Teeth vs Steel

It is amazing how strong our canine companions can be.  Marley has been strong from the very beginning.  He pulls like a draft horse.  When we were using a retractable leash I had a moment of inattention when he ran to the end of the line at full speed and I was twirled and dropped to the ground.  At that time he weighed only about 30 pounds.  He's now somewhere between 45-50 pounds.  Now, he has lost his baby teeth and the adult teeth are almost fully formed.

We've let him clean out the cat food cans on the day we serve Charlotte her last serving from it.  He's always liked the cans, and he's always chewed on them once the food is gone.  In fact, he'll chew & play with (including fetch) any can.  I rinse the last of the liquid from the tomatoes or other canned human foods to reduce the spill potential.  We can't let him keep them more than a few hours, though.  The photo shows the rim of a large dog food can after maybe 20-30 minutes.  It's no longer round.  It's got dimples all the way around as well as a number of total perforations.  Yes, Marley can puncture steel with his teeth!  (the spot middle-left that looks different is one of those holes)  Maybe it's not good for his teeth, but better the cans than us.  Better the cans than Charlotte.  Although, he "mauls" her on a regular basis with only an occasional complaint, and she keeps coming back for more.  UPDATED - THIS was a cat food can less than an hour before the photo!

The amazing dog factoid is that 2 of the dogs with the greatest bite pressure are generally considered 2 of the gentlest: the Golden Retriever and the Dalmatian.

I'd hate to be on the receiving end of an unrestrained, full-force bite from any dog, but I think Marley would be one of the worst.  Thank goodness he has his breeds' gentle mouth (most of the time).