Michigan Dog with Braces Spreads Smiles Around the World

SPRING LAKE, MI – If you’re still paying off your kid’s braces, this story about a Michigan pooch’s mouth full of metal may make you welp like a dog.

But dogs do sometimes need braces, and anyone who didn’t know that already likely will soon given the speed at which the story about Wesley, a 6-month-old Golden Retriever puppy, is circling the globe.

Wesley’s owner, Molly Moore, was worried about the way the pooch’s adult teeth were coming in. He couldn’t close his mouth correctly, and that affected his ability to eat. So she consulted her dad, veterinarian Dr. James Moore, at the Harborfront Hospital for Animals & Veterinary Dental Solutions in the western Michigan town of Spring Lake.

Her dad prescribed braces.

Orthodontia in pets is normally not for aesthetic purposes, but because of health concerns, according to a post on Facebook.

Wesley is luckier than most humans who get braces, though. He will only have the hardware in his mouth for a few weeks.

ABC News picked up the story and ran it on “Good Morning America,” Fox News and the “Today” show did, too, and the tale of the tail-wagging dog been shared by countless other news organizations, bringing what the vet clinic said on its Facebook page was an "overwhelming ... outpouring of care and interest from around the nation for our buddy ‘Wesley.’ ”

“... We are glad that his cute ‘brace face’ brought such interest” and awareness to the fact that pets need dental care, just as humans do, the page’s administrators wrote.

After getting braces, Wesley is reportedly eating well again, playing and feeling wonderful.

» Photo courtesy of Harborfront Hospital for Animals