Doggie Dental Care

[kap]

[quote graylocks][quote kap]Our 7 year old terrier mutt teeth needs cleaning, a $250, procedure to remove tartar. Our 2 year old Border Collie mutt is still a pup with perfect white and strong teeth. We brush their teeth every night. Neither one enjoy it.
have you brushed the terrier's teeth all along?
The terrier is our first dog ever so we made mistakes in caring for him as well. We have learned through much needed reading and research. We started brushing his teeth the second year we had him. His teeth are already in poor condition by the time we adopted him. Both of our dogs are from the same pound.

[Racer X]

greenies are awesome!

ask you vet about the dogs food. My experience is with cats, but there are some parallels. There are a number of dry cat foods that are designed to shear, rather than crumble when chewed on. the shearing scrapes the teeth rather well, and keeps tartar build-up to a bare minimum. It also gently rubs the gums, and sort of massages them. Your food bill will go up some, but the $300 teeth cleanings aren't anywhere near as often. It varies animal to animal as well. One of my cats needs a cleaning every 2 years or so. The other (they are brothers, and eat the same food) needs them about every 3 to 3-1/2 years.