Dog dental health questions

[luvadog]

I still can't get near his mouth, though, and that could be bad news.

Hi,

What do you do to try to handle him around his mouth or get him used to it?

My Chunsa (small yorky) has always been touchy (really psycho:)) but especially around her head and mouth. My guess is that in her past life some naughty little boy tossed her around like a toy.

Grooming her has been a chore but the groomer can handle her and showed me how to hold her to put the bow in her hair.

She has gotten better, but I want to brush her teeth. What do you suggest? Do I try it gently or with some pressure? Do I fed her the beef flavored toothpaste and hope she comes after it? When the groomer holds her, it's firm. But I'm afraid if I push too much, she'll get worse.

Anyone else have this problem?

[red dog]

He's fine being petted near his mouth, and he's perfectly cooperative when I give him a bath, but if I have toothpaste on my hand he knows I'm going to try to put it on his gum and he'll curl his lip as if he's going to bite. He's a wonderful, sweet dog and that's the *only* time he ever acts as if he might bite.

He didn't bite Dr. Kwon during the examination, but he was very upset and screamed when he touched his mouth and Dr. Kwon ended up not flushing Snoopy's gums (as he originally wanted to) because it would be too stressful.

Sometimes I can get Snoopy to take a taste of toothpaste by putting it close to his mouth, but even that's not easy. I'll have to keep trying, and in the meantime I'm adding a product that Dr. Kwon recommended to the drinking water ... it's for dogs who won't cooperate with brushing, and it's supposed to help control tartar. I'm not sure what else I can do, but I'd be happy to get some suggestions. It's possible that he may lose his teeth. :(

[luvadog]

It's possible that he may lose his teeth. :(

Thanks. Do you have the beef or chicken flavored ones? He doesn't like it? I think you're doing the right thing anyway. Thanks for caring for the old boy. He's a lucky dog.

Has he had his teeth cleaned? Are there any decayed? There's an old yorky at the Daejeon shelter with no teeth according to Wes' interpretation of the site.

I have been lucky. Several of my dogs had kruddy teeth really gunked and brown caked stuff. I had them cleaned when they had other procedures/neutering, etc. and the teeth came out sparkling. And in several cases, the vet didn't charge extra. Even though I have spent only my money on my dogs/rescues/gas with no help, the vets have helped me out tremendously. They all have a forever home in my heart...the vets.

[red dog]

Thanks, Luvadog. He had some dental work recently, and I think Dr. Kwon did the best he could to remove as much inflamed tissue as possible ... but I'm not sure if Snoopy lost any teeth or not, to be honest. I know there's a really bad tooth that couldn't be extracted because it would have been too risky, and the situation does worry me a lot. Whoever adopts him will have to be prepared to deal with his bad teeth and talk to their vet about the possibility of having them extracted if his condition gets any worse.

[luvadog]

I know there's a really bad tooth that couldn't be extracted because it would have been too risky, and the situation does worry me a lot.

I agree that it's risky. The only time I almost passed out when I worked for my vet years ago was when he was extracting teeth from an old, tiny poodle. He cried in his sleep (the vet said he really didn't feel anything-it was a normal reaction) and I had to go lay down 3 times before I recovered completely. Dr. Drake said every vet student does it, gets swimmy-headed.

Most of my dogs have had some teeth pulled-the baby canines--but they're young.

[red dog]

I hope it won't come to that, but it may be unavoidable. Other than his teeth and gums, and the skin condition (which is getting a lot better), he's a perfectly healthy and adorable dog. I'd adopt him myself if I could, but I think it's better for him to get adopted.