After Auster puked up the brush part of a toothbrush shaped one I quit buying them. They can be broken and consumed in large parts too easily.

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.....The vet said start without the toothpaste cuz he gets so distracted by the taste trying to eat it rather than learning the mechanical motion of the brushing. ......

You know, that sounds very smart to me. That was the whole challenge for me -- getting the dog to hold his mouth still instead of trying like crazy to lap up the toothpaste (which mine LOOOOOVE).

That's a nice little piece of advice for me to file away and pass on!

The Greenies -- I think they work great as a placque scraper. However, I too had two almost-bad experiences with them. My Shepherd vomited a third of a large one.....it was all slimy and slippery but still plenty hard enough and big enough to be an obstruction had it gone down more. I know they say to supervise, but I don't know how to keep the dog from swallowing it after chewing for a while.

The other "almost" was an obstruction in another Pug-owner's dog from part of a Petite Greenie. He was x-rayed when he was obviously having poop problems, but passed it soon after the x-ray, I think (I recall) with the help of the vet.

Too close for me, though. Although I hear they have "Bits" which are small enough not to pose a threat even if swallowed whole. Seems that might negate the whole purpose, though.......

I used to think the Greenies danger was an urban legend, but I don't now. On the other hand, I imagine that the vast majority of Greenies-chewers have no problems.

My dog's sparkling white teeth come from a twice weekly flossing on a sleeve. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Wow! How scary is that? Something to keep in mind! So far I-we have had no problems.

Shari

I had the same experience as ConnieSutherland. My dog threw up a portion of a greenie the morning after I gave him one. I also had heard dogs can choke on them but had a case of "it won't happen to us b/c I supervise them".
Now I just give frozen, raw soup bones.

I also give bones. I think they work better and they are way cheaper. I would give greenies occassionaly, like a treat but now I probably won't do that.
Shari

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My dog's sparkling white teeth come from a twice weekly flossing on a sleeve. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

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twice weekly flossing on a sleeve

hee hee hee....sheep's wool also works very well, particularly if it is still attached to said sheep. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

OK just a dumb observation/question here:

When you give your dogs bones (wether it's rawhide or beef bones or turkey bones or whatnot) - does your dog eat them immediately? My dog used to go right into em, but as he got older (especially the last 3 or 4 months) he's developed this strange habbit - he gets super excited about his new bone, takes it in his mouth n runs around the whole house with it in his mouth and his ears back for a good 10 minutes, then I go see where he's at - no bone in sight, some further investigation reveals that he tried to HIDE the bone, usually its a stupid obvious location like under a chair in the dining room, or sometimes he actually pushes it into a bean bag till you can't even see its there - he then finds the bone again and runs around with it some more and hides it somewhere else, he repeats this probably some 20 times over the period of 3 days, then finally on the 3rd or 4th day he finally lays down and chews the heck out of it for a few hours.. after that he just chews the bone when he's bored at night and it's bed time. Is it just my oddball dog that likes to do this? I'm very amused by it, but sometimes when he's bouncing off the walls I wish he'd break his 3 day rule and chew the dang bone lol.

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My dog's sparkling white teeth come from a twice weekly flossing on a sleeve. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Minty Fresh.... or Tarter Control Jute Bob??? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />