teeth cleaning and paws

[picklesmum]

Good afternoon all! Couple of health related questions for all you wonderful Cocker experts....
1) do you clean your Cocker's teeth? I have tried a few times with Pickle but he just loves the taste of the doggy toothpaste and keeps licking it so I can't get to his teeth. How important is teeth cleaning? Will 'denta-rasks' or the equivalent do just as good a job, or should I persevere with the (very messy) brushing option?
2) Pickle seems to have a couple of 'cracks' on the largest pad on his two front feet. Doesn't seem to bother him, but I've seen 'paw-wax' for sale in the pet shop, and was wondering if this would help his pads? They feel very dry to the touch, and I am a bit worried about the 'cracks' - or is this perfectly normal?
Thanks in advance,
Emma and Pickle xx                      

[Dunton4]

Hi Emma and Pickle,  

Tilly has her teeth brushed every other day.  It is her favourite part of the grooming process!  I must say that, although we have been brushing since she was tiny, she still spends most time licking and chewing the brush, but I can give her main teeth a quick brush now in amongst all the excitement.  I think that Pickle will calm down if you keep going and I am glad that I persisted with Tilly, as she is a lot better than in the mad puppy days!  She is only 11 months though and her teeth are still lovely and pearly-white, so I can't comment on the long-term benefits.  I don't feed her denta rasks as we tried one once and it upset her tummy really badly.

Sorry, don't know about the pads, I am sure someone will be along with advice on that soon.

Happy brushing!

Sue (and toothy grin from Tilly)                    

[Jane S]

Teeth brushing on a regular basis is definitely a good idea - if you find using a conventional toothbrush tricky, you can get brushes which fit over your fingers (like thimbles) which makes it easier to get at the teeth. I don't think Rasks or Dentastixs are that effective at cleaning teeth although most dogs love them (they do have a lot of additives though). For teeth cleaning, a raw marrow bone is best - much cheaper too!

For cracked pads, you might find applying vaseline will help although dogs that have some exercise on hard ground/concrete will always have rougher pads than those that are only exercised on grass.                    

[picklesmum]

Thanks Sue and Jane - well, I guess we'll persist with the messy tooth cleaning. Pickle has all his adult teeth now, and they are lovely and white, so we want to keep them that way! (still haven't plucked up the courage to get a marrow bone - very squeamish!!!)
We'll also try some vaseline on the paws - what a versatile product vaseline is!
Emma and Pickle xx