I'm curious as to what you all do to maintain great dental health for your huskies? Any toothpastes, doggy dental toys, brushing, etc?

when you're feeding them a raw diet, the bones are really good for their teeth, so we feed them a couple chicken wings in the afternoon to help with that

I brush their teeth daily, they get plenty of bones (not rawhides- things like bully sticks, hymalian bones, Rogue gets Zuke's dental bones but Koda doesn't..), Petz life spray is great to get rid of plaque and prevent it, and Koda gets a raw marrow bone 3x a week and Rogue will too once she had adult teeth.

Sorry Heatherlee, I wasn't able to fully understand that: are you saying you don't give them rawhides like bully stick & himalayan bones or you do? I would love it if he had something he could chew on to fulfill that need. His toys he has now (a puppy kong & the soon to be retired tennis ball after today) hold up well, but I think he'll need something else to also occupy his time.

Also, what about this: http://www.petco.com/product/115795/Blue-Buffalo-Regular-Blue-Bones-Natural-Dog-Dental-Chews.aspx ?

I mean not rawhides, but I DO give them things like Himalayan bones and bully sticks.

Those BB bones would be fine- those are like the Zuke's Dental Bones. But I can't vouch if they actually CLEAN teeth and would never use them strictly. I didn't get the Zuke's for the dental benefit, I got them because Claudia liked them and I got a pack for Rogue when we went shopping and she loves them.

In addition to the bones in their partial raw diet, I also give my dogs rawhides (yes I understand the risks), bully sticks, Zukes Z Ridge dental chews, enzymatic doggy toothpaste for the rare times I do brush their teeth, and my favorite thing is Petzlife Oral Care spray. I used to brush my dog's teeth several times a week but since I started feeding raw it really hasn't been necessary for me to brush their teeth at all.

I'm not too sure as to when or even if I may try my hand at a raw diet just yet. I will probably go try and find a bully stick somewhere for cheap to see if he'll take to it, but so far he's been ravaging some Nylabones (a dental one with raised ridges in it & a chicken flavored one-loves the latter & it shows) ALL day long. I purchased those Greenies edible treats to see how he'd do with those. Devoured the first one in about 5 minutes. I just needed something to offset his breath lol. I'm going to see if I can find the larger chicken flavored Nylabone tomorrow for a dog his size & maybe grab another kong to alternate between.

I'm concerned about the bad breath ur dealing with. What are u feeding now? A dogs breath should not be bad on a good food, have u had a vet look at the mouth and teeth to see if there is a dental issue causing the smell?

We use rawhides and bully sticks from costco. Just got himalayan bones and the petzlift gel this weekend. No raw in our home but the sometimes cut up chicken boneless. I do also pick up the butcher bones from the food store sometimes.

FYI Greenies are a waste of money(not really beneficial to teeth and not great ingredients) and smell horrible IMO, I would just go with the Blue Buffalo bones or something of that sort instead. And I agree with Jenn, his breath shouldn't really smell bad unless you are saying you need something to cover up the Greenies stank, haha.

It's not an everyday occurrence, but I have noticed it since he's switched from the Hundchenflocken I used to have him on to the Wolf Cub. They're mostly made from the same ingredients, except the Wolf Cub has bison in it.

Wolf Cub: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=2120&cat=all

Hundchenflocken: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=893&cat=all

I only purchased two Greenies' to see how he'd take to them and I honestly thought they'd last a wee bit longer lol. http://www.vohc.org/accepted_products.htm <this site had given Greenies' a seal of approval so I figured it must be worthwhile to at least check it out. For now though, I've begun crumbling & smoothing his training Bil-Jac treats into the grooves of his dental Nylabone for added interest. Works like a charm, though I don't know if hard ridged/grooved chews are better than softer ones.

I know that the Greenies formula changed recently however I don't know what changed about it. I will say though that the old formula was NOT digestible and posed a health risk of internal blockage if a large piece was swallowed. Greenies are not made of good ingredients anyway so I would not recommend them.

If you want a dental bone I'd go with a Zukes Z Ridge, Blue Buffalo's Blue Bones, or Nylabone Healthy Edibles. The Nylabone Healthy Edibles didn't agree with my sibe very well. Zukes dental bones seem to go over well with my pack. I have not yet tried the Blue Bones, they cost so much more that I don't have any incentive to buy them when I can get the Zukes bones for cheaper.

Natural K9 Supplies told me that Zukes was going to discontinue the Z-Ridge Dental bones and replace them with Z-Bones. It comes only in one flavor but the ingredients are very similar if not the same as the Z-Ridge Dental bones. And at NK9S, the Z-Bones are about $4 cheaper than the Z-Ridge. (6-pk of the Z-Ridge is $12-$13 and the 6-pk of the Z-Bones is $8.50 - so I've been stocking up on the Z-Bones).

