Teeth tactics

[UncleBob]

Hi all,

When Harv was a pup we avoided him chewing furniture, shoes, us! by substituting toys for him to chew on instead. This worked really well but with a (fairly well-known on the forum I think!) side effect - he absolutely shreds any soft toys that are given to him so that our living room often looks like a cross between Toys R Us and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre!!

We can live with this but what sometimes happens during the shredding process is that Harv gets bits of fabric stuck between his teeth. We trained a 'teeth' cue years ago so that we could inspect his teeth without too much bother and this is usually sufficient for a quick removal of the offending article. However, he currently has a small bit that is well and truly wedged in between two front teeth and he won't keep still long enough for us to remove it. (Imagine the canine equivalent of Stevie Wonder moving his head around all over the place ).

So .... has anybody got any tips for removing this bit of fabric?

 

[Shamas mom]

Shamas does this. I've been known to take hold of the fabric with pliers. Shamas does the pulling and moving. That usually gets it out.

 

[Mrs UB]

I think you get the general idea.

 

[Jacqui-S]

Oh goodness Harvey!
No stuffy is safe!

 

[Stacia]

I think you get the general idea. View attachment 37110

Rourke has a large bunny and two teddies, all whole and he has had them for at least ten years Harvey certainly has lots of fun

 

[Mrs UB]

Rourke has a large bunny and two teddies, all whole and he has had them for at least ten years

We’re house sitting for a friend’s dog in the summer. She’s like Rourke and keeps all her stuffies. Honestly, I fear for them.

 

[Lab_adore]

I love Harv's face - so happy!

Maxx has destroyed every stuffy except his current one. We gave him a Kong bear for his birthday a couple of years ago and it is still intact and he plays with it every day

No thoughts on the fabric in his teeth sorry, that is a tough one

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

He's so proud of himself in that one photo! You are the King of the Stuffy Murderers, Harv, and I say that being half in awe and half horrified.

I'm not showing Carbón, he'd surely want to come and give Harv an entire lecture about how we must protect our cherished stuff friends at all costs. I don't think he could deal with the trauma.

 

[UncleBob]

Shamas does this. I've been known to take hold of the fabric with pliers. Shamas does the pulling and moving. That usually gets it out.

Thanks for your input. However, I don't think that DIY tools and Harv's head-shaking antics are a good combination

 

[UncleBob]

Well, I managed to get some of it out - but there is still some left! Any further tips?

 

[Parodius]

Do you have a licki mat for Harv? My vet told me that they can help with their teeth as they encourage saliva production around the mouth, might ‘soften up’ the fabric between his teeth some so you have a better chance of removing it? Bit of a long shot I know, sorry. Hope you manage to get it out.

 

[HAH]

I was wondering similar - does he like carrots or suchlike? A combo of chewing something that will break off and crunch between the teeth, and saliva production as @Parodius says might do the trick…

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

Well, I managed to get some of it out - but there is still some left! Any further tips?

Tooth scaler with a really fine tip? You couldn’t / shouldn’t actually put it between the teeth, but you might be able to hook it into a bit of the fiber and wiggle out enough so that the stuck bit comes out easier on its own.

But if Harv would freak out about having the scaler in his mouth, obviously then that would fall into the same category as “no hardware in the mouth”. Carbón is used to me messing around with his teeth so I tend to forget what a dog without a wannabe dental assistant for a human is like.

 

[Stacia]

Pop him up to the vet?

 

[Anne123]

Floss rope

 

[Stacia]

Floss rope

I thought of that, but could MrsUB get access to his mouth and is there space enough between the teeth?

 

[M.F.]

A bit of dental floss to dislodge it? Snowie is happy to have dental floss in his mouth! He’s very curious when we’re flossing, so on many occasions we’ve flossed his teeth! For fun!! It’s really easy to get him interested after it’s been in one of our mouths and then we just pull the floss through. It does tend to break easily if it hits his sharp back teeth.

 

[Lisa]

A bit of dental floss to dislodge it? Snowie is happy to have dental floss in his mouth! He’s very curious when we’re flossing, so on many occasions we’ve flossed his teeth! For fun!! It’s really easy to get him interested after it’s been in one of our mouths and then we just pull the floss through. It does tend to break easily if it hits his sharp back teeth.

I honestly can’t picture doing this in a million years

 

[UncleBob]

Success!!

A team effort was required: half a treat for Harv as an initial incentive, me gently keeping his head still and pulling back his top lip (the material was in the top row of Harv's front teeth), and @Mrs UB bravely prying open his mouth and hooking a finger in behind the teeth and her thumb on the front of his teeth and sliding out the offending article. Phew! (And then the other half of the treat for Harv.)

 

[HAH]

Hooray, bravo team Harv!! That must be quite a relief