Good dental chew?

[Mustardfan]

What dental chews do people use? My dog has put on loads of weight since she started having a daily dental chew. Can anyone recommend one that cleans the teeth, but is healthy and doesn’t contain too many calories? My dog is raw fed so has wet soft food daily. I’ve been wondering if it would better for her to have one fried meal a day as I’ve heard dried food can help to keep teeth clean?

I’ve been looking online for Dentastix equivalents recently. I liked the look of Soopa

Following with interest. VanPup eats his dentastix like haribo.

Whimzees.
Raw bones.
Antlers.

Raw carrots. Much better than a Dentastix.

Raw bones. Preferably a knuckle but it depends on the size of dog.

NOT ANTLERS!!!
They cause slab fractures.

Dentastix are fine or the sponges type dental chews. Brushing is obviously better than anything.

Nothing so hard that it can’t be indented by a thumb nail.

Also avoid tennis balls in favour of smooth rubber balls.

NOT ANTLERS!!! They cause slab fractures.

Antlers are no more dangerous than other natural chews. You can get plenty of soft antlers from pet stores.

We feed whimzees, he loves them.

Mine love their antlers!
But for teeth I would say raw bones. A raw fed dog should be getting raw bones as part of their food anyway.
And NO to frying food. That’s not a good idea.

I've heard raw duck necks are meant to be good. I'm trying to find an alternative to dentastix as my dog goes through one in no time and I feel like she could benefit from chewing on some thing a bit longer. I used to use rawhide chews years ago before I knew about the dangers but I thought they did a great job. I'd like something similar but not dangerous!

Sure you know better vanilla.

@Tamingofthehamster

Sure you know better vanilla.

You can find articles like that about pretty much every single pet-related product out there, from collars to certain harnesses, to certain flavours of food.

I'd rather take the advice of my vet and our breeder, both of whom actively encouraged the use of antlers and who use them with their own dogs.

And if you’re wondering what a slab fracture is...

Ours loves Pigs ears but her favourite is a Pizzle its a bulls penis cooked and dried, they pong and are very tough its the only thing she cant destroy in 10 minutes

That’s fine vanilla, but I’ve taken advise off many dental veterinary specialists and I suggest they may know better than your breeder.

My dog is 11 months old, has half a dentastix sponge chew every night with some added toothpaste, and has plaque - controlling additives in his food and water.

He still has sticky marks on his teeth and his breath isn't great, he's only a baby! His mouth is tiny and I can't get a brush in there, he's so daft about it. Not sure what else to try.

@Tamingofthehamster

That’s fine vanilla, but I’ve taken advise off many dental veterinary specialists and I suggest they may know better than your breeder.

Meh, I'm not here to argue about it - I'm sure you do things with your pet that I would disagree with as well.

Mine love their whimzees which I bulk buy as they work out quite expensive. I am also a bit mean in that I mix mediums with the large to keep the calories down (labradors). They will also happily chew carrots and kongs , and xtra large Durabones.
Unfortunately one of my dogs cannot take raw bones or antlers but those are the best alternatives I have found.

Vanilla, that’s fine, but when you’re recommending something dangerous then I have bring it to peoples attention. Especially when you contradicted me first😜

OP, most dental referral practices will have information about home care on them, so maybe worth googling them.

Fish skins, either the dried whole skins like Salmon or Wolf Fish or the fish jerky they have to work at crunching up. Natural, great for cleaning teeth and full of omega 3.

They do pong a bit though!

Whimzees gave both my dogs upset stomachs.

Have you tried cleaning your dog's teeth? I know it's not easy for lots but we do that. Kind of a pain at fist but he's ok now. The vet said it's more about getting the toothpaste on his teeth than actually giving them a good scrub - though I do have a go.
And he has PlaqueOff on his food. He's not a chewer anyway.

Oh god, I feel I’m contradicting everyone.

The physical brushing is the most beneficial part of tooth care. The problem is that not everyone can do it, hence the other products, but they are not Superior to tooth brushing.

@Tamingofthehamster haha! Maybe it was more that he was making me feel better for even trying

@Tamingofthehamster

Vanilla, that’s fine, but when you’re recommending something dangerous then I have bring it to peoples attention. Especially when you contradicted me first😜

OP, most dental referral practices will have information about home care on them, so maybe worth googling them.

But I don't consider them to be dangerous as long as they're used appropriately and under direct supervision, so I don't see a problem with recommending them to people.

There are lots of people on here who recommend antlers - not necessarily for tooth cleaning but as good natural chews for dogs. It's not as black and white as you're trying to make it out to be.

It really is. Dogs teeth can’t cope with the forces involved with chewing such hard materials. I’ve had training in this field. The incidence in fractures of the carnassial teeth since antlers became a thing has shot up from virtually nil, to being one of the more common fractures. The only treatment is extraction or referral procedures.

I promise I’m not just trying to have an argument for the sake of it.