My new girl, Meg, doesn't like her teeth being brushed. First time she pulled and twisted away. I put some paste on my finger & let her lick that, and also rubbed it over her teeth. She was OK with this. She watches me do Coco's teeth and he gets a Fish Cube afterwards. She likes these. Then I rubbed the paste into the brush & let her lick my finger...OK, so I put the brush in her mouth and she let me rub one side. I tried the same with the other side, but she pulled away. That's where we're at now, I can do one side before she gets fed up. ALways gets a fish cube afterwards. We'll get there.
I have problems brushing my dogs teeth as well. He stays still and everything, but he just bites the toothbrush and doesn’t let you stay on path to where I want to brush. Curious for more advice regarding this, since apparently dogs need toothbrushing too, which I never realized until I got my puppy. I’m sure different strategies work for each dog.
We don't normally bush our dog's teeth, and the vet has never suggested that we need to. They have all had great teeth and fresh breath. They have always been serious chewers, both of bones, nylabones and soft toys. They seem to keep their teeth very clean and white on their own. Out of 4 dogs only one ever had any dental issue and that was a canine tooth that died and turned black for an unknown reason, but did not cause the dog any problems. Ginger was fairly old at the time and the vet said if it did not bother her to leave it alone.
I have had 5 dogs and never brushed any of their teeth. We have not had any dental problems either. None of them have been great chewers but Meg does get quite a bit of fresh rabbit Spring to Summer which is kindly given to her by the cats. I think that helps keep them shining
Agree with Edp. If the uncooked meat is not cut into small bits and contains some bones, the dog has to use her teeth to shear the meat and small bones. That action helps to clean their teeth. A large number of Labs just "inhale" the kibble, which does absolutely nothing to clean their teeth.
