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Pretzel Stick Dental Exams
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Dr. Sally J. Foote, DVM, CABC, IAABC
you must move, bring as much of the
past as you can with you.
• Do what feels good. Only go out when
you feel ready. Don’t let others dictate
when the time is right for you.
• Put off things that can wait. If you are
feeling overwhelmed, be patient and
focus only on the things that you feel you
can handle.
• Set long term goals. Approach these
goals slowly and be prepared to be flex
ible as you move along.
• Keep your sense of humor. When you
think you just might be going crazy, take
a step back and try to find humor in some
of the silly things you do. Your pet
would be delighted to see you laugh and
enjoy life again!
2. Reorganization. This time frame usually
lasts from the 9th month to the 13th month. It
is often described as “the fog lifting.” This is
when you know it’s time to remake your life,
reinvest in yourself, and move to a more
normal level of functioning. You may feel a
sense of relief or renewed energy levels. It
should be easier for you to make decisions, and
your daily sleeping and eating patterns should
become more stable. You may even feel like
laughing more or perhaps even thinking of
adopting another companion animal.
Ways to help yourself during this time:
• Enjoy yourself without guilt. When you
feel up to going out and having fun, do
it! You’ve suffered enough and deserve
some time to do what feels good.
• Do what you want, not what others
expect you to do. If you want a quiet
dinner at home alone, then have it. If you
feel like placing your pet’s picture on the
table, then do so. If you want others
around you, invite them over.
• Go on a trip. A lot of people find that
taking a trip somewhere for rest and
relaxation can be quite energizing.
• Always be kind to yourself. You are a
survivor. You had the strength to get
through the year. Hopefully you did not
do it completely alone and sought help
when it was needed. Continue to seek out
support for as long as it is helpful to you
and remember that life must truly go on.
Let go of your guilt….it’s time to feel
better.
H
ave you ever had a patient you wanted to
"flip the lip" for a dental exam, but the patient
was anxious about mouth handling? These
situations are challenging, and pose a risk to
handlers and veterinarians. I try to think of
ways to get an exam done while reducing stress
and aggression. In a lecture, Dr. Sophia Yin
demonstrated using pretzel sticks to give
rewards to dogs who grabbed at food. If they
bit the pretzel stick, it was no problem - they
could swallow and digest it easily. Fingers and
hands were safe and the dogs liked the baby
food or cheese whiz on the pretzel stick. It was
a great way to keep a dog focused on the pretzel during low stress exams. I added pretzel
sticks to my treat shelf selection and kept them
in mind for mouth exams.
I had my opportunity to try a pretzel stick
dental exam. Last week I had a new patient
who was pretty easy to examine, but was
clearly nervous around the head. I am very
aware of how big the teeth were on this beautiful German Shephard, and how fast a Shepard
tends to react when they are stressed. I immediately thought of the pretzel stick as a means
of "flipping the lip”. This dog was happy but
would keep pulling her head away from me as
I felt under her neck and approached the
mouth. Time to try the pretzel trick. I dipped
the end of the pretzel in peanut butter, and now
the dog was focused on that. With my tech
holding lightly around the shoulder I allowed
the dog to lick the pretzel with the peanut
butter, then slid the end to “flip the lip". The
dog did not resist or pull away. She kept licking at the peanut butter as I would slide the lip
up then allow her to lick the end of the stick
then go to the front and other side always
allowing a quick lick at the stick. She even
opened her mouth trying to get more of the
stick so I could see the roof of her mouth
easily. The whole exam took just a few
seconds. I did a complete exam easily. Breaking off the slobbery end for her to eat when we
were finished was a reward for tolerating a
mouth exam. I did not have to put my hands
on the head - which helped ease any anxiety in
this dog and she got a lot of rewards. For this
dog, a mouth exam was fun. That is what I