Should I feed my dog Dental Sticks?

It's a fair question.

Dental sticks are heavily promoted by vets, and they sit quite prominently on supermarket shelves as it promises to solve a problem every dog owner is bound to have as we all know that no dog loves their teeth brushed (Fergus certainly doesn't). 

It is estimated that over 80% of dogs over the age of three will have active dental disease. That is a sad reality as dogs, like us, eat everyday and yet unlike us, they don't brush their teeth everyday. 

A seemingly simple solution to your dog's teeth problem! Give them one delicious stick a day to prevent tartar build up and remove plaque - and the best part is that the doggos always come running for it. 

We gave Fergus the Greenies dental sticks for a good first 1.5 years of his life. He would devour in minutes and we would naively believe that the toothbrush shaped stick was enough to clean his teeth. 

It really wasn't, though. His teeth wasn't the best even after regular stick chewing and at 2 years of age, I noticed teeth discolouration and some gum bleeding when brushing. 

Reflecting back now I see clearly where the logic gap lies - how can chewing a flour filled stick in under 2 minutes clean teeth?

Because there really is only two ways to remove tartar and plaque from your dog's teeth; Brushing or Scraping. 

We did brush, occasionally when he was super tired from a walk but the rest of the time it became increasingly hard to wrestle a 40 KG dog whilst keeping his mouth open so that you can get to his pearly whites. 

We were recommended raw bones by our more experienced dog owner friends; chicken frames, leg bones and turkey necks but Fergus wasn't a fan of raw meats. And you had to have them outside or you risk your house smelling like the butcher's and these raw bones left a bloody residue all over your floorboards/carpet. Not ideal at all!  

And that's when we turned to tough dehydrated treats. None of the mess but with a chew tough and long lasting enough to scrape tartar & plaque from Fergus' teeth! 

So the two questions you should be asking yourself when looking for appropriate dental chews for your dog are...  

Is it TOUGH enough to SCRAPE off the tartar and plaque build up on my doggo's teeth? 

AND

WHAT IS IT MADE OF?

A dental chew primarily made of flour and grains is probably not the best idea, regardless of 'active ingredients' (likely chemical) present. 

By answering those two questions, you should be able to sufficiently answer the question posed in the title of this blog. 

Want to see Ferguson's pick of Long Lasting Dental Chews? Check them out here - https://fergusonstreatos.com.au/collections/long-lasting-chew 

Extra notes for those of you wondering what we personally did with Fergus' Dental Care Routine: 

We started with Pig's Ears (not too tough for a dog of Fergus' size) and progressed to Roo Tendons (better suited for small breeds), Goat Horns (his breath turned horrid for a few days) and eventually the holy grail of all tough chews; Bully Sticks. 

Fergus couldn't even get through a Bully Stick in one sitting. They were a little bit pricey but the 6 inches lasted him through 2-3 chewing sessions which was a good bang for our buck. Super tough, no post chew stinky breath and it was a nice indoor chew as it did not create crumbs or leave any residue behind.