Kiss your pug on the lips!

So, February is dental month.  If you have a pet you’ve been clobbered over the head with this fact (I hope!).  What this means to you is most vets offer discounted rates for dental procedures and most stores and online retailers will have dental goodies on sale.

What’s our fave product?  Well, we’re pugs (i.e. mouth breathers) so we have bad teeth – even with brushing and all that.  And we do get brushed, not with a brush but with a glove that has bristles on the thumb and index inger (we get them online at PetEdge.com).  We use 1 glove for all 4 dogs and they work – its kinda gross, you’ll know they work right away ;)

For chewy things we don’t do Greenies except as a snack…they don’t really do a whole heck of a lot for teeth in our experience.  Ark Naturals makes a yummy treat (good for cats & dogs) that has enzymatic toothpaste as a ‘smooth creamy filling’.  We get them online here: Ark Naturals Brushless Toothpaste Treats

As animals get older you may decide its not safe to put them under for dental procedures. This is the case for Vince and Doug-Doug of course but even 5-year old Norm isn’t going under, pugs are known for more complications ‘cuz of anesthesia – so we use PetzLife dental gel. These folks have been doing infommercials for-evah and we got a trial bottle a long time ago. Its great, you use a drop the size of a dime at night after last food/drink. Just drop on finger – stick finger in mouth – spread on teeth. You don’t have to worry about getting it all over, the dogs will lick and spread it all over the place. Honestly after the first day Vince’s breath improved and at his age and with his health issues we need to keep those teeth clean and that mouth free of infection…this stuff has done that. We get it online here (it seems pricey but 1 bottle has lasted these 3 pugs for over 6 months): PetZlife Gel

So, you have to brush and/or use another product to keep the mouth clean. Chewing on Greenies or bully stix ain’t doing much and you don’t want to wait ’til they’re seniors to start. The mouth is the most common spot for infection and can pose huge complications for animals with a compromised immune system, diabetes, anyone really.

You don’t have to kiss your pug on the lips (I don’t !) but you do want them kissably fresh for your comfort and their health.

Its been 28 hours without a Vince-ident

We’re thinking of getting one of those OSHA-style signs to announce this fact, of course we’d need it to be dry erase. But wait, you’re wondering what a Vince-ident is I’m guessing. Basically, a Vince-ident is when Doug-Doug tries to kill Vince. No, not when they fight over food or a toy or something…DD honestly tries to kill Vince.

Sometimes we can see it coming – Vince doesn’t see and will occasionally bump into DD who reacts with lethal force. But more recently, we don’t get a warning. Its like a flip switches and DD will stalk Vince and attack without mercy. Vince of course fights back but without being able to see or hear he’s kind of at a disadvantage.

Moral of the story is we love Vince and we love Doug-Doug and we continue to try to rehab DD but since we can’t trust them alone – we don’t leave them alone…EVER. They are never within reach of each other if one of us isn’t there to supervise. And when I say we’re there I mean we’re ‘there’ – no walking around on the phone, no running to get the door or check mail, no folding laundry in the other room…they are within our sight and reach at all times.

This is what taking responsibility for your companion animal’s welfare is about – not just buying a fancy collars or a ton of toys. We continue to work with DD and tell him the old adage ‘you can’t pick your family’.

In the time its taken me to write this, we’ve hit 29 hours without a Vince-ident!