The luckiest dog owners will get to see their beloved pet grow to a ripe, old age. While the health of older dogs is a bigger concern, we all want to believe that our dogs will be around for a very long time. Yet, in many of these cases these dogs have special care needs and many pet owners wonder if a dog with no teeth can still eat.

Clearly, the best thing a dog owner can do to ensure their dogs will have no problem enjoying their favorite foods long into adulthood is to take care of your dog’s teeth. Proper dental care should start early and will include using milk bones and even tooth brushes from time to time. Still, for many dogs, losing teeth is inevitable as they get older.

Nevertheless, even without teeth your dog can still eat; but as a loving owner, you will need to make some more intelligent choices when it comes to their diet. Chewy treats and dog bones are probably no longer appropriate. Likewise, dogs lose their ability to crunch on dry dog food as they lose their teeth so you will almost definitely need to make some dietary changes.

In the early stages of losing teeth, switch to softer, dry food. Your dog will still have some teeth and should manage well will soft or semi-moist food. But once your dog loses all its teeth, even softer dog foods will be difficult. You’ll want to make the switch to canned, wet foods and you’ll need to spend some extra time preparing the food. Your dog doesn’t have any teeth so it probably cannot break up even wet food very easily. Cut or mash the wet food so that your dog can easily take small bites. No teeth makes meal times a bit more challenging but certainly not impossible.