Teeth & the Havanese

I am a puppy so my teeth are still coming out and new ones are coming in. My teeth are rather white but what if you have an adult with plaque? What should you do?

Someone who follows the blog mentioned that they took their nail and scraped it off - well you can do that and many a show person does. It surely beats going to the vet to be put under.

The tartar can be irritating to the gums and can cause an inflammation called gingivitis. This can be seen as reddening of the gums adjacent to the teeth. It also causes bad breath. At this point it is necessary to remove the tartar with a special instrument called a scaler - that works much like your fingernail does. Problem with this method is it works but it also doesn't polish the teeth. If plaque is bad, you may still want to have it done at your vets office. They not only clean them but polish them.

But if you are simply trying to stay on top of the issue, you can brush daily, use a scaler to take off minor plaque and/or use a product called Leba. Leba works but it is pricey.

What else can you do? Bones - chewing on bones helps scrape the plaque of naturally and most times it does an excellent job.

Well, today was bath time for some - hang out time with daddy outside but now it's raining yet again.

Now where is that sun? The lack of it surely didn't stop this play.

Havanese: The Teething Stage

As a Breeder typically our puppies are already in their new homes, loving their new families, long before serious teething stage.

It has been some time since the last little devil actually lived here.

For example, I remember when Fiona ate most of the way through half the wiring in my office. No worries, Treasure took care of the rest of it.

Make no mistake, we love her to pieces BUT I think there should have been a clause in our sales contract holding Beth responsible for all damages incurred during and throughout the teething stage. What am I saying? Never mind. It is on us.

What caused me to take pen in hand today, you ask? The usual thing, spotting some kind of foreign object in Treasure’s mouth. Acting swiftly I caught her and removed it. Hmm, I thought, this looks like a piece of screening. A quick glance at the screen door, unused all winter, confirmed that Treasure has managed to create jagged edges and ripped out sections of a foot of it.

Plants on the floor, no problem, she eats them. Shoes left at the back door, fair game. The wicker basket at the back door filled with dog clothes, a tasty snack.

Stooping over to pick something up off the floor in our bedroom I noticed little specks of something, pieces of wood it turns out. A closer examination made me realize that the little wooden knob, the one matching all the other wooden knobs on my wife’s dresser, was seriously chewed on and partially gone.

I could spend days tracking down a replacement knob for a solid wood dresser we bought 20 years ago. They must exist somewhere. But I’m sure, in time, Treasure will ensure they all match again.

I commented to Darlah about Treasure’s latest antic and she reminded me of our late German Shepherd, Lacie, who once ate a few feet of baseboard. Treasure overheard Darlah’s comment and went right to it. Matching baseboard and then painting it to the correct stain shouldn’t be as hard as finding those knobs.

As many of you know that follow Darlah’s blog, she has been known to sit and watch TV in the evening with a dog in her lap brushing them while she watches. Treasure takes that as an opportunity, of course, to quickly grab, sneak away and eat any brush or comb left unattended for longer than a split second and she doesn’t care whatsoever how much it costs!

Believe it or not the teeth do eventually grow in and they stop eating everything in sight. I’m sure all of you have a similar story. Please share them with us.

Nathan