# Teeth/bad breath question



## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Tucker is about 20 months old, I brush his teeth (not near enough, apparently,) about once every two weeks, on bath days. He's pretty suddenly developed tartar, and his breath is smelling like a dog's now. I've heard of small dogs needing to be put under to have their teeth cleaned and had really hoped to avoid that.

What am I doing wrong, and can I correct it before it gets any worse? I don't think my fingernails will remove the tartar, but could maybe scrape it with some type of tool--but I sure don't want to hurt him.

Suggestions?

Thanks!
Sheri


----------



## marjrc (Jan 13, 2007)

Hi Sheri,

We all seem to have the same questions as we would prefer not to have our Havs put under for a brush cleaning.

Check out these threads and maybe they will help..... 

http://havaneseforum.com/showthread.php?t=2312&highlight=breath

http://havaneseforum.com/showthread.php?t=5846&highlight=breath

http://havaneseforum.com/showthread.php?t=1795&highlight=breath

http://havaneseforum.com/showthread.php?t=215&highlight=breath

I haven't brushed my dogs' teeth and I KNOW that's bad. I do use Petz Oral Gel which is mentioned in some of these threads. The best toothbrush in the world, though, is a raw meaty bone on a regular basis. For info on THAT, you'll want to check out the "Alternative Diet, etc..." forum here. :biggrin1:


----------



## marjrc (Jan 13, 2007)

I just have to say how much Tucker is gorgeous! He has a beautiful face and coat. Care to share him sometime? :suspicious: :biggrin1:


----------



## Beamer (Jan 29, 2007)

Hi Sheri, Well you could do:

Throw the dog a bone! Literally! Chewing on Raw meaty bones will take care of the tarter problem.

Start feeding a diet of raw food only! There are no carbs in raw, which cause all your teeth problems.

You can add this to your dogs drinking water to help with tarter/stank breath etc.. There are many brands out there...
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752815

Also, alot of people here use this...
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3159399

Ryan


----------



## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Marj, thanks for the comments on Tucker, and he'd LOVE to play! And I'm about to check out the sites you listed.

And, both you and Ryan mentioned the raw, meaty bones would help. I wondered if that might be real helpful because I'd already read something about that in the earlier posts. But, the NV ones are 45 minutes away, and I've not been able to get there yet. Since you all think it might really be effective, I'll make a trip over next week to get some.

Mapquest, here I come!

Thanks!

Sheri


----------



## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Oh, and Ryan, I've copied the info on the liquid to use. When I go over I'll check out Petsmart, too. Do you use them? I'm a little leery about using chemicals...

Sheri


----------



## Beamer (Jan 29, 2007)

Hi Sheri,

Yes, I use one of those liquids in Beamers water. Although his teeth and breath are great, I just like him to drink it since his breath can get a bit 'meaty' after his raw food, or 'fishy' after giving salmon oil. So drinking this right after his meals makes his breath NICE! 

Ryan


----------



## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Kubrick's Mom, Lina:
"I just started using the Oxyfresh Pet Oral Hygiene solution and Kubrick really likes it! Then again, I just got him a water fountain so maybe that's what he enjoys about it. Nevertheless, he drinks it more than he drinks water regularly and his breath is a little better... I guess I will be able to tell if it really worked in a couple of days and I will let you all know."

So, this quote from you is from last year, so what do you think of the Oxyfresh now?

Sheri


__________________


----------



## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

When the tartar-the dark stuff-starts to build up next to the gums it has to be scraped off with a dental tool. Tartar is usually the cause of bad breath. They do get used to it pretty fast but it's a two person job at least to start with. The holder has to be able to get the dog relaxed. You can't do it while the dog struggles.


----------



## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Thank you, Tom. I'm on my own, so probably won't be able to scrape his teeth....but I may try if the Petzlife and Oxyfresh doesn't do it.

Sheri


----------



## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

Sheri, the Oxyfresh is still awesome! I have really noticed the difference in it when DH forgets to add it to Kubrick's water bottle... his breath goes bad within days of not having it in the water, so it does make a pretty big difference.


----------



## Jane (Jun 2, 2007)

Hi Sheri,

I brush my dogs' teeth almost every day with an enzymatic dog toothpaste, and they are still getting tartar buildup - I hope I am slowing it down some. My vet said brushing every day is fine. They do get chewies almost every day, which helps some too. Once a month or so, they get a beef marrow bone (barely boiled so it isn't bloody) and that probably helps the most to clean their teeth. I do supervise them since there is some risk of tooth breakage, apparently - so far, we haven't had a problem. 

I also highly recommend the Oxyfresh Pet Oral Hygiene solution. It has made Lincoln's breath near odorless. Scout has pretty bad breath, originating in his gut, so it doesn't help him quite as much (but it does help - I could really tell when I ran out!) so I am trying other things with him. 

I have a dental tool, but found the dogs too squirmy to use it on - I was afraid of slipping and injuring them. I think I'll leave that the the professionals. 

I just LOVE Tucker. Great photos!


