Guest ShannyTizzle Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Hi guys! New to the forum. I've had my greyhound for a little over 5 months and I'm new to everything greyhound. One thing I'm concerned about is her dental health. I was wondering what you guys use to help them clean their teeth with chewing toys/bones. I've tried the DuraBone that a lot of people have mentioned, but she wouldn't touch it. Also tried the elk antler; she wouldn't touch it even after I boiled it in chicken broth. She's also had an all beef bone, but after just a little while I could see her breaking off pieces of the bone so I took it away immediately. Today, she went to PetCo to get her nails clipped (still afraid to do myself) and they gave her a Whimzee. She loved it, but I'm concerned with the horror stories of things getting lodged in dogs' stomachs or intestines. What are your thoughts on it, and/or do you have any other suggestions? All help is appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OwnedBySummer Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I brush her teeth and also give her raw turkey necks, duck necks and beef neck vertebrae (both frozen and defrosted, depending on my mood and what the weather is like). Quote Lisa B. My beautiful Summer - to her forever home May 1, 2010 Summer Certified therapy dog team with St. John Ambulance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greysmom Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Never give any chew bone unsupervised. Many people use raw, meaty bones (RMBs), as Summer's owner stated above. Chicken and turkey necks are most often done, but any raw part will do. Never give any sort of cooked bone. You can find dozens of rawhide chews. There is a concern about them swallowing a large piece and choking. The granulated rawhide chews are a bit safer in that regard. MilkBone also has a new-ish dental product out that my dogs like, though they eat them so fast I doubt they are getting much benefit from them. You want the dog to chew, not break off and swallow. Here in our house we use a variety of chewing options. After breakfast, they get a Pedigree Dentastick. During the day, they will probably get one or more sticks of granulated rawhide. After dinner they each get a small Busy Bone. This is what works for us. We haven't tried the CET chews, or the other dental specific treats. A water additive did nothing for us. There is a large genetic component to the notorious greyhound mouth - some dogs have bad teeth and some dogs don't. That's no excuse for allowing tartar build up or proper dental hygiene, but it can take away some of the guilt. I have four dogs here that have not had a dental since they came to live with us - part good luck, and part a strict routine that works. One of our dogs that has passed had a bad mouth. He got exactly the same thing, the same time, the same amount as the others, but he could have had a full dental every six months. Quote Chris - Mom to: Felicity (DeLand), and Andi (Braska Pandora) siggy by Chris Harper, on Flickr Angels: Libby (Everlast), Dorie (Dog Gone Holly), Dude (TNJ VooDoo), Copper (Kid's Copper), Cash (GSI Payncash), Toni (LPH Cry Baby), Whiskey (KT's Phys Ed), Atom, Lilly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest normaandburrell Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 We brush his teeth twice a day and give a pedigree dentastick as a reward for allowing the brushing. We did this with our first grey and he never needed a cleaning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chickenpotpie Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I give raw turkey neck (or pieces of one) Sometimes I give a raw back (chicken only) or drum sticks (chicken only). She eats a partial raw diet so, this is a part of her daily meal. Like said, never give and walk away. I aways watch her eat those. I can't give Lucky a dentastick to save my life I got the most insane dirty looks the last time I tried. For teeth brushing, I do 3 times a week max because its what she allows. She's got great teeth per the vet, so this is what works. Some use different methods, but its best that you find whatever works best for your household. You could try moo-tubes as well. I do those from time to time as a treat. We tried bully sticks and ugh...never again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ShannyTizzle Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Thank you so much for the feedback, everyone. Don't worry; I am so freaked out by her choking or swallowing too big of a piece so I ALWAYS watch her with these chew items. I was also worried about the Dentastix and had seen them frequently, but it seems like a lot of you are using it and I will definitely give that and the raw meaty bones a try! @chickenpotpie, what happened with the bully sticks?? My interest is piqued now haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreytTerp Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 We discovered the rather gross way that we can't use the regular dental chews (the milkbone ones or greenies) - our guy only chews them into pieces small enough to swallow, but not small enough to digest, and a day or two later, he vomits them back up. We do like the CET chews and bully sticks, though who knows how much good they do since he still consumes them so quickly. We've found just good old fashioned brushing about 5 nights a week seems to be working just fine (3 years with us and no dental). It also seems that our hounds are a bit like people in that some build up plaque no matter what, and others don't build it up at all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukasmom Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 I buy Get Naked chew sticks for digestion. My hounds love it. I only buy this one for digestion, the others have something in it to process seaweed and it could cause cancer according to research. