Doodle tooth brushing & tooth care ~ what does everyone do?

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

I was thinking about tooth care for Hunter, what, if anything does everyone else do? Any tricks, products, anything? 

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

Do you use some kind of a tooth paste? I regular soft toothbrush is a really good idea, I was looking at the dog one's at the pet store thinking they looked small for her big teeth and that never crossed my mind! I have never tried to give her a carrot - think I will start tonight :-)

[Debbie and Thomas]

Never brushed yet...but I do buy these chew things at the vet. They look like a rawhide chew..but they are not...they are dipped in an enzyme that removes plaque and our vet says they are very effective. I give him one almost every night. He loves them! Cost about 15.00 per bag and there are about 12 of them in there. Totally digestable also.

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

What are they called do you know? That sounds interesting.

[Christina and Cooper plus Benny]

YES! There is a great product called PetZLife Oral Care Gel. You just rub it on their teeth. No brushing required. It works wonders! My sister started using it on her 8 year old Lab that had BAD plaque build up - she thought she was going to have to have Olive sedated and her teeth cleaned - and it got so much gunk off in the first two weeks she was shocked! Her teeth look great now, and her breath is so much better. I use it on Coop a few times a week, as he still has great clean baby teeth, but if the buildup is bad, you need to use it every day until it gets cleared up.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I use the oral spray for Guinness...and that works the same way. The only problem is he gets the zoomies after...

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

Do you get the PetZLife at a pet store or your vet? I am having visions of what Zoe, Benny & Tyler are saying below happening to me & Hunter! LOL

[Zoe, Benny and Tyler]

Haha, can you make sure that you will have someone there with a camera taking pictures or even better a video? I was thinking already a couple of days that it is time to give it another try so I will try to record it as well. Let's see if your visions (I can hear you laughing and giggling through my computer) match with the sad reality....The spray sounds like a good idea, I will see if I can get it over here in Europe too.

[Christina and Cooper plus Benny]

Yes, the invisible dog comes out and chases Coop after the teeth cleaning (zoomies)! I kinda like it! I noticed PetSmart just started carrying it here, which shocked me, as it was pretty hard to find. It is expensive at PetSmart. I get mine at a small local natural pet food store.

[Paul & Michele]

The carrot idea sounds interesting. I think I will try it..

[Zoe, Benny and Tyler]

Both Benny and Tyler HATE getting their teeth brushed but they LOVE the toothpaste which makes it even more difficult. I bought a toothbrush for dogs and my vet gave the advice to get them used to teethbrushing with first using your finger only with some toothpaste on it. There it went wrong already because they both only want to lick as fast as possible the toothpaste from my finger and I don't get a chance at all to brush their teeth. So plan B started which was skipping step 1 and continuing with step 2 immediately. Step 2 (according to the vet) was using those little fingerbrushes made out of rubber with some toothpaste on it. Step 2 ended in a desaster because they also liked to chew on the rubber of the brush :) and no way that they would hold still for 2 seconds. Step 3 using the actual dog toothbrush wasn't succesful either - you can imagine for sure. We have tried it for several weeks but no improvement....
Somehow they hold still when I want to check their teeth and open their mouth with my hand but somehow they know when I planning to brush their teeth and off they go....
Both also like carrots as a chewing snack every now and then and they also get a lot dental sticks from me but still I see some staining (really only a bit).

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Peri chews antlers so much I don't think she has any problems. She pushes the antler all around to the back teeth and everything - my vet told me that should be sufficient.

[Sheri & Murphy]

The younger you start brushing teeth the better, then they just think it is part of grooming. Be sure to use a pet tooth paste or all natural tooth paste because they will eat it. I know people who have spent thousands on doggy dental bills. I have brushed all my dogs teeth from puppy hood and have never had a dental bill yet...knock on wood.