and when you need to keep the mouth slightly ajar to look at lets say the tongue because your dog had a lapse in better judgment and ate a bee that stung his tongue and the stinger is still lodged in there...I found the rawhide sticks work well... place it toward the back of the mouth line so its between the back teeth resting between the top and bottom molars, this way you can get in the mouth and they are not biting your fingers and they cant close their mouth. And I used a face cloth as well to keep the tongue down. But yes you do ideally need two people to get it done quickly and less trauma!
Tips for looking deep into sheltie mouth
- Thread starter coopersmom
- Start date
BarbV
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I think the step that is missing that was alluded to is the "prying the mouth open" part
You pry the mouth open by taking your thumb and forefinger and push it into the side of the mouth on each side. This creates a reflex action with the dog, and the mouth opens.
I still prefer using my fingers. I'm not worried about a bite at this point, because my fingers are now BEHIND the teeth
The difficulty, then is in keeping it open. That's when you need a helper. Once the jaw is opened, the other hand grasps the top of the snout, behind the teeth, with the same thumb and forefinger. Now you've got both the top and bottom controlled.
The 2nd person does the probing with flashlight etc.
For some dogs, they don't like it, but will put up with it. It becomes problematic when the dog refuses to be handles around the mouth. That's a bigger issue overall, and there were tips above to get you dog used to getting his mouth handled. In reality, you can get a dog to deal with it in a matter of a few days with the proper and gradual treat/reward process.
You pry the mouth open by taking your thumb and forefinger and push it into the side of the mouth on each side. This creates a reflex action with the dog, and the mouth opens.
I still prefer using my fingers. I'm not worried about a bite at this point, because my fingers are now BEHIND the teeth
The difficulty, then is in keeping it open. That's when you need a helper. Once the jaw is opened, the other hand grasps the top of the snout, behind the teeth, with the same thumb and forefinger. Now you've got both the top and bottom controlled.
The 2nd person does the probing with flashlight etc.
For some dogs, they don't like it, but will put up with it. It becomes problematic when the dog refuses to be handles around the mouth. That's a bigger issue overall, and there were tips above to get you dog used to getting his mouth handled. In reality, you can get a dog to deal with it in a matter of a few days with the proper and gradual treat/reward process.