Needs Scrapey Dental Exercise:

Really really needs bones to chew on. Nothing's as "scrapey" or knocks off 'mineralized' tartar better. In fact, hardly anything knocks calcified tartar off at all!

Anyway - this calculus & tartar will swiftly lead to gum damage and tooth loss which is fine except a) It hurts and b) The germs get into the airway and bloodstream.
I wish all my clients were using simple beef (Not pork) bones for dental exercise AND that all the dogs would take 'em.

See, some dogs won't lower themselves to chewing bones. It's "like being a dog" in the Maltese, Dachshund and Yorkie minds. Those guys basically PUT themselves in the way of a dental scaling. Always worth a try.

Bones? Amazon.com, Hollywood Feed locally, Publix East Piedmont Meat Department, other meat departments.

BEEF bones with minimal fat left in and on 'em. If you get a "ring bone" make it too big or too small to loop-around-the-lower jaw. That's a toughie.

Bones must not be EATEN so if you give a bone and your dog's literally demolishing and eating it - then it means you gave a PORK bone, chicken bone, rib bone, or their jaws are just too strong. Too bad for Pitties and the "Rock-Wilders" - Doc Johnson

The best dental exercise.
Single Knucklebones are good when you don't know if the dog is gonna want to chew one.	I buy several knucklebones at a time and it's a little cheaper most of the time.

2 DOCUMENTS: Bones and Knucklebones

Illustration: Bones

Illustration: Knucklebone Failure