Otherwise known as The Spit Brigade in my house. I have finally gone and done IT! I attempted to remove most of the calculus from Tiger's teeth. The manky smell emanating from his mouth finally got to me this morning and I could no longer deal.
As most of you know, I was a dental hygienist in my former life back in the USA, so I am equipped with the skillz and the majority of the tools. I say majority because I no longer possess the several thousand dollars worth of implements of my trade. I cannot say where they went, only that when I left America they were sitting there ready to be shipped with the rest of my things and they never made it here. I have my suspicions, but no proof, but considering how much they would be worth at a local flea market back home, I can only guess. But, I digress.
While Tiger was having his morning snooze on the sofa I saw my chance to strike as he's pretty calm and laid back, but this was a first attempt and I wasn't sure how he'd react to my fingers in his mouth. Considering that he absolutely hates having his teeth brushed I was fairly certain all would not go as planned. But what the heck, it wouldn't hurt to try. I pulled out the few instruments and selected what I thought most appropriate and sat beside him.
I took a quick peek to seek out the most offending calculus, readied and steadied my hands on an instrument I'd not held in well over a year (Damn, but I'm good lol). Hrmmm, perhaps I spoke too quickly. I succeeded in removing a few bits of the most unsightly stuff and decided to move onto a canine I found particulary discoloured and hoarding the worst of the lot. Tiger's eye opened and he peered at me whilst I perused the tooth, seeking the best angle to use. I struck quietly, gently, and sccrrrrraaaaaape...off came a bit so I went at it again and I'll be damned it he didn't freakin sneeze!
The next thing I knew, I was looking down at a broken instrument! HOLY SHIT!!!!!!! Where did the end go? FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! His gum has blood on it, just a thin trickle, but holy crapola! What did I do?????? My poor boy!
Frantically I searched around his head, in his mouth, probed his gums, fearing the worst...the instrument could have broken off underneath his gums and might need to be surgically retrieved. Oh! Damnit!
What's that? Next to Tiger, on his Teddy Bear lay the offending piece, oh thank heavens! Apparently when he sneezed, his tooth hit the instrument and broke it clean off and the piece went flying a few inches away to land on Teddy. Now I'm shaking that it's all over and disaster hasn't occurred. I stood up and shook myself. Looked back at my hands and thought, hrmmmm. Let's go for the other teeth I can get to. So I did. Poor boy. He has to put up with so much from me. But now, his teeth are somewhat clean and I don't feel like a totally inept mama.
He needs to chew more bones but I can't get him to. He just loses interest after awhile and leaves them for the ants to strip away all the good bits left. I'll have to come up with some other solution.
As I said earlier, poor boy. Yesterday he had to have a bath and have his ears cleaned. He has boy dog ears, aka very dirty ears. He hates getting bathed because the tub is slippery, he hates having his ears probed but I cannot stand the goop that builds up in them because he insists on lying and rolling in dirt. Somedays I really want a girl dog. Tasha was always so clean. I miss that. The only time she would get herself dirty on purpose was when she felt she was dirty enough and needed a bath, which she loved, so she's get in something to make herself dirtier so I'd bathe her straight away.
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6 comments:
Awe....poor little pup. At least you didn't give him a root canal.
Dang...just reading that made me squirm. I hate anything metal poking around my teeth.
I just love dentists...NOT
Glad Tiger's ok!
I don't mind at all cleaning my dogs teeth. I used to do Baron & Tasha's every few months, since vets require dogs to be asleep to do it. Right now I am trying to avoid it since I'm only working occasionally doing temp work and money is a little tight. The other reason is the due to diet, greyhounds generally have bad teeth and gums and they also have very little tolerance for anesthesia, so one needs a vet who KNOWS how to do it properly. We just recently lost a grey in the GAP program due to her not waking up after surgery. It happens often enough for me to be concerned.
Oh and I forgot to mention the reason the instrument broke. When Tiger sneezed he hit it with one of his teeth and his head lurched forward...if you've ever seen a dog sneeze, ya know what I mean.
It always scares me to have my dogs teeth cleaned...just because of the anestesia (sp)
There are these hard rubber dog chews that have teeth-cleaning nubs all over them and they have a hole in the middle. You can put some peanut butter on your finger & stuff it into the hole. My dogs will assault these things for two days straight with the objective of getting 100% of that wee bit of peanut butter out of that hole. Maybe he'd chew on something like that since he doesn't like the bones too much.
On another note, I have 2 boy dogs & 3 girls. It kills me that as soon as I bathe the boys...they aggressively roll in the dirt. They love it, it's like cologne to them, I think.
Ohhhh teeth cleaning instruments....when can we have a doggie teeth cleaning party!!
You might like to try dry roo tails. They are tasty and hard and I have never known any dog to refuse one! Or dried pigs trotters. Mine will sell their sole for one of these. Except Poncho - he has had heaps of teeth removed and hence likes the flatter dried pigs ears. He is soooo spoilt.
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