Hi. I’m Rex. I’ve got a message that I just had to get out there to all you dog owners. You see, when my owner takes me for a walk at the park, I just can’t help but notice something that concerns me whenever I’m sniffing up a new friend.
You humans spend all kinds of time and money on your teeth. And if you lose them, you can just replace them! Us dogs, we depend on our teeth. They’re like our hands! Without teeth, we can’t eat. We can’t scratch an itch. We can’t fetch a ball. We can’t even chew on your shoe…err, chew toy. So just do a few simple things to make sure we have healthy chompers.
First of all, brush our teeth! It may seem silly, but our teeth need to be brushed too. Now, I have
experience, so trust me: if your dog hasn’t had their teeth brushed before, they’re not going to like it at first. But that’s okay. My owner had a couple of tricks to make sure I always look forward to toothbrush time. First of all, you’re going to have to get me used to you poking around at my teeth and gums. That should be pretty easy. Just get a tasty treat that you know I’ll love, like peanut butter, and put it on your finger. With a treat on your finger, I’m not going to mind it poking around in my mouth at all, I promise! Just rub your finger around my teeth and gums, and maybe put more of the treat on your finger as you go. Pretty soon, I won’t be too coy about you poking around inside my mouth.
Next, you’ll have to introduce the toothbrush and toothpaste. They make these products just for dogs with flavors that we love! Just let us sniff the toothbrush and toothpaste, and slowly work us up to the experience. Once you actually start to brush the teeth, just do a few at a time. Do some others the next day. Gradually increase the number of teeth that you’re brushing until you’re doing the entire mouth every day. And don’t get too frustrated if it doesn’t always go well at first. Just make sure you give us a treat when you’re done brushing, no matter how bad it went, so that we will form a positive association with tooth brushing. I promise, we’ll be loving it in no time!
And speaking of treats (which just happens to be my favorite thing to talk about), many of them can be great for dental hygiene! Just chewing on the right thing can help scrape off plaque and dirt. A lot of toys are good for this, and so are some softer bones. But ham bones, rib bones and steak bones can be too hard and can even fracture our teeth. There are also dog treats, like Greenies Dog Treats (my personal favorite!), that are made just for our dental hygiene! They’re like a treat and a chew toy all in one! They’re low fat and nutritionally complete, and they help scrape away that harmful plaque and tartar.
My owner’s calling me. It’s time to get my teeth brushed! If you have any questions about your pet’s dental hygiene, bark on over to Petsway. They know their stuff, and they always tell me what a good boy I am. Hopefully, if I meet your dog at the park, their breath won’t make me want to run in the other direction!