The Learning Never Stops With a Bulldog

I've said it before & I'm saying it again...bulldogs are the educators of dogs.  I've learned so much from them in the past & now I have another learning opportunity to report & I think I also solved a mystery! 

Anyone know what this is a photo of?  a) Grain of rice?  b) Fake eyelash?  c) Feather?  d) Clump of fur that was stuck in Vivi's front teeth?  If you guessed d-you are correct.  Eeeew right?  But I'm not lying, it was there...stuck in the gums of her upper teeth...sticking out like they belonged there...lord only knows for how long.

I only caught it by chance when I had Vivi on her back clipping her nails & her jowls flipped back & I happened to look in her mouth at that exact time.  I was like...what the heck?!  So being a self-described picker I tried to take a look, but she wouldn't let me...I mean I did have to focus at the task at hand (her nails).

So the next time she sat on my lap, I took the opportunity to take a good look in her mouth & sure enough...clump of hair...in her teeth!  I remembered a friend of mine had to bring her bulldog in to get his teeth cleaned because of the hair that would get stuck after he groomed himself, but never gave it much thought...until I saw Vivi's that night.

I looked up "hair in dog's teeth" & it is more common than I thought.  Short hair or long hair...it doesn't matter, it can happen to any breed; but I would think if it's shorter hair it stands a better chance of just sticking out from the gum line vs being wrapped around the teeth.  Hair stuck in the gum can cause a plaque build up, bad breath & even gum disease. 

To get the hair out, I just kept grabbing at it with my fingers.  I did not use a tweezers because she's such a wiggle worm that I knew she'd get hurt.  It took awhile, but I eventually got that sucker out of her teeth!  Ha!  Mystery of the bad breath bully--CASE SOLVED!!!  Or at least I hope.  I've been trying to be better with the bullies' teeth cleaning to keep this at bay....some days I'm better at that than others.  Thankfully they all like getting their teeth cleaned because they love the taste of the toothpaste I use...silly bullies.

Any of you deal with this?  Any tips or tricks to keeping the hair out?  The boys' don't seem to have this same problem as Viv...weird.

Good god...what died in there?!

Question of the day....how can something so sweet & innocent looking...

have such HORRIFIC breath?!  Ugg...it's sooo bad.  It always has been.  When we were at the vet for her annual appointment in December, I even asked about it.  Vet said she didn't have any infections or anything in her mouth that would cause such a stench, but....ewww....it stinks.

She did offer one option of why.  Anyone want to guess?  Here's a clue...it's weirdly long & she uses it to kiss you...from across the room, as well as grabbing paper.  That's right...

Yep!  That's right!  Her tongue.  She said that if she has it out when she sleeps & it gets dry, it can cause bad breath.  I mean, I guess it makes sense...but lordy.  It's soooo bad.

So I'm coming to each & every one of you for help...give me your best bad breath advice!  I've tried brushing teeth & that's not working.  Steve & I joke that she has "cats".  Meaning, you sleep with your mouth open & a cat comes & poops in your mouth when you're sleeping...see, you'd have HORRIFIC breath right?  So next time you encounter someone w/bad breath...I bet you think..."dang they have cats!"  hahaha

Anyway, please leave a comment below on your tips or tricks for curing bad breath!  I'd really appreciate it!

Oh gosh...we'd ALL appreciate it!