Thursday, March 1, 2012

someone needs a breath mint.

I tried. I really did. But it was nearly impossible...
It was so difficult that I gave up after the second attempt...
I failed.

But she just would not let me brush her teeth.

We were in the car the other day, heading to the dog park. She was standing on the center console with her head sticking out the sunroof, ears blowing in the breeze. Maybe it was the way the wind was blowing, but I caught a whiff of something that just smelled terrible. Like dead fish.

I'll be totally honest with you: I thought it was my breath at first. I'd eaten some spicy food for lunch, complete with garlic and onions [yes, my officemate adores me, if you were wondering]. I was mortified. I stuffed a whole pack's worth of gum into my mouth in the hopes that it would eradicate any remnant of my stinky lunch before I got to the park. [Did you know that eating a whole pack of Orbit at once isn't just hard to chew, but the mint makes you sneeze at least eight times? Truth. Firsthand knowledge]. But when we stopped at a red light and Claire leaned down to give me a big fat kiss, I realized -- partly with relief and partly in horror -- that it was not MY breath causing the dead-fish smell... it was HERS.

She's never been one to have bad breath, but I recently started giving her a different flavor of her food - trout and potato, as a matter of fact. And apparently, it reeks. But she actually likes it and it's easy on her stomach [which is important with her chronic GERD and recent pancreatitis scare], so I am hesitating to change it back...

The next day, after taking a quick trip to PetSmart, I sat down with Claire and discussed why I absolutely have to brush her teeth. She listened to me explain that I don't want her to be the smelly kid dog at school daycare who doesn't have any friends because they can't stand the stench. She also heard me say that preventative care is the best care, so we had to nip this in the bud. I believe I also told her that this would be more painful for me than it would be for her. And then I tried to persuade her by telling her that the toothbrush itself is peanut butter flavored, so maybe she would like it.

Aaaaand... nope. She let me look at those pearly whites, but she wouldn't let me touch them with the toothbrush. Actually, when she saw it coming towards her, she kept leaning backwards until she tumbled over. And then she rolled over for a belly rub. [Does she think I'm an amateur?! As if I was going to get distracted by that!] I tried putting the toothpaste on my finger to brush her teeth that way, but when I started walking over to her, she turned and ran into our room. And then, my fifty pound dog tried to hide behind the bookcase.

That's when I gave up.

I realized that this was not going to happen, no matter how badly I needed wanted it to. I haven't yet come up with a solution, so suggestions are welcome. For now, I'm trying to manage it with dental chews, a water additive, and raw marrow bones.

HELP!! I just can't let the trout win this battle.
  

16 comments:

  1. Oh no!

    I'm with you, Elka doesn't really ever have bad breath either. Or she sometimes does, depending on which *ahem* area she's been licking.

    You got farther than I did! I've bought toothbrushes for her, just not used them. Or gotten doggie toothpaste, which is apocalyptically expensive where I looked.

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    1. It's those darn back teeth!! UGH!! Let me know how it goes with Elka - when/if you get to the point where you are as desperate to try it as I was!!

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  2. Sigh. I'm totally with you. Arie has that GSD dog bite force...It's like
    Alcatraz on lock down. Once that mouth is shut, it's not going to open. We've stuck with "dental cleaning" treats, like Greenies and the Blue Buffalo kind (can't remember what their called) and the ever-so-often feeble toothbrush attempt.

    Saving grace? Many groomers and vets will clean their teeth. Call your vet to find out if they offer dental service and what the expense is. You may only be able to do it once every couple of months, but at least her breath will have some help.

    They also have mints for dogs, if the trout mouth gets too stinky. :)

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    1. I just ran out of the Blue Buffalo kind, so I need to get more - she loves those!! And she's scheduled for another dental cleaning in the fall... so the question is: can I make it til then?!

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  3. omg that is so funny....get that under control BEFORE I come to visit lol lol.....or your sis! or your cousin! lol lol...good luck

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    1. I think I'll give her the cue for "kiss" when you all come visit... ;)

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  4. we use the little thimble thingy instead of the brush, and desmond tolerates it. perhaps you can try again in a few weeks?

    in the meantime, i think you're on the right track with the chews and the bones and the water stuff (although we used water stuff for a while, too, and i don't think it really did anything). we always have breath-freshening treats on-hand as well. there are tons of them, as you surely know. you can also look up treats you can make with mint and parsley. apparently parsley is a big anti-bad-breath food.

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    1. I don't think the water additive does anything either! And I noticed that Claire wasn't drinking as much as she usually does when I put it in there, so I don't think she's such a fan of it anyway! I might need to invest in a parsley plant and then add a few sprigs to her food each day!

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  5. I would only try to brush my dogs teeth if I wanted my finger bite off. He would NEVER let me! And so, to keep the dental vet bill to $0 I give him a large marrow beef bone once a month. Not the kind at the pet stores, the kind you get at the grocery stores that are NOT cooked. They are sometimes labelled as soup/stewing bones. It cleans his teeth amazingly, even those back molars!

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    1. I'm so glad to hear that you give your dog the marrow bones too! Aren't they great?! Claire goes CRAZY when I ask her if she wants one; nothing makes her happier! We were taking a break from those because she had a little episode of pancreatitis and I didn't want it to flare up again, but maybe that's why her breath took a turn for the worse - she hasn't had one in awhile!

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    2. I've taken old beef marrow bones that he's had forever and rubbed the inside with something yummy. Dexter is intolerant to grains so normally I use tomato paste or yogurt. Once he starts licking the bone he normally chews on it for a bit even though there is nothing left on it. If you have an old one laying around you can try that. That way you don't have to feed her the marrow and meat.

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  6. I have had much the same happen with my dog, Artie.

    His breath got intolerable and off he went for a nerve wracking (for us both) dental. While worrying all day I swore I'd brush daily, or at least regularly. So far, he's winning. All 12 pounds of him.

    I wish I could be more helpful but at least you know you are not alone in being outdone by my dog. At least yours is larger then a house cat.....

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    1. I think I get more nervous about Claire's dental cleaning than she does, so I completely understand how anxiety-provoking it is! And yes, knowing that I'm not alone actually does make me feel a little better! :)

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  7. Well, the first thing is that it is best to start veeery slow. Baby steps. Introducing the presence of the brush. Introducing the presence of the toothpaste. Letting the dog to explore the flavor. Really baby steps.

    If none of that works, there are some products that just require application with teeth, such as Biotene Oral Maintenance gel we're using. So it's just fingers, not a foreign object. I still recommend baby steps with that also.

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  8. Hey Lauren,

    Reeva wasn't a big fan of having her teeth brushed at first either. Strike that, she still isn't a big fan. This stuff was a lifesaver:

    http://www.amazon.com/PetzLife-Oral-Care-Original-Peppermint/dp/B000PICIB6/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

    The nice thing about it is it works with their saliva so you don't have to worry about actually brushing it on. Overtime, reeva got used to it and let me really brush. Best of all, when we brought her to the vet the first time they said we HAD to get her teeth professionally cleaned (I refused). After using this stuff for a month, we went in again and they said her teeth look amazing! Try it out, might help, and it has a minty scent that will cover up gross dog breath!

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  9. I've heard that a piece of gauze can be used. I think in this instance you will need to work her up to it. If you can just get your fingers in her mouth, treat her for it and slowly work your way up.

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