tartar!

[mitchie]

Hello!
my 6 year old baby is developing some tartar near the gumline on her canine teeth!
I brush her teeth and she chews greenies!  I worked in dental for 10 years and this
makes me crazy!  I can't decide whether to send her to get her teeth cleaned-is it worth
it to sedate her to get her teeth cleaned?  Do those tartar control liquids to add to their drinking
water help? We have a lot of iron in our water and I always give my ladies filtered. 
Can I teach her to rinse and spit?? ha-ha!
Mitchie

[Rufiesmom]

Nylabones are great for tartar.  Our dogs go through about 5-6 a year and they have pearly whites!

[nickerbokker]

i used to give my puppies nylabones....a nd the lady that came to do their teeth said the area  NO.

she says anything hard like that is just terrible for their teeth...and that you cannot see it, but it is breaking their teeth in the back and their mouth is full of chips.  i didn't believe her, until she showed me!  then i freaked out!  she said the best thing is to keep away the bones that hard, and get out he wash cloth and rub down their teeth every day.  it seems to be working great with the kids!

i dont know though.....

[jabear]

I was thinking of adding the brushing into the next vet visit because Bear's teeth are not as pearly white as they once were. The two biggest outside ones are a completely different shade of white now. I think it has to do alot with all of the junk he eats and the lack of brushing I do myself. 

[mastiffmommy]

Brushing is good, and there is also the "wipes" for teeth, I have tried them and liked, I have not tried the different things you can put in the water, but it cant hurt to try. My vet lookes at their teeth every time they are there, and our Husky has a little tartar, but not enough for him to want to sedate and clean them, I guess as long as it is not too much, they prefer to not do it. But if you have worked in dental for so many years, maybe you could even try the hmmm whatever do you call them, the pointy not so fun (when the dentist put them in your mouth lol ) and scrape it off, I know they sell it in a lot of the dog catalogs under dental care, so I guess that is something you could try.

I had no idea that the nylabones were not good for them, I was told that, that is the best you can give them, especially the puppies with their little sharp teethies, I will definately look into it before I buy another one, thanks for the info.

Marit

[mitchie]

hmmm, a washcloth!  I'll try that-Daisy will think it's a game of tug!
Booda bones make a nice chew out of corn startch that my lab
just loved. They come in different flavors.  She went through
all her baby teeth chewing those.  Daisy doesn't have enough
tartar to take her to the vet.   She's been through enough
this year-she had acl surgery back in January.  I'll give the washcloths
a go.  Thanks!

[RottiMommyAL]

We feed our Rotties a completely raw diet.  The raw meat and bones they eat cleans their teeth so well.  My 3 year old males teeth are so super clean, it's incredible.  Another thing I've noticed is their breath.  I can honestly say it is pleasant.  That they can breathe in my face and my eyes don't tear up.
I am amazed at the benefits from this new diet.  If you'd like anymore info, feel free to e-mail me!

[mastiffmommy]

Hi RottiMommy, there is a thread out here BARF, it would be so interesting to hear your opinion and how you feed since you actually does it at the moment.

If you dont mind please tell us a little about what and how you feed, if you give an supplements or vitamins hmmmm I think the BARF thread is on the general board.

Thanks a lot, ohhh and I smile and giggle every time I see the pic of your baby, it is just too sweet that big ol' tongue slapping all around the face

Marit

[RottiMommyAL]

It's not the Barf diet.  It's called prey model or raw feeding.  I give each dog 2-3% of their adult weight of food.  Raw meat, bones and organs.  What a wild dog would eat in the...wild.  I do a gorge and fast method where one day they eat 4-5# of food and then the next day they fast.  We are on a wonderful cycle now.  Both dogs love their new food.  Some foods need to be introduced seeing they are so inexperienced with raw.  There is a raw feeding group on Yahoo if your interested.
I thought about raw feeding before but thought it would be too expensive but we ahve saved money.  The chemically processed kibble was costing $100 every 3 weeks.  Now?  About $80 a month.  I have a storage freezer in the garage, we weigh everythiing out when we return from the butcher, mark each dogs bag.  I take a bag out for each dog the night before, it's thawed by morning.  I feed them seperately for safety issue and they love it.
One thing before I go.  You know those bare patches on a dogs elbows?  Well, both my Rotties, after 5 days of raw feeding, their bare elbow patches were gone!  Completely gone!  That was when I was totally convinced.  They their teeth and breath became so clean, hardly anymore gas (you know ), their coats are shiny without that oily feel.  They only thing I supplement is Fish/Salmon oil for the Omega 3.  Fish is kind of expensive and I need to make sure they get their Omega 3.  They get all they need nutrition wise from the bones, organs and meats.
Thanks Marit for the great questions!  Feel free, anytime!