Looking After Your Dogs' Teeth

[jacqui835]

Well just today I have noticed that my dog has some plaque or tartar build up on the big half canine/half molar type teeth towards the back of his mouth. This is a very recent thing as I check his mouth regularly, and I have also noticed very recently that he has a bit of bad breath, whereas up until a week or so ago, he had no breath at all. I'm confident this is the cause, but what can I do about it? He eats raw chicken bones several times a week and always has, and until now, this was what we gave him to clean his teeth and it seemed to be effective.

He is not even 2 years old yet, so I really want to make sure his teeth are in good condition. What does everyone else do to maintain their dogs?

[persephone]

perhaps give him meaty bones like roo tails ..which he has to GNAW sideays at ,with those back teeth !!

Most softish bones get taken with the front teeth...crunched a few times with the back ones, and swallowed.

Dogs with a meaty rootail or whole lamb neck need to gnaw and gnaw to get all that meat off properly..and it is that 'head-on-the-side' chewing gristly meaty bones which will clean the sides of molars etc

[laneka]

Beef brisket bones are good too. They can eat the lot but have to work at them.

[jacqui835]

Thanks, I will try and get him some of those today. Would anyone recommend using some sort of brush and toothpaste to clean their teeth? And is there anything I can do about the existing plaque/tartar?

[tlc]

You can get a tooth brush from the vets or pet shops sell them, there is also toothpaste. My oldest dog has bones and I also brush his teeth and he still has like a build up on his two biggest teeth. I have spoken to the vet about it and she said ocasionally they will see a dog and no matter how much brushing and bones the dog has they still get the build up. My other 3 dogs teeth are ok one could be better. The vet also told me that a dog chewing a bone is like a human eating an apple therfore they still need to be brushed. The was a thread a while ago about teeth (I may have started it) and there was a lot of mixed responses about teeth cleaning. Ill see if I can find it.

heres the link to the other thread

http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...=192316&hl=

Edited March 6, 2011 by tlc

[jacqui835]

  tlc said:

You can get a tooth brush from the vets or pet shops sell them, there is also toothpaste. My oldest dog has bones and I also brush his teeth and he still has like a build up on his two biggest teeth. I have spoken to the vet about it and she said ocasionally they will see a dog and no matter how much brushing and bones the dog has they still get the build up. My other 3 dogs teeth are ok one could be better. The vet also told me that a dog chewing a bone is like a human eating an apple therfore they still need to be brushed. The was a thread a while ago about teeth (I may have started it) and there was a lot of mixed responses about teeth cleaning. Ill see if I can find it.

heres the link to the other thread

http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...=192316&hl=

Thanks heaps, I ran a search before I started but didn't find anything. I'll have a read through that now.

[ozjen]

The teeth of a 6 and a half year old dog, never been brushed or scaled by vet on a RMB diet. While there is a tiny amount of tartar discolouration vets are always impressed with the state of this girls teeth. I don't believe that my brushing her teeth would necessarily result in any better effect. I only wish that my old boy had been put on to this sort of diet earlier in life as he had a very bad tarter problem and lost a number of teeth to it. His teeth were scaled about 7 years ago but because of the condition of his teeth the vet was not able to remove the build up of tarter completly (he is also considered a high risk under anastetic because of a bad heart so teeth were only done because he was under for something else). He has since been on RMB diet and while there is still tarter his teeth aren't too bad for a 14 year old.

[luckypup]

where do u get your roo tails/brisket bones? are they ok for dogs with sensitive stomachs? my 4 year old heeler is just starting to get some plaque and tartar build up, but i need to be careful what bones i feed him as he always throws up the morning after eating bones, even though i thought it was related to the fatty ones, i am very careful not to give him marrow bones or bones with too much fat on them, but he still throws up.

Do you think the roo tail bones would be better for him, and where would i get them? are they the smoked bones you get from blackdog etc or are they actual raw meaty bones?

thanks!

[ozjen]

  luckypup said:

where do u get your roo tails/brisket bones? are they ok for dogs with sensitive stomachs? my 4 year old heeler is just starting to get some plaque and tartar build up, but i need to be careful what bones i feed him as he always throws up the morning after eating bones, even though i thought it was related to the fatty ones, i am very careful not to give him marrow bones or bones with too much fat on them, but he still throws up.

Do you think the roo tail bones would be better for him, and where would i get them? are they the smoked bones you get from blackdog etc or are they actual raw meaty bones?

thanks!

Dogs not use to eating bones will throw up little bits of bone to start with until their system adjusts, this usually leads to people believing that a RMB diet is not suitable for their dogs, but if continued the dog adjusts within a week or so. When my dogs first started on RMB diet I had this and almost changed my mind until I researched further and realised that there was nothing to worry about.

By the way a RMB diet does not mean that the dog gets lots of bone, just a proportianal amount to what they would get if eating prey. Also I do not give weight bearing bones like marrow bones(ie beef legs etc) as they are teeth breakers. RMB I think would be better than smoked bones for teeth cleaning but I don't have any experience with smoked bones. Even just adding a couple of chicken carcases a week to a medium sized dogs diet and cutting back on the other food accordingly would be beneficial.

