How do you brush your doodle's teeth?

[Willow and J]

I've look through using Search but didn't come up with "how" do you brush your dog's teeth, so I wanted to ask what you do. 

1. Do you make your dog sit? Is there a better position for holding the dog?

2. Is there an order (back to front? side to side?)

3. What do you do with her/his tongue licking the toothpaste?

4. How long do you brush his/her teeth?

I saw one video of someone brushing her dog's teeth, and it was pretty much like what I do except I usually make Willow sit and I position myself at the back of her, and this was easier to keep her sitting the whole time. But, whatever I do, toothbrushing turns into a comic episode - I more or less think of it as Willow's chance to eat the toothpaste. I can hear her saying "Why bother, Mommy? Just squeeze the tube into my mouth!"

It's probably better than nothing, but I can't think this is going to make that much difference. Any tips to make toothbrushing more effective?

BTW, I did find discussions on PetzLife, and I was curious if that can replace brushing teeth?

[Willow and J]

I envy you! Good doodles!!

(Willow will disown me if I try an electric brush... ) 

Is there a secret to keep their mouth open? (I run out of hands when I hold her jaw down... the other holds the toothbrush, and I need another hand to hold the upper jaw... sorry for asking these dumb questions... but I am really out of wits...)

[Jennifer and Jack]

I use Petzlife.. Jack's mouth is tiny so I go the the dollar store and buy the children's size toothbrush... I sit on the floor with Jack..I hold his head and open his flappy mouth and stick the brush in and brush.

He ends up laying down with his head to one side.. He hates it with a passion but I don't want to get his teeth professionally cleaned if I don't have to. Honestly if I was not so  lazy... his teeth would be in great shape because the stuff I use works great.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Oh, one other thing my vet told me was that there is a very small tooth behind the last large molar that very often gets overlooked with brushing and can end up creating problems. I think they are just on the top but I am still slowly checking out Tara's mouth for hidden teeth!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I don't think we have non anesthetic cleaning available in this area. I haven't seen it advertised anywhere.

I can say that my previous dogs didn't get their teeth brushed either but I'm not sure how many suffered silently with dental problems. It kind of makes me cringe to think about it! :(

Tara won't chew bones or antlers or anything hard. These things may help keep the teeth clean but then you  risk teeth getting cracked. Several DK doodles have been found to have cracked teeth and in some cases antlers were the prime suspects!

[F, Calla & Luca]

I wonder what happened to Nancy's Ned in the end. I forgot about it.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

This post made me think of Ned too. Guess we'd better check in with Nancy and see if there is an update.

[Willow and J]

Yes, I, too, worry about cracked teeth when I see Willow chewing on antlers. It seems like she doesn't like really hard ones and she lose interest quicker for antlers compared to knuckle bones. 

And one more thing I have been wondering is about gum health when dogs chew these hard stuff. Dentists don't recommend anything tough or hard because of gum health, don't they, for humans? I was told once that our gum gets "bruised" if we chew on hard things. What about gum health for our doggie?

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Tara's vet, who specializes in dental care, told us not to give Tara anything hard. Her test is that if you drop it on your knee and it bounces off it is too hard for a dog!!! So even Tara's bully sticks are too hard according to the vet but I still give them to her. I can't imagine that they could crack a tooth the way that she chews them. But that test pretty much eliminates anything chewable that would clean the teeth.

My vet hasn't mentioned anything in regard to gum health other than the bacteria issue which results from dirty teeth.  She really draws a pretty disgusting picture of layers of bacteria all creating a huge network and interacting with each other in a pet's mouth. Ugh!  I think she likes to motive with fear..or disgust! LOL!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Yes, it seems to me that there are many teeth that are hard to see and get to.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

It's easy to brush Guinness's teeth...he just sits there like a little "soldier".  Murph is another story.  He hates it, and doesn't want any part of that tooth brush in his mouth.  I end up scraping any tartar off with my finger nails.  It's quite the scene to watch.  I've never heard of anesthesia free teeth cleaning in our area....that would be great.  My guys both love their antlers, and I really do think that helps.  I used PetzLife for a while, but I wasn't sure that it was helping much....I may try again with Murphy.

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

We also try to scrape Myla's off, she doesn't let my husband do it. The best time I can do it is when we are driving in the car (I'm not driving LOL!) she's too busy looking at everything that she doesn't pull away as much! Guinness the soldier!! Too cute!

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

i dont brush Coopers teeth - i make sure she always has chews and give her a bone every week. i also add slurp and fresh to her water - it softens the plaque so it come off easier when chewing. Vets are always amazed at how great her teeth are