Tips on looking in a mouth

[HAH]

One big gap in my training so far has been looking in the mouth - Kipper doesn’t like sustained mouth handling and I know it’s something we need to work on.
However, this afternoon he seems bright enough in himself, but unusually dribbly. I know this can be lots of things, but I think the most likely is mouth pain or stomach ache. I’ve felt round his mouth and inspected it while he was chewing a toy (which he seems happy to do normally) and there’s nothing obvious.

Any other ideas for inspecting a mouth when it’s not their favourite thing?

If he’s still not right tomorrow we’ll hop to the vet, but I’m not sure how they’d do mouth inspections either.

 

[Anne123]

I’ve learned to do it very gentle. Standing behind his head. One hand under his under jaw, with the other hand gently lifting his/her upper lips and when comfy jaw

 

[snowbunny]

You could try holding a bully stick and having a look while he's chewing that. Or smear something gooey but tasty on your finger so he's happier to have that in his mouth poking around.

I'm working on teaching mine to open their mouths on cue at the moment. It's slow progress

 

[HAH]

I'm working on teaching mine to open their mouths on cue at the moment. It's slow progress

Ooh, keep us posted! I’d love to do this - so you can have a look but they’re in control, and if you need to touch you can cue it. I’m still cooperative care 101, but maybe in 5 yrs or so

 

[Jacqui-S]

You could try holding a bully stick

 

[Emily]

One big gap in my training so far has been looking in the mouth - Kipper doesn’t like sustained mouth handling and I know it’s something we need to work on.
However, this afternoon he seems bright enough in himself, but unusually dribbly. I know this can be lots of things, but I think the most likely is mouth pain or stomach ache. I’ve felt round his mouth and inspected it while he was chewing a toy (which he seems happy to do normally) and there’s nothing obvious.

Any other ideas for inspecting a mouth when it’s not their favourite thing?

If he’s still not right tomorrow we’ll hop to the vet, but I’m not sure how they’d do mouth inspections either.

How is Kipper btw? Did you resolve his mouth issues?

 

[HAH]

How is Kipper btw? Did you resolve his mouth issues?

Thanks for asking @Emily - the dribbling cleared up after a night’s sleep, and as there was nothing else that seemed to be bothering him we’re hoping it was just ‘one of those things’ (like a bit of grass stuck that then got dislodged)
He was actually quite good at having his mouth felt by OH so that’s a new strategy!