Dental Health & Presentation Tips

 -- Quote of the Day --

The quote I've chosen for today (below) originated from a Conscious Discussions Talk Radio show that aired back on May 27th, 2010 on How to Write and Speak like a Professional. You can find the archived show three different ways - the easiest is to simply click on the title above. Otherwise, visit the Conscious Discussions homepage and scroll through the archives listed there. Or you can visit our site ( www.brummet.ca ) to find a handy hyper-linked list of archived shows.

 

 “To me, the starting point is what you say (as opposed to stage presence) - unless you are going to be on stage strictly to be an entertainer, to make people laugh and smile than fine, the content isn’t important. But if you are trying to convince people about something …it doesn’t matter how good of an entertainer you are, you are not going to get your point across. …Stage presence, vocal variety, gestures, movements, and all that are there to emphasize the key ideas of what you are saying. …Producing copy is a tricky thing, too – more often than not people are writing for themselves. What you have to do is write copy in such a way that the reader decides for him/herself that it is important.”

~   Philip Yaffe - May 27, 2010 

 -- Dental Awareness Month --

Did you know that August is  Dental Awareness Month? This awareness holiday began with just one week of awareness activities and grew to a global celebration for a full month. Topics and themes vary from year to year, but can include dental health for the elderly, infants and new technology and information from the industry. 

According to AustinVetCare.com: "The #1 diagnosed condition in companion animals is periodontal disease - Bad Breath is not normal, take your pet's bad breath seriously and schedule a dental appointment."

We have the great fortune of having a wonderful, warm hearted vet to care for our companions - Carol Schulz. Her office made us aware of teeth brushing for dogs - at first it was really interesting to try and get a toothbrush in their mouths, especially since their toothpaste tastes like chicken or turkey and is too nummy to not lick, and lick, and lick... making the job more difficult. However, as time went on we found they became used to the idea. We made sure to let them see us brush our teeth and floss and so on so that they were accustomed to the ritual for this family group. I'm not sure if that really helped or not, however when Dave brushed their teeth recently he told me this great story. 

 Dave was brushing his own teeth when the dogs approached him with a body language. "It was as if they were asking for their teeth to be brushed" he said. Admittadly it had been a while since we took care of the dogs' teeth, at least 6 weeks... so Dave started brushing their teeth and said that both dogs waited patiently for their turn, took great interest in what was going on and our oldest dog - Onyx - actually lifted his lips for Dave to gain access. 

So be patient when you first start with your dogs... Oh, and one tip - make sure the brush you choose is appropriate for a dog's mouth. The brush I received with the kit from the Vet's office was square, rigid and kinda big... a smaller one with a head that narrows, for easier access into the dog's mouth, is actually better for our dogs.

Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio program, newsletter, blogs, and more at: www.brummet.ca * Support the Brummets by telling your friends, or purchasing a book - each book sold raises funds for charity as well!