. . . your dog's teeth today?Hannah is only two years old, and she has lots of "teeth and gum cleaning" chew toys. She does not eat table food nor wet dog food. Yet I saw some tartar build-up and smelled doggy breath. Given that Hannah is a therapy dog, I don't want the children to be put off from sitting close beside her to read, so I did something I never thought I would do. . . I bought pet toothpaste and a finger brush (see picture) so I could start brushing her teeth.
I started by getting Hannah used to having my finger in her mouth. I first dipped my finger in some chicken broth before going into her mouth -- yum, thought Hannah. After she became accustomed to that, I started taking my finger and rubbing it along her teeth and gums in a brushing motion. The next step was to get her used to the toothpaste (NEVER use human toothpaste!). She didn't like it at first, but the chicken broth on top of it made it a non-issue. Yum!
Eventually she accepted all this willingly, and I started using the finger brush. I'm actually beginning to think she likes it! The last challenge is for me to become more adept at getting all the teeth brushed which may mean learning to use the brush on my left hand finger as well as the right. I do have a toothbrush, and she may eventually accept it. There are also dental cleanse pads for dogs that may resist brushes.
Follow this link to an instructional video.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=20680
2 comments:
Hi Debbie,
Thank you for visiting my blog. I love the photography that you have on yours. You were asking me about the blog background that I have. If you go to the main page of my blog, in the upper left hand corner, right near the fishes eye, you will see some cursive handwriting. Click on the handwriting and it will take you to a web site that has lots of different blog backgrounds...there are pages upon pages of them. Also, if you go back in my blog to an entry dated Saturday, March 14th 2009, there will be instructions and a few links. I hope that helps. Keep up the great work on your blog. Rick
Debbie, that is good information about how you are getting Hannah used to the teeth brushing ritual. Every now and then, you can also have them professionally cleaned at your vet. It's expensive, but might be a good option to do on a timed schedule that spreads it apart. I've had Chloe's done once so far and she is only a little over 2 1/2 years old - I may get it done again in a year or so.
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