Hi All, Cleo's been in my house now for about two months and has settled in nicely. She has finally come upstairs so I now have a constant shadow. She's laying on my bathroom floor when I get out of the shower and she's sleeping on her bed next to mine at night. She's my very own alarm clock as she decides to put her two front paws up on my bed around 6 in the morning to lick my face and wake me up. Luckily for me, after a few pets if I stop she will lay back down so I can get those last 30 minutes or so of sleep. I have a few questions for all of you more experienced dog owners out there... 1 - Cleo's kibble is salmon flavored and I have to say it gives her some serious doggie breath! I do brush her teeth about two times a week, but poultry flavored tooth paste really does little to nothing to help her breath! I don't want to say it's really bad halitosis, because it isn't. But when I get face kisses in the morning I wouldn't mind smelling something a little sweeter! Cleo is a true Labrador so she's a little piggy, so any kind of dental chew is inhaled whole for the most part, negating any breath freshening aspects of it. Does anyone use any natural remedies for bad doggie breath that they can share with me? 2 - Cleo turned 6 on Thursday so my little lady is heading into "old age" for a dog. Now that she is coming up the stairs I'm wondering if I should start with any kind of joint supplements for her? I understand that the older she gets the more likely she will be less able to do the stairs...but hopefully that won't be for a good long while! But if I can give her a supplement now that will help I'm game to do that. She's cleared for her hips (she was a show dog) but given how low she is to the ground (she's the English breed) I would imagine arthritis could very well be in her future. I don't want to give her something just for the sake of giving her a supplement, but if something truly works and will alleviate any potential future pain for her I'd like to explore that. 3 - and this is not so much about health but I didn't want to write a separate post! Cleo is a food lover but she inhales things almost whole, so I don't give her anything to chew. She gets three frozen kongs a day that contain a portion of her daily kibble (soaked) and then topped with some wet dog food. She licks those but doesn't ever chew them and once the food is gone she has no more interest in the kong for playing with it or chewing it. She is not a chewer so it's not like I have to distract her from any kind of destructive chewing. I often wonder though if I'm doing a disservice to Cleo by not giving her something to chew. I'm not in love with the idea of rawhides and bully sticks because she will honestly bite off a huge chunk and just swallow it, and I don't want her doing anything that could cause her to choke or create a blockage! I guess I'm concerned that she is not getting enough "chewing stimulation" if you will, but since she's not shown chewing behaviors I'm not sure that it matters! Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!
Perhaps she needs a scale & polish? Have you had her teeth checked out by a vet? Coco's breath doesn't smell at all unless he's just eaten fish (or cat muck!). We used to give our old Lab glucosamine & chondroitin, as recommended by our vet. I'm not sure it does anything, and neither was the vet, but it doesn't do any harm and MIGHT provide some protection. He also used to have Omega 3 Fish oil - this was for his skin and made an amazing difference, but it also MIGHT have helped with joints. As for chewing - hard to think of anything of Cleo doesn't actually like chewing. Maybe try some other activities, like puzzles to give her something different to amuse her.
I'm wondering if Cleo may like a Kong Wobbler, I also have two different interactive wobble balls but they tend to get stuck under the furniture at least the Kong wobbler is too big to get stuck anywhere.
Perhaps Cleo would chew on a raw carrot? I would certainly get her teeth checked for any tartar build up as that would be the most likely cause of bad breath. There are many products about that are supposed to help with bad breath and to keep teeth clean, I've used the Arm & Hammer Dental Water Additive that you add to the drinking water every day, it does help. Also check that the toothpaste you're using contains enzymes that fight the plaque, Logic Dental gel is a good one.
