The myths of dog kibble

We have all heard that kibble is good for your dog's teeth. I grew up believing this; even my vet from years ago told me not to feed canned or real food because it was bad for my dogs teeth. So what is the myth (any invented story, idea, or concept:) then? The fact is that dog food is very bad for your dogs teeth; don't believe me? I want you to see for yourself; after your dog eats this morning or this evening lift their lip at the back of their mouth and have a good look at their molars. Now unless your dog does not chew like my little Jessie who literally inhales her food you will find mushed up kibble sitting on their back teeth. There it will sit until eventually dissolving away which can take a very long while.

It happens to us as well but we can use our tongue to get it off our teeth and of course we brush. I don't know how many times people have brought up the "hard food is better for their teeth" issue. I am not saying that all dog food is bad; you all know that I occasionally feed it to my dogs but what I have noticed is that the better foods don't collect quite as badly. I'm not sure why this is; it could be the process in which the food is prepared or the ingredients in the food. So what are you to do about this lump of mushy destruction in your dogs mouth? My girl Tilley came up with her own solution; she uses her nylabone. When my three use to eat dog food more frequently she would always go and get a bone after a meal; I never put the two together until I watched her closely one night. She chews the bone with her back teeth; pulls it out of her mouth and cleans off the food and then she proceeds again with chewing. She uses the bone as a tool to get the food off of her teeth; pretty cool eh?

But for the other not so highly evolved dogs; what are they to do? You have to help them somehow; either washing it off their teeth for them, making sure you brush regularly or giving them raw bones regularly to clean those back teeth. In the wild wolves and coyotes don't have a pet food store where they can purchase their dinner, they must hunt and eat raw meat. And I'm pretty sure that they don't make regular trips to the dentist out there in the woods either. Undoubtedly they have occasional tooth issues like anyone can but they live out their natural lives without having someone clean their teeth for them. They eat raw food; including bones which are dandy tools for cleaning teeth.

If you are not interested in feeding raw food to your dog then you must clean the mushy mass of destruction that dog food leaves in its path.