----------



## marjrc (Jan 13, 2007)

Sheri, you don't have to drive 45 mins. to get "special" raw bones for Tucker. You just have to grab some chicken wings and neck at the grocery store! :biggrin1: I remove that pointy, useless tip on the wings and give the dogs one as a meal about 2x/week now. I started this past month since it had been since early spring that they had any. 

Wings are usually cheap and you can ask the butcher to slice chicken necks lengthwise down the middle which will make it easier for Tucker to chew without swallowing whole chunks. The bones on a chicken neck are soft and small and the wings are easily chewed down too. Ricky and Sammy just had a wing this a.m. for brekkie and love it! I used to give the bones frozen or partially frozen, but now thaw them almost completely. Summer is fine for frozen wings, but there's not much point to it now. Ricky will sometimes ask to bring his out on the deck where it's colder than indoors nowadays so I'm not at all worried about the raw meat. Raw meaty bones are the best toothbrush in the world. :biggrin1:

Just remember that they take the place of a meal usually.


----------



## Jane (Jun 2, 2007)

marjrc said:


> I remove that pointy, useless tip on the wings and give the dogs one as a meal about 2x/week now.


Hi Marj,

Do you give your dogs the other parts of the wing too? I would like to try it - I always throw out those pointy tips on chicken wings anyway!


----------



## marjrc (Jan 13, 2007)

Yes Jane, I give everything on the chicken wing, but that pointy piece, so 2/3 of the wing.


----------



## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Marj,
Do you think that dogs choking on bones is an old wive's tale, then? I'd love to give Tucker bones, but am so afraid he'd get splinters in his throat or intestinal system. I thought that if I went to those specialty stores and got a big bone, then he couldn't actually injest any to cause problems, but would just scrub his teeth by chewing on it.

Sheri


----------



## Beamer (Jan 29, 2007)

Sheri,
If you buy those big bones which are not injestible, then that means they are to hard and heavy to eat, and will probbaly break teeth!

Ryan


----------



## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

Sheri, never give *cooked* poultry bones to a dog. Cooked bones splinter, and this is where most of the basis for the "old wives tales" originate. If you don't have a problem with giving bones, then give them RAW poultry.

Beef bones are very well known for causing broken teeth, as Ryan has already mentioned.


----------



## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Hmmm, well I sure don't want broken teeth! It's hard to change my mind set of apparent wrong information after 50 years! 

Thanks!

Sheri


----------



## Eva (Jun 20, 2008)

I swear by raw bones for teeth cleaning. I used to have a lab that I fed raw bones to a couple of times a week and at 7 1/2 yrs of age he had NO tarter on his teeth! They were pearly white and no stinky breath either. 
Give it a try...it works!! :biggrin1:


----------



## Lilly's mom (Aug 10, 2007)

*What type of raw bones are best? Also a face washing is a must right after eating it correct? Do you worry about ecolie or other illnesses?*


----------



## Eva (Jun 20, 2008)

Smaller,softer bones are best for teeth cleaning..chicken wings, turkey necks, things that they have to really chew to get the meat off of.
NV medallions are a great complete food but they are already ground up and so they won't clean teeth. 
I buy my raw bones at the butcher shop or the local market...necks are REALLY inexpensive around here since they are considered scrap meat by most people.

ETA...I never washed our labs face but he wasn't a big licker...Todd would definately need a wipe down since he's a little kissy face boy..lol


----------



## Jan D (Mar 13, 2007)

Marj,
What great info! I had no idea about the raw bones. So A couple of times a week I can give Havee a whole, raw wing, minus the tip, as a meal and this will forever keep his teeth clean? Skin removed or keep it on?

Thanks so much!!


----------



## Eva (Jun 20, 2008)

I was inspired by this thread to buy Todd his first ever RMB. :biggrin1:
Turkey necks were .79 a lb and so I bought two 12 inchers and hacked them each into 3 nice sized chunks. Todd was so funny when I handed him his Turkey neck.. my cat tried to get in on the action and Todd curled back his lip and gave him a Cujo growl..lol
I ended up taking the TN away from him and letting the cat chew on it for a few minutes until Todd decided to "play nice" with him. Then I stuck him in his crate with his TN and he's crunching away.
He's a happy carnivore!! :biggrin1:


----------



## marjrc (Jan 13, 2007)

Jan, you're welcome.  I love that many of us can offer different takes on some topics and basically, it's up to everyone to read, learn and then make their own decisions. It helps when there is a large group to learn from, like ours.

As to keeping the skin on or not, it's up to you. If Havee is a tad overweight, you might want to remove extra fat and the skin, but otherwise there is no need to. There are benefits to eating those, I'm sure. I don't bother unless there's a hung chunk of fat hanging off a wing. Raw meat alone will also help keep teeth clean but RMB's work very well.

Eva, that's great! I have to be careful with necks, though I've only given that to mine twice. Sammy is a hog and will take the whole thing in his mouth! I prefer to have it cut down the middle, lengthwise, but it was a huge hassle trying to hack at it myself! I have to get some more and ask a butcher to just saw the necks down the middle. Still giving wings only for now.


----------

