There are three types of dog owners: those who brush their pet’s teeth, those who feel guilty about not brushing, and those who ask: “Why the heck would you brush your dog’s teeth?” I fall into the second category, much to my poodle’s detriment.
This is the point where I confess that I just spent a lot of money on my dog’s dental surgery. But wait, there’s more. My second confession is that my dog Merlin only has one tooth left.
Let’s step into the time machine and go back to 2015. I wanted to get a puppy from a reputable breeder. I’m allergic to dogs and poodles are the only ones that don’t bother me. But when my husband saw the puppy price tag he thought that was too much money and that we should rescue a dog from a shelter instead. I agreed that this would be more ethical, but we were both wrong when we thought it would be cheaper.
It took months to find a poodle that was available for adoption, but finally, we heard of one being brought in from Texas. The rescue told us it was a silver, 25-pound poodle who was 2 years old. What we found was a 14-pound cafe-au-lait poodle with gingivitis. We named him Merlin. Almost immediately, Merlin needed so many teeth pulled that the vet said his true age was closer to 5. A year later, during a second professional detail cleaning, Merlin needed even more teeth pulled. This was a great lesson to our kids, by the way. Never adopt an animal unless you can afford surprise veterinary bills.
From that very first dental surgery, I should have been brushing Merlin’s teeth, but I didn’t. And really — why is this all on me? I don’t need to shoulder all the blame. There are four people in my family. Any one of us could have been brushing Merlin’s teeth. Giving him teeth-cleaning chewy treats wasn’t an option because he’s a picky eater. We were strict about feeding him kibble though as the vet recommended. Merlin’s an “eat to live” dog, as opposed to a “live to eat” personality. Oftentimes his kibble would sit in his bowl all day until he finally decided to wolf it down before bed. But last fall, I noticed that the kibble would sit uneaten longer than usual. I mixed in wet dog food to tempt his appetite. By January though, Merlin stopped eating completely, unless you hand-fed him morsels of rotisserie chicken.
My husband, who had completely forgotten his earlier frugality, was ready to pay one more giant vet bill for the sake of the sweet pup we so dearly love. Merlin went into surgery a third time for additional extractions.
Now I’m the weird lady at the grocery store who buys refrigerated dog food because that’s the only thing that my nearly toothless poodle will eat. It’s too bad that seven years ago I wasn’t the weird lady deploying the doggie toothbrush.
Jennifer Bardsley publishes books under her own name and the pseudonym Louise Cypress. Find her online on Instagram @jenniferbardsleyauthor, on Twitter @jennbardsley or on Facebook as Jennifer Bardsley Author. Email her at teachingmybabytoread@gmail.com.
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