If you don’t take care of your puppy or dog’s teeth you could be storing up a whole host of problems.
Poor dental hygiene in dogs can cause problems such as: inflammation of the gums, periodontal disease (in which plaque builds up and begins to separate the tooth from the gum), abscesses, tooth loss and infections.Also, bacteria from the mouth can get into the dog’s blood stream and affect certain organs such as the liver, kidneys and the heart. The way to avoid these issues is to brush your dog’s teeth regularly (ideally on a daily basis). So the question, how to brush my dog’s teeth? is a very important one.
You should start to brush your dog’s teeth at as early a stage as possible. Puppies who have their teeth brushed regularly soon get used the process.
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It’s advisable not to pin your dog or puppy down and start trying to give their teeth a thorough brushing. It will be easier for you in the long run if you can get your pet to willingly engage in having his or her teeth brushed. Be warned though – this may take time!! The key to this is gradually increasing the time you spend attending to your dog’s teeth.
The first stage is to put dog tooth paste on your finger and let your dog lick it. You can then try and put your finger into your dog’s mouth and rub his or her teeth. When your dog is ready to accept you putting your finger into his or her mouth, you can then start to use a dog finger brush. You can put some dog tooth paste on this and rub it across your dog’s teeth. Although a finger brush is effective, you are likely to get a better result using a dog tooth brush.
Once you are at the point where you can get a toothbrush (or at least a finger brush) into your dog’s mouth, you can start getting into a dental hygiene routine.
So, here’s some tips:
Aim to brush your dog’s teeth on a daily basis (failing this, as regularly as possible);
Deal with the teeth in 4 sections – back left, back right, front left and front right. Quickly brush all 4 areas using the recommended amount of dog toothpaste. As your dog gets used to the teeth brushing process, you can start doing each area more and more thoroughly;
Give your puppy or dog loads of praise and affection throughout the teeth cleaning session. This will, hopefully, lead to your dog seeing tooth cleaning as something positive and fun;
Have a good look at your dog’s teeth whilst you are cleaning them. Look out for any problems such as: excessive plague build up, sore looking gums and loose teeth (in dogs who have all of their adult teeth);
Be prepared to take your dog for veterinary teeth cleaning whenever there is a big build up of plaque. During this process dogs are usually put under general anesthetic so that all the plaque can be scraped off their teeth.
So, in answer to the question, how to brush my dogs teeth? Teeth brushing is crucial part of overall dog care and it is quite easy to do if your dog complies with what you’re trying to do! It’s, therefore, really important to gradually get your pet accustomed to having his or her teeth brushed. If you provide your dog with regular teeth brushing sessions, you are likely to avert any serious dental problems (especially if your dental routine begins at the puppy stage).