I saw that on Zukes' website that they no longer had the Z Ridge bones and replaced them with the Z-Bones. The Z-bones DO still come in 3 different flavors just like the Z-Ridge, however the flavors are slightly different but somewhat similar.

The 3 Z-Ridge flavors were: Original, Cranberry, and Carrot.
The 3 Z-Bones flavors are: Apple Crisp, Very Berry, and Carrot Crunch.

Very similar and still different flavors to choose from. I just recently stocked up on the Z-Ridge cranberry bones before they sold out.

Good to hear, Val!
I suppose NK9S only has the carrot flaver in their store. I would love to get the apple flavor also in the Z-Bones but I guess I'll have to see if NK9S would order them in.

Since I saw the Z-Bones were $4 cheaper than Z-Ridge, and NK9S has 15% off total bill until next week (I think), I stocked up on Z-Bones and bought 8 boxes!!

Well that'll be great if they're cheaper. I order my Zukes from Amazon and they still have the Z-Ridge. When I run out of my current supply which won't be for a few months anyway, I'll have to price them out at different places again.

NK9S has the Z-Bones for $8.99 (or was it $8.49) for the 6-pk....

I haven't seen it any cheaper than that but if you do, please let me know!

On a side note along the lines of dental care which brings me to dog chews that help scrub their teeth....Himalayan Dog Chews....

If most dogs are lactose intolerant, and Himalayan dog chews are made of yaks and cows milk with a little salt...how would this be OK for dogs? This doesn't make sense to me, but I know several of you give your Sibes Himalayan dog chews...

I don't know if I believe a lot of dogs are lactose intolerant. I mean, how many of us feed our dogs yogurt? That's milk based. And I know tons of people did cottage cheese filled kongs.

Yes, agreed! Which is why the statement "Most dogs are lactose intolerant' confuses me too!

I do give G&S yogurt and cheddar, but in small amounts....I don't mind giving them 1/4 c of yogurt since the bacteria helps their digestive tract.

Just wondering since there's conflicting statements floating around.

I've heard that too - and then read that it's just some dogs (just like humans). Just looked it up because I'd like to give my dogs some yogurt too. When I was researching foods for Chili, it seemed alot of great breeders fed yogurt along with their raw/kibble diet.

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-feeding-tips/dogs-milk-dairy-products/

"OK… if your dog seems to be able handle dairy products… then feel free to offer her milk-based foods… of course, in moderation.

If not, try one of these three simple ideas…

1. Decrease the serving size… try a spoonful instead of a scoop

2. Choose dairy products with lower lactose content

3. Offer lactose-free milk products

And remember… when in doubt, don’t forget to consult with your dog’s veterinarian for solid professional advice."

Yogurt is OK as long as it's plain and it's the ones with live cultures.
I give yogurt to Ginger and Storm almost everyday and they love it! It's how Storm takes his tyroid meds. I give them about 2 tablespoons each and they smash their nose in the bowl licking it so hard to make sure they leave nothing behind.

I have yet to make doggie frozen yogurt treats for them, but I would add canned pumpkin to the yogurt and freeze it up...of course this would only be about 1/4 c serving size, but 2 tbsp of each ingredient is OK, and should actually be good for them.

cmanding wrote:

I have yet to make doggie frozen yogurt treats for them, but I would add canned pumpkin to the yogurt and freeze it up...of course this would only be about 1/4 c serving size, but 2 tbsp of each ingredient is OK, and should actually be good for them.

I do this all of the time and stuff their kongs. They are obsessed with it!

I used baby edible toothpaste for my dog. The reason behind this is that he does not like mint toothpaste because it's irritating.

I give Kale a Zuke's bone once a week. Sucks to hear about the flavor changes tho. Kale likes the Original the best I also brush his teeth 2 times a week and we have bones and nylabones around the house. Not too worried about prophys since I can clean his teeth myself for free. All I'll have to do is pay for is the pre-meds and anesthesia lol

hypers987, lol! at least you can save money from the groomer brushing his teeth.

Groomers don't do well with teeth cleaning because them only clean the surface, the bad stuff is under the gumline, like in humans. If you want results and healthy teeth AND gums, a Dental Prophylaxis under anesthesia is what is needed. They get the cm check, manual scaling, ultrasonic scaling, and a polishing. When a groomer scrapes off the plaque from the teeth, it leave a rough surface for more plaque to adhere to more quickly and will actually cause the teeth to get worse faster. Just some food for thought