Keeping Their Teeth Clean.

[Kirislin]

Clean teeth is not something I've had much a problem with in the past with my current whippets. Even now at 8 I think Puck and Tags teeth are immaculate. Penny, their mother, has always had amazingly clean teeth until maybe the last year or so. Kibah and Feather have always been a bit wimpy with chewing bones and their teeth are getting worse as they age. I think their mouth chemistry must be changing. I dont know if that's the right way to describe it, but the three girls have started to get a build up of plaque and it's bothering me.

I feed my dogs a small amount of dry food in the morning, home made cooked loaf at night and bones at least once per week, sometimes more. I give them things like chicken necks, legs,or carcasses, lamb ribs and brisket. They also get raw carrots to chew on, fruit, and plants and veggies they forage for, such as wild mustard and Clivers at the park. I'm thinking of increasing the bones so that I give them a small bone most nights after their loaf, in the hope it will act like a toothbrush.

Tag 8yo

5F6A2825dppt by kirislin, on Flickr

5F6A2826dppt tag by kirislin, on Flickr

Penny 13.5 years

5F6A2832dpp penny by kirislin, on Flickr

problem child Feather 10yo.

5F6A2833dpp Feather by kirislin, on Flickr

this is the part I'm most concerned about. Sometimes I've managed to hook my thumbnail under the ridge of plaque and flick it off but it keeps coming back

5F6A2834dpp Feather by kirislin, on Flickr

I've just bought a little doggy tooth brush from the vet and I'm trying to use it on the girls' teeth but they're not used to it yet and it's a bit of a struggle to use it on them.

I'm wondering if zoo animal dog species ever get plaque build up and if not, what is their diet.

[Dame Aussie]

We feed ours a raw bone almost every day and they both have pretty good teeth. However, even between the two, only 4 months apart in age, Mosley's teeth have never been as white and clean as Lili's so I think it does depend on the dog.

Maybe up their bones a bit and see if it makes a difference?

You can also get things you add to their water to remove plaque I think?

[Kirislin]

I meant to say, none of my dogs have ever had a dental, Tag and Feather have had teeth removed that were damaged and went bad and Penny knocked one out on the lure at the greyhound track, and Kibah knocked one out fighting with Penny but they've never had their teeth scaled. I'd really like to keep it that way if I can as they're all aging now, and I'd rather avoid an anaesthetic for them.

[~Rumour~]

We give ours deer antler to help keep their teeth clean

[Kirislin]

I'd be interested to see photos of their teeth after eating deer antler, but where do you get it. I sometimes give mine Pagans hoof trimmings, they like that. :laugh:

[Dame Aussie]

I think Sway sells them? Member/Commercial marketplace maybe? We were thinking of getting some!

[Polecatty]

Try giving a good chewing bone everyday -I use beef neck vertebrae, little bit of meat, not a great deal of fat and excellent for chewing. Something that they have to work on to get the meat off- chicken necks are too easily crunched. :)

Then a quick run over with the toothbrush every other night, whether they look like they need it or not.

There are also additives used specifically for reducing plaque and tartar buildup that can be added to food and water...could be worth looking into.

[Red Fox]

This; http://www.petzlife....salmon-oil.html given every so often will get rid of the plaque.

eta, mine get bones every night - roo spine/tail, lamb flaps, whole chickens, etc and my Ridgeback still gets a similar build up on his teeth. The gel clears it in a couple of applications.

Edited October 10, 2012 by SecretKei

[Kirislin]

can others post pics of their dogs teeth and age, I'm wondering if my dogs teeth are average for their ages.

[Kirislin]

Try giving a good chewing bone everyday -I use beef neck vertebrae, little bit of meat, not a great deal of fat and excellent for chewing. Something that they have to work on to get the meat off- chicken necks are too easily crunched. :)

Then a quick run over with the toothbrush every other night, whether they look like they need it or not.

There are also additives used specifically for reducing plaque and tartar buildup that can be added to food and water...could be worth looking into.

Beef bones are too big for my dogs. I've had them occasionally but if I get the leg bones cut in half Penny especially scrapes at them with her front teeth and wears them down. I haven't given it to them many times but now as an old dog she just has little stumps for front teeth.

[Kirislin]

Well I've just made up 3 bags of lamb bones so they'll get a bone after each loaf meal for the next 3 nights. It will mean I'll be giving them less loaf to incorporate the bone, otherwise they'll turn into fatties. I'll need to keep it up though.

I'm interested in the water additive although I wonder about additives, what do they do to a dogs system to change the saliva (I assume) to remove plaque, or does it just stop extra plaque from forming.

I'll have a look at that gel too. SecretKei can I see a pic of your dogs teeth please?

[BlackJaq]

Have you tried those denta chew thingies? My OH's dog was fed all canned food when he was younger and his teeth are pretty grotty. He is about 5 years old now and off his canned food for a few years but still gets lots of build up and they awfully stained (as in yellow, no dark bits). We had them cleaned once and OH now feeds him the pedigree denta-chews, not sure if they are making much of a difference but the dog likes them I guess.

