Ooooo! I can be the first person to put a post in here! I'm looking after my step-dad's 12 year old Bedlington terrier. He's called Freddie and we've had him since he was a pup. He's from the Honeymist line, but couldn't be a show dog because he broke a tooth on a toy when he was wee. He could have been a stud dog (I've had people in cars stop to ask me howmuch stud fee I charge!) but he never got the chance My earliest memory of him is when our elderly neighbour got him and he would run around the garden looking like a rocking horse! He's old now and stinky, but we love him
I've got three of them The oldest one's 8, then one 4years and one 20 weeks. The youngest one is a lunatic, into everything and so quick to learn! I'm curious, why do you think he's stinky? Is it coming from his mouth? or somewhere else? They don't usually have a smell, unless they've rolled in something or been swimming ;-)
It's a combination of being on a rubbish diet (pedigree meat and mixer) and really bad teeth (caused no doubt by the rubbish diet). He's actually owned by my step-dad so I'm working on him to get him on a better quality food. I've been looking after him while my step-dad is on holiday and he is much less smelly on his body. I've not been giving him the Winalot biscuits he usually has in the morning or the Pedigree Dentastix. Instead he's been having a dried tripe stick every morning. He needs to go to the vets to have his teeth sorted, but I'm not sure about him having an anaesthetic as he is 12 years old.
Poor baby! Fancy feeding him on such rubbish - they probably thought they were giving him the best Does he have loose teeth? or are they all tartared up? if the latter I'd be inclined to give him a bone (supervised) - nothing too exciting, a steamed stuffed bone which could then be stuffed at home - I use cream cheese/fish paste/even marmite at a pinch. If his gums are red near the teeth or receding or teeth are loose, I'd get him to the vets, they would be able to tell you whether they could do it with just a sedative or if he needed anaesthetic It will cost you tho, I had an elderly dog's teeth done back in the nineties and couldn't believe the cost! I started my first Bedlie on Pedigree as a pup, but at six months her teeth were so brown and tartared I panicked and 'hit the web' (they were her new adult teeth) I changed her to BURNS and gave her plenty of steamed bones and a regular raw chicken wing - I held the end of it - to chew and her teeth have been great ever since. They're on CSJ now and still great teeth. I find some dog foods better than others for teeth. ;-) Hope this helps him, it can't be much fun living with a stinky mouth.
He used to belong to my step-dad's elderly neighbour (she dies 2 years ago aged 91) and I guess she didn't know any better. I think she never checked his teeth either. His gums do look very red and sore, although they are mainly black in colour so it's hard to tell. It's the back ones on the top jaw that are covered in tartar. The bottom ones don't seem to have any. His front teeth are pretty brown. I gave him a chicken wing this morning (my own dog is raw fed so gets them all the time) and he loved it! Problem is, my step-dad is a vegetarian so he won't have chicken wings/bones/raw-hide in the house Hopefully the vet will be able to at least clean them up a bit
