Good dental diet?

[puglucky]

Both my pugs are on summit canadien chicken and doing well.

Daisy was spayed today and doing fine, but due to a poor diet before we adopted her her teeth or horrible, the vet told us to put her on a dental food.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

[lmcpug]

Bubble schnaggle tooth had horrible horrible teeth and stinky breath that could knock an elephant over when I got him :lol:  not to mention poor Sarge squishing into a corner of the back seat with a "oh my gosh...mom has lost her marbles this time" look!  :roll: 2 dentals and a good food change!
BUT  he is kissable now and that makes me happy!
It is all about what goes inside!! The healthier the food and chewies the better for them

oh yes, strong advocate of yogurt to for good flora and enzymes health

[puglucky]

Daisy is only 2 and we knew she was used as a breeding dog (c-section scar) but I have never seen a dog her age with teeth as bad as hers.

The vet said her diet must have been horrible for her to have teeth like this at her age........

The dental is going to be 600 plus...... so I really want to try and get things under control on my own without her having to go through dental surgery, but the vet says we have 12 months to clean her up or she needs to have it done.

I have never had a dog with dental issues, I have always had them on good food, my old JRT had good teeth up until she was put to sleep at 10 years old.........Lucky's teeth are good, she will be 4 this year and we got her when she was 2 as well..... her teeth are fine.

Its a mystery.........

But I heard the bigger the chunks of food the better it is for the teeth?

[blanche]

I'm not a fan of dental diets--I generally think it's poppycock.  Bigger kibble may help, but really I find the best thing for teeth with canines are good chewing bones.  My pom is 12 or 13 and has all but one of her teeth (almost unheard of in this breed)--and I'm sure it's a combination of her having been on a raw diet and having lots of bones to chew and the fact that I do brush my dog's teeth.  Check out some of the bones called Tartar Busters if the idea of raw bones is too icky for you.
Pregnancy is really hard on a dogs calcium level and it's not uncommon  for dogs that have been bred alot and haven't had a decent diet to have dental problems.  Small breeds are prone to dental issues anyway and pugs even more so due to the flattened face.

[lmcpug]

Darn....... I posted an answer and then poof it was gone ?!?!?

I was going to suggest using cheese cloth too.
Wrap a bit around your finger and dip in yogurt and scrub away if you are allowed in her mouth!
The yogurt's enzymes will help break up the tartar and give her a fresh mouth! The cheesecloth also is a good scrubbing tool.

 would be very careful with big chunks as Pugs are notorious gulpers and would be worried about choking. But the bigger chunks are "supposed" to make them chew the food thus the food becomes "scrapers" on the teeth.
However with a gulper that may not always be the case.

Lori

[puglucky]

Blanche someone from another forum was suggesting giving her raw bones.

What would you recamend as a cut of meat to get for her?

I am a vegetarian so nothing to nasty lol.

I have been trying very hard to avoid the RAW diet but I think I may give in, so many people say its the best thing. But can I do 1 raw meal and 1 kibble meal? or is it an all or nothing type of thing?

Could I keep her on the kibble and just give her one raw bone or cut of meat a day?

the cheese cloth is a great idea, I might try that..... what kind of yogurt do you recamend lori? I am thinking just plain full fat but what do you use?

[blanche]

You could easily give her a soup bone--most grocery stores sell them.  I freeze them solid for 48 to 72 hours to kill any bacteria then I scrape out the marrow as it's too rich and fatty for some dogs, then let her chew away to her heart's content.  
And you can ease your way into raw if it makes you feel icky.  Try The Ultimate Diet.  It's a pre-prepared raw and comes in an easy to serve ground up manner--you just scoop out the appropriate amount a couple of hours before they eat so it can thaw and there you go.  You don't have to touch it and it doesn't look disgustingly like raw meat--which puts some folks off--especially vegetarians.
The key to dental health, though, is the chewing of bones.  And some dogs have such snaggle teeth that even bones don't help so you do have to brush.
As to the type of yogourt--I use goats milk yogourt--plain, low or no fat.
And some of us do feed one meal of kibble and one of raw.  If I'm going to give kibble at a meal, I give it at the evening meal as kibble takes longer to digest than raw.
While I'm a HUGE believer in raw feeding, it isn't for every dog.  Some don't do well on it--those with immune issues need to be careful as do some with kidney/liver issues.

[lmcpug]

Goat's yogurt is good, thanks Blanche
(my way of being tactful with what you may experience) do not let it throw you though.
This is a good sign that their bodies are releasing harmful toxins.
Keep it up and it will usually go away within the first week or so
Blanche, Hilary, Candace and a few others are all knowledgable on medical issues and the do's and don'ts for RAW feeding ------------- they are my guru's too

Lori

[Candace]

I totally agree with Blanche. Mocha has very crooked teeth and very sensitive gums. He has to have his teeth brushed every couple of days or his gums get red and bleed. Mine all eat raw and get bones. I just started brushing Mookie's teeth (at 7 yrs. of age) as they finally started getting a bit of tartar. Salvador is almost 10 yrs. of age and only had a dental cleaning because he was under for MCT's and I figured it would save him down the road.
Those dental diets tend to have grains. I know a woman who gave it to her pugs and was telling me how they were itchy. She stopped feeding it to them and gave them no-grain kibble and the itching stopped.

[keep on pugging]

Not all actually chew the kibble, some prefer to literally gulp everything down.  We give raw carrots (forces them to chew) brush teeth and use LEBA whenever we can.  Our guy had a dental too.  

[Julie]

I've heard frozen turkey wings are good for cleaning teeth, but never tried it, anyone?

[Milo]

There is a supplement called Leba III that I have heard a lot of good feedback on...I have also heard good things about Wysong Denta Treat.