[Staranais]

  jacqui835 said:

What does everyone else do to maintain their dogs?

I feed bones, and also brush her teeth a few times a week. I am a bit of a clean teeth nazi.

[luckypup]

  ozjen said:

  luckypup said:

where do u get your roo tails/brisket bones? are they ok for dogs with sensitive stomachs? my 4 year old heeler is just starting to get some plaque and tartar build up, but i need to be careful what bones i feed him as he always throws up the morning after eating bones, even though i thought it was related to the fatty ones, i am very careful not to give him marrow bones or bones with too much fat on them, but he still throws up.

Do you think the roo tail bones would be better for him, and where would i get them? are they the smoked bones you get from blackdog etc or are they actual raw meaty bones?

thanks!

Dogs not use to eating bones will throw up little bits of bone to start with until their system adjusts, this usually leads to people believing that a RMB diet is not suitable for their dogs, but if continued the dog adjusts within a week or so. When my dogs first started on RMB diet I had this and almost changed my mind until I researched further and realised that there was nothing to worry about.

By the way a RMB diet does not mean that the dog gets lots of bone, just a proportianal amount to what they would get if eating prey. Also I do not give weight bearing bones like marrow bones(ie beef legs etc) as they are teeth breakers. RMB I think would be better than smoked bones for teeth cleaning but I don't have any experience with smoked bones. Even just adding a couple of chicken carcases a week to a medium sized dogs diet and cutting back on the other food accordingly would be beneficial.

Ive been giving him bones forever, hes now 4.5 years old. He used to get bones every few days, maybe once of twice a week, but he still throws them up the next day. He doesnt react to chicken carcasses (he gets them too), but for some reason, raw bones tend to make him sick the next day. I dont know what to do about it really besides just not feeding him raw bones, which is a big shame cos he absolutely LOVES his bones!

Any suggestions?

[Kirislin]

  ozjen said:

The teeth of a 6 and a half year old dog, never been brushed or scaled by vet on a RMB diet. While there is a tiny amount of tartar discolouration vets are always impressed with the state of this girls teeth. I don't believe that my brushing her teeth would necessarily result in any better effect. I only wish that my old boy had been put on to this sort of diet earlier in life as he had a very bad tarter problem and lost a number of teeth to it. His teeth were scaled about 7 years ago but because of the condition of his teeth the vet was not able to remove the build up of tarter completly (he is also considered a high risk under anastetic because of a bad heart so teeth were only done because he was under for something else). He has since been on RMB diet and while there is still tarter his teeth aren't too bad for a 14 year old.

sometimes even though the large canines look OK the back molars can still have a build up of tartar. Do you check his back teeth too?

[Kirislin]

Just took a pic of Pennys teeth. She will be 12 in May and has never had her teeth cleaned. They are quite worn as you can see but pretty clean. She regularly gets lamb or chicken bones. I prefer not to give her beef or pork although very occasionally she does get them. I have to avoid the long cut in half beef marrow bones cause she just scrapes and scrapes them and wears her front teeth down.

My dogs aren't on a raw diet but they do have alot of variety. I cook for them making a loaf with chicken and veggies. They also get lots of fruit and veggies raw if they want them. I give them a small amount of commercial dry dog food in the mornings.

[B-Q]

Buster is 8 and never had his teeth cleaned, regular bones since he was young and we've never had a problem, often vets do a double take when they check his teeth then look at his age. This is my big toother boy.

We use lamb brisket bones or beef soup bones as teeth cleaners.

Edited March 9, 2011 by B-Q

[Kirislin]

How do his back molars look?

[Red Fox]

  persephone said:

perhaps give him meaty bones like roo tails ..which he has to GNAW sideays at ,with those back teeth !!

Most softish bones get taken with the front teeth...crunched a few times with the back ones, and swallowed.

Dogs with a meaty rootail or whole lamb neck need to gnaw and gnaw to get all that meat off properly..and it is that 'head-on-the-side' chewing gristly meaty bones which will clean the sides of molars etc

Yep, raw roo tails do a great job of cleaning up the back teeth. Kei gets them a few times a week and his back teeth are pretty much spotless.

He still gets a build up around the gum line of his canines though which needs brushing one every week or so to remove - and smells. Anyone have any suggestions on how to deal with that?

I do wonder if it's because of his eating style? Regardless of what he gets he will gnaw at it from the side as opposed to tearing the meat of the bone

[anniek]

  SecretKei said:

I do wonder if it's because of his eating style? Regardless of what he gets he will gnaw at it from the side as opposed to tearing the meat of the bone

Unlesss they are bringing down whole prey, they are not tearing at the meat with their front toofers.

I give mine turkey drumsticks to tear at.

Having said that, my two are fed mostly raw - meaty bones every night, lots of large slabs of stewing steak they have to tear at, but have shocking teeth. Mouth bacteria is different from dog to dog, and sometimes raw food makes no difference. I inspect every night, and brush when needed - usually every couple of days.