A Carleton Place dog owner is starting a homegrown campaign against bones and hard chew toys after her English Springer Spaniel ended up with broken and infected teeth.
Deborah Richmond said while she would never give her dog Casey a chicken bone or something small he could choke on, she didn't think twice about rewarding him with a beef bone.
Richmond said she had been giving her dog beef bones as well as twisted rawhide strips for years.
She was shocked when her veterinarian told her ten of his teeth were either broken or infected, and that the strips and bones were to blame.
"The thing that bothered us the most was to find out that two of the roots were infected," said Richmond. "The pain the guy's been in. Because we have been giving him bones and rawhides for a long time."
Alta Vista Animal hospital veterinary dentist Dr. Yvan Dumais said he sees about four or five cases a week involving dogs with bone-damaged teeth.
"When they chew on the bone, it moves and goes off with part of the wall of the tooth," said Dumais.
He said flat rawhide or flexible bones are okay for dogs, but dog owners should avoid giving them anything too hard.
"When I go to a pet shop I am always amazed what people think when they give that to dogs," he said.
In 2010 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration put out a consumer warning against feeding dogs bones, saying that in addition to broken teeth, bones can also get stuck, injure the tongue or mouth, cause constipation or lead to abdomen infections.
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