Dental Sticks for Giant Breeds

As someone who has Saint Bernards and a Corgi it can be challenging to find size appropriate items for everyone. Dental health is something that is so important and something I've neglected in the past. Am I proud of it? No. Do I understand it? Yeah. Wrestling 100lbs dogs to brush their teeth is a work out!

I tried Dentastix but even the biggest ones were lodged in the throat of a Saint Bernard within 60 seconds. Nothing like a jump scare and shoving your fist down your dog's throat to pull it out right? We didn't try those again for obvious reasons. I liked giving our saints bones to give them something to scrape their teeth on, but they chewed aggressively enough that I had concerns that someone was going to crack their teeth. There's a vet bill I didn't want.

Now to the solution, and it might not be quite what you're expecting. It's carrots!

We bought these from a local farmer's market because we like the varying sizes. It's perfect for our varying sized dogs

Many dogs can take or leave carrots, and that is definitely my dogs. So there's a bit of a trick to making them more tasty for your pups.

PREPARING YOUR "DENTAL STICKS"

1. To get started you want to wash your carrots, you can peel them if you wish. Once your carrots are washed or peeled, chop off the ends leaving only the edible portions of the carrot.

2. Fill a large pot with a 50/50 split of dog friendly bone broth and water. If you want to add a tiny bit of salt you can do this as well, just don't add too much. Bring this mixture to a boil.

3. Add your carrots to the pot and allow them to boil until they are half cooked. You want your carrots to still hold a shape when you remove them from the pot.

4. Allow the carrots to cool, then place them in a freezer safe bag. I recommend a bag because these will freeze together. Allow the carrots to freeze overnight.

5. After all of the carrots are frozen, take the bag out of the freezer and drop it on the ground to help break the carrots apart. Allow your dog to have a carrot a day to help clean their teeth!

A quick note about breaking the carrots apart, this is loud. I actually had my youngest Saint Bernard scared of the freezer opening for a few weeks after I did it for the first time. I suggest doing this outside where it'll make less noise.

The left over broth can be poured over your dogs food to make it more tasty and provide extra hydration. You can also freeze it to add to the next batch and save a bit on broth!

I hope that you and your pups like this option that is giant breed friendly, and great for dogs that tend to chew aggressively enough that cracking their teeth is a concern.