Brushing Teeth

[Amber]

How on earth do you go about brushing a dog's teeth?  Ever since I had to force hydrogen pyroxide down Maigee's throat (she ate stuff she shouldn't have), she won't let me do anything with her mouth.  I want to train her to get used to it again, but I'm not sure how to do it.  I thought brushing her teeth with some nice tasting dog toothpaste would help, but it hasn't seemed to do anything except make her run away.  Any suggestions?

[Kirsten]

Check the front end of the site for an article on the Individual Daily Exam (IDE).  It talks about exercises to prepare the dog for teeth cleaning.

[Amber]

I found the article, thanks! I'm going to start with Maigee right away, it seems like such a helpful thing to train her to let me do! 

[Amber]

For anyone reading this later, the link is here.

[Kirsten]

Thanks for posting the link.  I'm afraid I get tired of looking things up and I know the front end has a really good search engine (I picked it myself, as webmaster )  So sometimes I get a bit lazy.  Thanks for picking up the slack!

[hopesclan]

'Nice tasting' for a dog is nasty poultry...

[Kirsten]

Yes, I've always used poultry flavor, but the receptionist at my vet office (an old time dog breeder) swears dogs like the vanilla mint.  So I got some of that last time I was at UPCO.  Haven't tried it yet because I haven't finished the last tube.

[hopesclan]

Actually the brand I got last time isn't flavored anything fun.  It still stinks though and Hope thinks its great.  I brush her teeth for a reward after she gets her nails clipped.  I've never dealt with the slightest avoidance to teeth brushing with my dog, but I spent a lot of time working with my cat to allow me to brush her teeth.  For a long time I just offered a bit of pet toothpaste daily and worked up to the finger brush.

[Amber]

My toothpaste is "malt" flavored, whatever that is!

Today I practiced with Maigee and found out that she loved being laid on her back like Kirsten described in the article on the main site.  She laid there for about 10 minutes while I rubbed her belly without a single wiggle.  I gently checked her teeth, which she accepted but didn't like.  I didn't want to push it, so I praised her and then we played a fun game of fetch.

Then later I gave her some toothpaste which she eventually ate off the brush.  I left it at that for the day - we'll go again tomorrow!

[Kirsten]

It's great that you are taking it in little steps.  There is no need to try to get it all in one try.  Just continue to build up slowly and keep it a pleasant experience for you both.  That's the key to a happy future of brushing without conflict.

[BlindMag]

I had allergic dogs have allergy outbreaks with chicken flavor dog paste and do fine with the Vanilla Mint so that's what we use now. My dogs seem to like it a bit better. I brush with a battery powered child's toothbrush as it is easier on my hands. None of my dogs mind after gradual training to it.