Tooth brushing

blackcob

blackcob

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An essential part of your dog's daily routine, or a total waste of time?

I've got into the habit of doing it once or twice a week but have no idea if it's actually proven to make a difference, and given that she eats a lot of bone it's possibly superfluous anyway.

Does anyone else bother or am I freak? :o
 
Never done it, ever.
All recent dogs died between ages 10-14 with full, clean dentition (apart from the muppet who knocked one out trying to chew a brick...) although I appreciate some breeds do not have as good mouths as others.
They all ate bones :)
 
Never done it with Chloe, was told by vet that so long as they chew on bones and always had fresh water they'll be fine. Her gums are fantastic, apparently.
 
Well call me a bad owner but I have never cleaned dogs teeth in all my years of owning them. I always used to feed raw tripe and I think pulling at the hunks kept their teeth good, my vets used to comment on their good teeth. Since changing to feeding complete I have been concerned about teeth, but hopefully the chicken wings and drumsticks will keep Evies good. The other 2 at 12 and nearly 10 still have good teeth, although not on raw, they do get occasional marrow bones though. I would think Dax will be fine as she has started on raw at a young age, so suspect its unnecessary for you to be doing it, but as long as you both are happy with the routine then carry on.:D
 
I used to do it with our girl a couple of times a week as when we first got her, she didn't like anyone going near her mouth, especially the vet. Once she was over that, we kept it up approx once a week as figured it wasn't a bad idea to keep an eye on what was going on in there. Not sure if I'd do so again, if they're on a decent diet I suppose it is superfluous in most cases (big word for me on a Sunday pm :p)
 
Never done it for any of our dogs and never will. All of our dogs have always had a fresh bone at least once a week - was always told that it cleaned their teeth - and none have ever had any 'dental' work done.:)

Max did arrive with a toothbrush and 'doggy' toothpaste - both went straight in the bin.:rolleyes:

At Sweep's last vet visit he was complimented on his good teeth and the fact he doesn't have 'doggy' breath - she was very impressed he was 12!:) especially as she was running late due to having to take a lot of teeth out of some poor dog earlier.:(
 
I knew I was a freak! :p

I think I've been heavily influenced by the demise of my grandparent's last dog, 'my' JRT, who had godawful teeth as a result of a tinned diet and being fed cups of tea with several sugars in all his life. Poor bugger spent the last few years of his short life with a stinking and bleeding mouth. :(

Their newest dog isn't yet three and already has a noticeable tartar buildup and foul breath. :mad:

Numptyn, I think that may have been my intention at the start - that and claw clipping, which I don't think she'd encountered before! - and it's nice to know that if there's ever a problem the vet could poke and prod without objection now. She seems to enjoy the process, she gets to gnaw on the brush (and my fingers :rolleyes:) and smear chicken toothpaste everywhere.
 
Ah, claw clipping, keep 'em on concrete, job done :p

Funny about the tea, I was chatting to some old timers during the week who fed their boxers on 'brown breed and black tae' (must be said in country accent!!!) and it never 'did their dogs any harm'...my Nan used to fed whatever we hadn't eaten for tea, with a big slosh of milk and some warm water thrown in....and the bowl was an old saucepan with the handle broken off.
 
Saff is 12 and a half and I have had to cut her claws for the first time this month. She is in a concrete run but now tends lie around a lot more and is also having shorter walks so isn't wearing them down:( She was very good considering it was a new experience.:p
 
Do NOT get the toothpaste mixed up, whatever you do! :p

Yep, sounds very similar to us - Madam did learn to like it after a while, but I'm also a worrywart and when she went through a stage of shredding every stick she could find, I was paranoid about her getting splinters in her mouth and them getting infected. Never happened but you never know :rolleyes: I was very proud the first time she got through a check-up with no quibbles about her teeth, ears, poking and prodding etc etc :)
 
Plain black tea is very far removed from my nan's idea of tea which is to brew it all morning and put in enough sugar to allow the spoon to stand up in it. :p

I've never had to clip her back claws, they're as short as you please, but her fronts were very overgrown when she came home. Clearly a rear-wheel-drive dog. :D

This winter she'll be running on bridleways which are flinty in places so I don't anticipate having to do it again for a while (thank god, she still has a bit of a paddy about it...)
 
I used to when I was a kid and it was a "novelty". Haven't done it for years though and the vet recently said Tink had the best teeth he's seen for a while :D as others have said, she does get raw bones which helps I think.

Never had to clip her claws either, I think all the digging keeps them short!
 
CaveCanem said:
Ah, claw clipping, keep 'em on concrete, job done :p

Funny about the tea, I was chatting to some old timers during the week who fed their boxers on 'brown breed and black tae' (must be said in country accent!!!) and it never 'did their dogs any harm'...my Nan used to fed whatever we hadn't eaten for tea, with a big slosh of milk and some warm water thrown in....and the bowl was an old saucepan with the handle broken off.
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Are we related? :o

The concept of dog food alone being fed was an alien concept to me for years, as were "dog bowls"!
 
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