible. You don't want a mix of the two in the gut as it has the potential to cause upset.

That's good news about his teeth, I get so nervous having any of my pets under anesthesia.

[JeanLouiseFinch]

Thanks for the info and guidelines. I doubt my DH will want to do this, but an occasional piece of bone in chicken wouldn't hurt him. He ate a baby bird the other day who was already dead, having fallen from its nest. And this morning, he found something else outside and gobbled it up - think it was a dead mole (his after breakfast dessert). There's definitely an instinctive drive in dogs to eat meat.