Pet of the Month: King

The majority of patients at RAH are companion animals, cats and dogs that are loved, cared for, and maintain a life-long friendship with their owners. However there are a few that go beyond companionship, they also have a job. King is one of those special patients; he is a Correctional Services detector dog.

King is a 6-year-old Labrador-Shorthaired Pointer mix, trained to use his nose to sniff out illicit substances. King works hard alongside his dad, a Corrections Officer, but has a bit of a hard time getting on with other people and animals, potentially a side effect of being a rescue (King was adopted from the Seattle SPCA). In his off time, King is a very loving dog, and though he tolerates his two brothers he prefers to spend time on his own.

A few weeks back King came in with a broken lower canine tooth. Dr. Arsenault and Dr. Runyon assessed the tooth and decided that it was possible to save it, instead of extracting it, but they were going to need the help of a dentist. Dr. Gord Reid of Victoria Park Dental was able to come by RAH to do a Vital Pulp Capping on King. This involved rounding the jagged edges of the tooth, sealing the exposed pulp, then capping the tooth and re-shaping it. The procedure only took 15-20min but the results are impressive –it’s hard to tell which tooth it was that had been broken! Many thanks to Dr Reid for his time and specialized instruments. King was kept on a canned food diet for a week to allow the tooth time to heal and he has recovered very well. We’re so happy to have preserved his beautiful smile!

King was back to work in no time, which is good news as we’re told he is quite good at his job. Keep up the good work King!

Check out the photos below to see the great work of Dr Reid; can you tell that the lower K-9 had ever been broken?

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