Last week on an inspirational whim I decided to invest on some teeth cleaning tools for my dog, Kylie. Little did I know this seemingly easy task would erupt into an all out war which would end in me lying breathless across the living room floor. Here I thought I was doing a good thing for my baby, promoting good dental hygiene… she, on the other hand, acted as though I was committing bloody murder. I purchased one of those kits with a toothbrush, tooth paste, and a slip cover mini brush that goes over your finger for those “hard to reach places” in your dogs mouth. The instructions were seriously twice the length of this blog title; some thing to the effect of:
1. Remove Products from package
2. Let dog taste small sampling of toothpaste then squeeze onto brush
3. Gently brush dogs teeth and gum line (for hard to reach places use finger cover)
Simple, yes? NO!
I got the first two steps down thinking I was pro. But step 3 didn’t come so easy. The minute I so much as attempted to insert the brush into Kylie’s mouth she made noises that reminded me of the time I tried to clip her nails, (another glamorous event that lead me to forking out the $11 bucks to the vet to do it for me….) noises much like a cat in heat or a really high pitched whining sound. After a few attempts Kylie made an escape for the other side of the room huddled in her bed.
After some coaxing with treats I decided to give the finger brush a try. Kylie wouldn’t even look at me, she kept her face turned the other way to avoid anything that attempted to enter her mouth. I tried holding a better grip on her and that’s when the wrestling began. For a 10 pound dog, she’s got some moves! At this point, I think in her eyes it was a game. “Keep away from mom and the funny smelling stuff she keeps trying to put on my teeth.” Obviously I could easily have restrained her, but I didn’t want to traumatize her. Brushing her teeth shouldn’t be this hard! After a good 10 min of back and forth coaxing and attempts, and a tad bit of chasing, I gave up. But what can one do??
After a little internet searching, I found a few tips that will hopefully help out, so I thought I would share! First off, many websites suggest starting when your dog is a puppy. Whoops. Another is to put your dog up a bit higher on something so they are less likely to struggle. One more tid bit i thought was useful was to do this a few times a week and eventually your dog will become accustomed to the brushing over time. Hopefully, with baby steps, I will one day be able to brush Kylie’s teeth on my own, or else the vet is going to see me more often than he cares to!
Some Useful Tips: Brushing Your Dog’s Teeth
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