I never brushed Sharav’s teeth, and never would have thought to do it, but I fed him high quality dog food, and I never let him eat sugary table scraps. I never clipped his nails, either, but they got filed down from plenty of long walks.
I was careful to maintain his vaccination for rabies, but only got the other vaccines for him when they were a mandatory precondition for being boarded at the kennel. I took him to the vet when he was sick, and also when he needed a vaccine (which required a preliminary checkup), but he never had any regular, routine veterinary visits.
One of his kennels offered an “anal gland expression” upsell. Whatever that was, he wasn’t interested in it.
![Smiling for my 36th birthday, after another move. Seattle, 2017.](https://i0.wp.com/sharav.dog/wp-content/uploads/DSC_3224-scaled.webp?resize=2560%2C1709)