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chickenpotpie Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Thank you so much for the feedback, everyone. Don't worry; I am so freaked out by her choking or swallowing too big of a piece so I ALWAYS watch her with these chew items. I was also worried about the Dentastix and had seen them frequently, but it seems like a lot of you are using it and I will definitely give that and the raw meaty bones a try! @chickenpotpie, what happened with the bully sticks?? My interest is piqued now haha I think they smell gawd awful and + a bully stick later.... paint peeling farts! That killed the bully stick experiment totally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramonaghan Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 I think they smell gawd awful and + a bully stick later.... paint peeling farts! That killed the bully stick experiment totally. Have you tried the ones from Trader Joes ("beef stick twists" for $5.99)? They're far less stinky than any others we've tried--at both ends! And you can untwist them and break them in half to get more chewing sessions per stick, so they end up being pretty cheap too. Quote Rachel with littermates Doolin and Willa, boss cat Tootie, and feline squatters Crumpet and Fezziwig. Missing gentlemen kitties Mud, Henry, and Richard and our beautiful, feisty, silly Sweep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Johberry Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Have you tried the ones from Trader Joes ("beef stick twists" for $5.99)? They're far less stinky than any others we've tried--at both ends! And you can untwist them and break them in half to get more chewing sessions per stick, so they end up being pretty cheap too. Thank you for the insight. We shop at Trader Joe's regularly and never noticed they carried beef twist sticks! The only thing we've tried there are th PB biscuits in a box and stopped giving them as it gave our boy horrible gas. We brush his teeth daily before bedtime, but will look into the sticks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chickenpotpie Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Have you tried the ones from Trader Joes ("beef stick twists" for $5.99)? They're far less stinky than any others we've tried--at both ends! And you can untwist them and break them in half to get more chewing sessions per stick, so they end up being pretty cheap too. I haven't tried these but thanks for this recommendation I'm all for less stinky chews! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramonaghan Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Thank you for the insight. We shop at Trader Joe's regularly and never noticed they carried beef twist sticks! The only thing we've tried there are th PB biscuits in a box and stopped giving them as it gave our boy horrible gas. We brush his teeth daily before bedtime, but will look into the sticks. Good luck! Sweep gets the PB biscuits for her bedtime snack and they don't cause her any issues, so as they say, your mileage may vary. She's also a big fan of their "Mint-a-breath" bones (TJ's version of Greenies), which probably don't actually do a thing for her teeth but smell nice and aren't messy, which some evenings is all I have the energy for. I haven't tried these but thanks for this recommendation I'm all for less stinky chews! My only complaint about them is that some last much longer than others. Some she crunches up in 10 minutes and some she'll work on for an hour before giving up. I don't know if that's down to the dehydration process or the bull. Quote Rachel with littermates Doolin and Willa, boss cat Tootie, and feline squatters Crumpet and Fezziwig. Missing gentlemen kitties Mud, Henry, and Richard and our beautiful, feisty, silly Sweep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Potomacpupsmom Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 I brush our greys' teeth with Tropiclean tooth gel for dogs. They also get a Milkbone dental chew in the morning and greenies after dinner. No problems with chewing or choking. They love both of them, and their tooth gel too! Quote Humans Kathy and Jim with our girls, Ivy (Carolina Spoon) and Cherry (Fly Cherry Pie) Missing our beautiful angel Breeze (Dighton Breeze) and angel Beka (BM Beko) - you are forever in our hearts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kronckew Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 BIRDY FEETS! poppy loves her crunchy after-dinner dried chicken foot. Quote Regards, Wayne KronckeCAVE CANEM RADIX LECTI ET SEMPER PARATUSVegetarians: My food poops on your food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.