Are duck feet safe and healthy for my dog, and do they clean teeth?

Chicken feet are an excellent source of collagen and glucosamine. They also make great toothbrushes for your dog. As a supplement, feet are a great choice but as the main meal, they would not provide sufficient protein to maintain health and weight.

Hello, thank you for your question about Sky. There are many different opinions on feeding raw food diets, so you may hear different opinions depending on who you ask. I would not recommend feeding your dog raw chicken feet. In general feeding raw or even freeze dried food can lead to bacterial infections such as Salmonella. This can be transmitted to humans also. There is no advantage to feeding freeze-dried/raw food over commercial dog food. Hope this helps!

These are good treats for your dog, but they won't clean his teeth well. You can use dental specific treats for him to clean his teeth, and I also recommend brushing his teeth. You will need to use a dog specific toothpaste, as human toothpastes are not safe for dogs. You can get the toothpaste and a toothbrush for him from a pet store. Just like in humans, dogs need regular dental care as well, and I would have him seen by the vet for a dental cleaning, scaling, and polishing.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I recommend daily teeth brushing with dog toothpaste daily. Groomers only brush a dogs teeth when they are groomed- likely every 6-8 weeks. That would be like us brushing our teeth once every 6-8 weeks. It’s not a bad idea but it’s not going to do a whole lot in the long run. I also recommend a professional teeth cleaning by a veterinarian every year- to remove plaque, polish after (very important after plaque removal), and to check for problems/bad teeth before they cause other problems. Rawhides are not bad but they will not take the place of daily dental care. Also, they can cause intestinal upset so I do not recommend them frequently. They also have a lot of calories so you have to make sure Scooby doesn’t gain weight when feeding them. Kisses to Scooby!

As long as you are using a dog-only toothpaste, you should be good (NO fluoride). Daily brushing is the best medicine. With a 15 year old beagle, she probably has underlying tartar and calculus (unless her teeth were recently cleaned by a vet), so you won't be removing anything that is already there, you would be preventing anything new from forming. Good job for taking good care of Daisy's oral health!

Both help fight tartar formation on your dog's teeth. Both do a fairly good job of slowing the process down, however neither brushing or Greenies treats will eliminate or remove the tartar that has already built up on a dog's teeth. In an ideal world you would be brushing Bella's teeth daily and giving her dental chews (like greenies). The downside of brushing is really just the time it takes and getting your dog comfortable with the act of tooth brushing. The downsides of greenies and similar treats is that some dogs just don't chew on them enough to get the effect of the tartar control and instead swallow big chunks in their enthusiasm at getting a treat. Additionally if weight control becomes an issue as Bella gets older, extra treats mean extra calories. You're in a great position with Bella being so young to start getting her used to regular tooth brushing while she is still teething and may enjoy the act of brushing on her teeth and gums as her adult teeth come in. I recommend using a commercial toothpaste that is labeled pet safe (can be found at a local pet store, online, and many veterinarians have samples for patients to try) and a toothbrush that is appropriate for your dogs mouth (Bella will probably need a small brush since she is a little dog). Ask your vet if they have any instructional information for how to slowly introduce brushing into your routine. Also with dental chews always make sure you follow the charts and give the right size treat for your size dog (my 6.5 chihuahua once ate a Greenie that was for a much larger dog and did get a little loose stool for about a day... lesson learned). I hope this was helpful!

Hello, and thank you for using PetCoach. It's great that you're thinking about Teddy's oral health! It is best to brush Teddy's teeth daily using a toothpaste formulated for dogs. There are lots of good options, so try a few out and see what flavors Teddy likes, but I recommend an enzymatic toothpaste. Here's an example: https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/sentry-petrodex-enzymatic-toothpaste-for-dogs-5000644--1 It's also beneficial for Teddy to chew on things that are meant to massage his gums and help work tarter off his teeth. I prefer rawhides that are coated in enzymes to help combat tarter, such as these: VIP-_-92700027187667220&kwid=p27187667220&device=c&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2PLt-eSv1wIViLrACh0JkwyJEAQYASABEgLS3PD_BwE My own opinion is that providing good products for dogs to chew on does the most to help their teeth - but the combination of chewing and regular tooth brushing will benefit Teddy's oral health the most. Also, some dogs are less enthusiastic about chewing, which makes brushing the teeth even more important. Of course, all of these are measures to help slow tarter production - but nothing completely replaces regular dental care from your veterinarian. Just as we humans brush daily and still need regular dental care, our pets need the same. Hope this helps!