“Baby TALK?! That’s not a saying…”
“Oh, but Baby-Fishmouth is sweeping the nation.”
Addie’s breath has been really bad lately. And not just baby-fishmouth bad, but rotting, infected navel ring bad. Hound mouths are droopy and tend to trap food, so they’re often candidates for dental cleaning when they’re around 6 or 7. Last week, though, we noticed our 3 year old pup has the teeth of a 13 year old. Not good. There was a slight possibility her halitosis could be a result of her ulcers and very sensitive tummy, but we figured starting with the teeth couldn’t hurt.
Now, Addie’s a chewer, but she gets bored easily. She normally enjoys bones that belong to someone else best. She enjoys stinky found baseballs, and her all-time favourite toy is a glow in the dark ball we found in the park, which she likes to chomp on while staring at us. When we go to grandma’s house, she chows down on Jake’s bone. Fast forward a couple of days when Mummy buys her the same bone for home. Fast forward a few weeks more when you can’t even lay the bone at her feet because at some point, unwitnessed by you, she’s had a fight with it and now will bark and scowl at it and jump out its way (Addie has a very rich mental life). She has times when she feels like a chew and dives deep into her toy box and rather excitedly, having forgotten this old friend, pulls out some old bone, chews it for about 5 minutes, and then is done. Further complicating our dilemma are Addie’s aforementioned tummy woes. She can’t have any kind of fresh-breath-maker, made-from-natural ingredients, cheap-as-hell-but-cleans-well bones that the dog has to ingest.
So we took a trip to PetsMart.
I needed some real winners. Something that she would chew and chew and chew until her gums bled. My other dog, Wolfy, used to do that–he would chew for hours. I’ve bought Addie bones he used to love, but she’s not into them. Ropes are good for flossing, but she never really chews them. Wolfy loved a particular Nylabone the best—one of those dental bones with the bumps, so I searched for those first. No dental bones at the PetsMart. Wolfy used to DEVOUR the Gummy Nylabones so I picked up that next–I thought if I got her something easy to chew she’d get into it. Chicken flavour. Addie was intrigued. I was almost set to leave when I saw these:
Those who know me, know that I can’t live without 3 foods–potatoes, bacon, and corn. Well–man alive!–this bone has TWO basic food groups all wrapped up into one convenient, dual-textured package! Dogs LOVE the dual texture! Durable Nylon Center Helps Clean Teeth! This is what I need! I was sold.
But then I saw this:
Well that just looks crazy enough to work! It has little nylabone bones and a gummy outer layer of meat. I can’t just buy her bacon flavoured corn because I wish I were eating it! This could be great!
Alright, but now this stuff isn’t cheap, so I tried to get Addie to help with the decision making process. Unfortunately, after seeing one of these…
(Yes, the sign. That labels the aisles. Not a bird. No. That might make an ounce of sense.)
…she was in the middle of a minor-major-breakdown, with her tail so far between her legs it was coming out around her chin. Called hubby. He said to go for all of them since doggie dental work is at least $600 bucks. Quick stop to the toothbrush aisle to get one of those finger toothbrushes because Addie will let us touch her teeth, but she snaps at the old toothbrush we’ve been using, so we figured the finger thing would work. Apparently you can’t buy the toothbrush without also purchasing the crazy shaped doggie brush in the background…
…and some poultry flavoured toothpaste…
…because, people, the mint stuff is just mean.
$50 dollars later we were on our way home.
Preliminary Results:
The finger toothbrush is good and Addie prefers the poultry toothpaste. +1 for dental health!
The gummy nylabone really did work. There was one day this week that Addie chewed right into the night, then woke up at 6:30am, was pleasantly surprised by the bone laying beside her, so she started chewing again. Look!
The bottom is what she’s done to that bone in 2 and a half years. The top is what she’s done to the gummy nylabone in a week. They started off the same size. +5 for dental hygiene!
She’s back to her normal doggie baby-fishmouth self. Maybe even a little better. +1 for fresh breath!
The gummy bone has gotten so small we had to take it away from her. ENTER THE BACON FLAVOURED CORN. I’ve been looking forward to this moment all week.
Dog is intrigued. Excited. Perhaps drooling a bit. +1 for dual-textured bacon-flavoured corn!
Texture is a bit hard. Addie went for it and hit her nose. Got a bit scared. -1 for dual-textured bacon-flavoured corn.
Mummy took too much time taking pictures of dog waiting for corn. Dog started to think she’s in trouble and is not allowed to take it. -1 for Mummy (and -1 for Nikon).
A bit cautious. Not as enthusiastic a reaction as I had hoped for.
But she gives it a good try.
Okay, now she’s just playing. -1 for bacon-flavoured corn!!
Addie notices that bacon-flavoured corn is perfectly cylindrical and the chewing dissolves into a game of nosing corn to mummy so she rolls it back. -2 for bacon-flavoured corn!
Finally, corn and Addie are at an impass. Not quite a fight like with the other bone, but they’re not really more than aquaintances.
Stay tuned.
(Please excuse the state of my carpet in these pictures. Addie took apart a stuffed animal and it’s all over the place.)
