Gum Disease?

We all know the impact for teeth and gum health can have on the general and reproductive health of our dogs.

I have a female that I recently picked up to use as part of my breeding program. She's 9 years old, I'm looking for ONE breeding from this bitch. Her teeth and gums are in horrible shape.

What to do?

Thanks in advance!

BTW - good time to plug the RAW diet here as I feel VERY CONFIDENT had this dog been fed RAW the majority of her life, she would not have the mouth health she does now.

This is a very good topic, because bad teeth can hamper fertility.

Honestly, I would start by giving her a giant shankbone ... and let her clean her own teeth. Nothing like a shankbone to remove tartar IMO. You might also feel the glands around her throat, neck, etc. to see if she has inflamed lymph nodes.

Then, after she gets the tarter off (and she may need to go through 2 bones to do that), she should be okay ... but if you see abscesses in the mouth, then she might need a vet.

Jack

PS: You're right about kibble ruining teeth ... carbs break down into sugar in the saliva, stick to teeth, and ruin them.

Thanks for the info Jack. I'll get to work on this today.

One could view the extreme stance on RAW is a bit "over the top" sometimes, but the longer I feed it and the better my dogs act/feel and as easy a keeper as they are b/c of the diet, the more I myself am "OVER THE TOP". That kibble shit is KILLING dogs.

I could go on and on and won't for now, but I will NEVER sacrifice the tons of benefits associated with RAW for the sake of conveniance.

Again, thanks for the info!