All our dogs get kibble ad lib and bones/chicken necks/frames/whatever is handy several times a week and spend lots of time reducing sticks and logs to saw dust as well. I have not had an issue with my dogs so far but they are young still

ETA: Was also told by somebody that they brush their dogs' teeth with doggie tooth brushes and tooth paste (no human products).. Maybe worth a try if you can get them to let you? :p This person started when her dogs were pups so they have known it from the start

Edited October 10, 2012 by BlackJaq

[julesluvscavs]

Gosh we did everything we were told too do from cleaning their teeth to buying expensive dental dry food from the vet, and still both J and R had extensive dental work done..

The only thing with them is they have never liked to chew on bigger type bones, so they have only had chicken necks/wings (and sometimes frozen ones to make them chew longer) dentastix, pig ears etc

The vets said that some dogs breeds are more likely to be predisposed to dental problems than other ones.. and smaller dogs more so than bigger dogs. But like humans, even ones that have done everything right still sometimes have teeth problems.

The vet did say out of everything that can go wrong with dogs, teeth are usually fixable, and even if they have them all out, they can still survive easily without any*. . Its very expensive tho dental work

* but never leave a dog with bad teeth too long without having them treated as it can lead to other serious health problems (or it can be a result of something else going on with their health eg diabetes)

Edited October 10, 2012 by Jules♥Cavs

[julesluvscavs]

We also have put that green dental additive stuff in their drinking water, im not convinced it has worked that well in our case..

[HazyWal]

Maddie's teeth are terrible I haven't even had her two years yet and she has had two dentals. I bought the doggie toothbrush and chicken flavoured toothpaste (don't smell it when you take the lid off *gag*)from the vets and I try to brush them but I just can't get right up the back. She only eats bones on one side too which doesn't help. She will have to have a dental every 12 months.

[Kirislin]

Maddie's teeth are terrible I haven't even had her two years yet and she has had two dentals. I bought the doggie toothbrush and chicken flavoured toothpaste (don't smell it when you take the lid off *gag*)from the vets and I try to brush them but I just can't get right up the back. She only eats bones on one side too which doesn't help. She will have to have a dental every 12 months.

I never cease to be appalled at the majority of racing greyhounds teeth I have seen. In fact, I cannot think of any who had clean teeth. You would think if trainers knew anything about getting a dog in the peak of health they'd be aware of dental hygiene but in my experience it hasn't been the case. the few of them I've aske about it say they dont give bones because they cant regulate their dogs weight, but my dogs weights are stable.

I'm assuming Maddie and Stan are ex racer rescues so I'm guessing they came to you with bad teeth.

Edited October 10, 2012 by Kirislin

[karly101]

For their ages your dogs have excellent teeth apart from feather but even hers aren't too bad from photos. If she will let u scraping it off will give you best chance of removal of the.tarter build up....I would definitely keep up with what you are doing! Animals in the wild get a lot more whole prey which cleans the teeth...they also don't live as long as our pets so less plaque build up and if teeth do break they don't thrive. You can try dentastix, greenies or dental gel you can get from k9 gums.

[Red Fox]

Well I've just made up 3 bags of lamb bones so they'll get a bone after each loaf meal for the next 3 nights. It will mean I'll be giving them less loaf to incorporate the bone, otherwise they'll turn into fatties. I'll need to keep it up though.

I'm interested in the water additive although I wonder about additives, what do they do to a dogs system to change the saliva (I assume) to remove plaque, or does it just stop extra plaque from forming.

I'll have a look at that gel too. SecretKei can I see a pic of your dogs teeth please?

Here you go;

4 year old dog, gets bones every day. Back teeth are good it's just what you see in the pic above. I haven't used the gel for about 2 months now and there's a bit of a build up of plaque. A week of using it every second day and a light brush usually takes that off though.

Edited October 10, 2012 by SecretKei

[HazyWal]

Maddie's teeth are terrible I haven't even had her two years yet and she has had two dentals. I bought the doggie toothbrush and chicken flavoured toothpaste (don't smell it when you take the lid off *gag*)from the vets and I try to brush them but I just can't get right up the back. She only eats bones on one side too which doesn't help. She will have to have a dental every 12 months.

I never cease to be appalled at the majority of racing greyhounds teeth I have seen. In fact, I cannot think of any who had clean teeth. You would think if trainers knew anything about getting a dog in the peak of health they'd be aware of dental hygiene but in my experience it hasn't been the case. the few of them I've aske about it say they dont give bones because they cant regulate their dogs weight, but my dogs weights are stable.

I'm assuming Maddie and Stan are ex racer rescues so I'm guessing they came to you with bad teeth.

Yep both ex racers. When I first fostered Maddie she had just turned 2 and her teeth were green Stan's aren't too bad but they are still not fantastic. He will be having a dental soon as well.

[Rebanne]

I ended up pulling out all the teeth of my racing greyhound, best thing I ever did for him. Nothing worked for him. As fot the others except for the occassional removal of a tooth they never have a dental. For Sam I tried everything on the market but none of it worked.