Flossing dachshund's teeth

[Wotan, Shakti & Gaudi Inc]

<FONT COLOR="Beige">This is one adventure Wotan would rather have done without!

A few days ago I noticed Wotan's breath was really foul. I mean extremely. I thought "oh, no he has some tooth decay problem"...but he was acting very lively and unlike a doxie with any pain or health problem. And he had his teeth cleaning about a year ago again. Still I thought we had better bring him into one of the two bad vets on this island (one lost his license to operate and the other never gets closer to his animal patients than about 4 feet, literally). I told my husband who of course was reluctant to take any doxie of ours to these vets. He also thought I was exaggerating about the foul breath....until he smelled it himself a few days later. He agreed then it was very bad. But he thought first he would get a flashlight and check to see if he could see anything wrong with Wotan's teeth.

Once he looked in there (and you can imagine how thrilled Wotan was with this even) he saw gobs of black stuff stuck between some of his teeth. He managed to pull hunks of it out. It looked horrid and smelled even worse. What it was, we don't know....but it could have maybe been parts of a decaying rat Wotan found somewhere. UGH!!! Even after pulling several hunks out and brushing his teeth twice though Wotan's breath was still worse than usual.

So Joe decided to floss his teeth! You've never seen a really miserable dachshund until you have seen one that is having all his teeth flossed against his will. Wotan's little paws tried to stop it, but Joe held him steady and showed more will power than this 11 pound doxie. I took some pictures which probably will be pretty funny....have to wait to get them developed. After the flossing battle Wotan had his teeth brushed again.

Wotan asks "why are these human's so interested in my body? I never minded decaying rat hairs, etc., in my teeth".
And Bridget says "yucko".
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Bridget, Wotan, Shakti & Gaudi
stop by and see Dachshund stories and photos (http://members.nbci.com/dachsielove/stories.htm)

<FONT COLOR="#00FFFF" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by Wotan, Shakti & Gaudi Inc on November 06, 2000 at 03:29 AM</font>

[dox_no3]

Yuck is right! But did his breath improve?

The closest Bugsy ever got to having hend is teeth flossed is when he grabs the dangling of the floss my dad is using to floss his own teeth. He uses a very long piece and doesn't always realize it's happening until all of a sudden the floss goes tight. Heh! I say, "Lock yourself in the bathroom if you don't want to share with a dachshund!"

Hope Wotan's all better.

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Julie & Bugsy
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[Little Freddie]

<IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm43.gif" border=0>I almost brought up my dinner reading this. LOL. It's a good thing you checked (or your hubby rather) with a flashlight first! Save a needless trip to the bad Vet. If it happens again at least you'll know. Poor little Wotan being tormented!<IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm9.gif" border=0> So did the flossing do the trick? How's his breath now? I must say this is an interesting story (but GROSS!).<IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm28.gif" border=0>

Susan

[~Jen~]

Sounds look Wo needs some gum...lol Ewwwwwwwwwwww!!

Have you tried giving him tomato juice with some dry bread crumbs in it ... we use that on Winston our foul breath dachsie (he comes by it naturally no rats needed) it always seems to do the trick for him.

Poor Wotan being flossed...lol

Jen

[Wotan, Shakti & Gaudi Inc]

In answer to the questions...his breath is much better than before, but still a bit "off". I suspect it's because my husband could not reach to floss between his furthest back teeth so there may be crud back there. I have brushed his teeth a few more times too.

Tomatoe juice and bread crumbs, huh? I'll have to try that one too.

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Bridget, Wotan, Shakti & Gaudi
stop by and see Dachshund stories and photos (http://members.nbci.com/dachsielove/stories.htm)

[Shelbie]

I had to read this title a couple of times before I was sure what I was reading!! Now, that's dedication! Perhaps I should try flossing Shelbie's teeth - right after I've nailed some jelly to the ceiling!<IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm32.gif" border=0> Poor boy, hope he's back to his fragrant self now!

[wireweiners]

FYI, those rope toys are very good for "flossing" dog teeth. Nylabone even makes one out of nylon with mint flavor. They will really clean teeth if Wotan will chew on them.

[Frzframe]

Mitzi has a floss toy. It is kind of like a rope but the ends are loose floss. She loves it. I hope I never have this problem ever with Mitz. YUCK!!
~Shonda

[~Jen~]

We have some of those too i think mine are made by Booda they are green and white.. Supposed to freshen their breath ... i dunno if it really works or not though...lol http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/wink.gif

Jen

[dutchman]

One of the dachshund girls we had when I was growing up was allowed to clean the last two rows of corn off the cob while you held it for her. That meant that she always got bits of corn stuck in her front teeth. She would sit very patiently while you used a toothpick to clean her teeth. Of course that was back in the days when we didn't know better than to give our dogs people food as an locational treat.

Tom

[bigotis]

When Otis lost his sweet puppy breath, it came as a shock. It went from puppy to STINKY! <IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm31.gif" border=0> Even with regular brushing, nothing seemed to help. I bought some doggy breath drops and he hates them! When he saw me with the bottle, he would run for his life, and tell me, "My breath is fine just the way it is thank you." I guess that's why it's called doggy breath, and mommy finally just gave up.

I hope we never have to go through anything like you did, though! <IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm28.gif" border=0> Good luck!!!

Otis's mommy, A.

[twix0699]

You are so funny, B. I simply cannot imagine how poor Wo felt while your hubby was fighting with him. I sure am glad his breath is better.

Hey Jen, what does tomato juice and bread crumbs do to help bad breath?

I am very fortunate that Twix has nice breath. I think it is from all that chewing!

Teresa