Tooth brushing

Daily tooth brushing with no wrestling and no head-holding — the cheapest prevention there is against tartar, sore gums and extractions under anaesthesia.

🐾🐾🐾 · ~14 days · 3 min/session

Learn first: Chin rest

Step-by-step

1. Taste first, brush later

   Buy a dog toothpaste — chicken, liver or malt flavoured. For two or three days simply let your dog lick it off your finger, half a pea at a time. The brush stays in the drawer; all you are building in these days is one thing — toothpaste means something tasty.

   💡 Never use human toothpaste — the fluoride upsets the stomach and xylitol is seriously toxic to dogs. If the gums already bleed or smell, see the vet first and brush afterwards.

2. One finger along the lip

   Sit beside your dog, not in front, and lift the upper lip sideways with your index finger for one second. Run the finger along the outside of the big canine tooth, let the lip drop and reward. If they turn their head away or get up, stop straight away — your dog has to be able to end it at any point. Three reps are enough for the first session; less than you feel like doing is exactly right.

3. The outside surfaces only

   Gradually work along the whole outer row — the canine, then the back teeth towards the cheek, then the other side. Don’t open the mouth and don’t touch the inner surfaces. Keep your hand soft, work two seconds per section and treat between sections.

   💡 The tongue keeps the inner surfaces fairly clean. Tartar builds up on the outside along the gum line — that’s where all the benefit is.

4. Swap the finger for a brush

   Take a soft child’s brush or a finger brush and first let your dog lick the paste straight off the bristles. Then make two or three strokes along the canine and stop. Use the chin rest — that way your dog holds their own head and decides when you stop.

5. Small circles, section by section

   Hold the brush at a slight angle to the gum line and make small circles. Split the mouth into four sections and brush just one section a day at first. Once your dog stays relaxed, join two sections, then three, until the whole mouth is a single session.

6. Turn it into a daily ritual

   Brush at the same moment every day — after the evening walk, in the same spot. The whole mouth takes between thirty and sixty seconds once your dog is used to it. Finish with a chew or a short game so the last memory is a good one.

   💡 Every day beats once a week. Soft plaque hardens into tartar in about three days, and tartar no longer comes off with a brush.

Common mistakes

• Human toothpaste — a dog swallows it instead of spitting it out, and the xylitol in many brands is life-threatening for them.
• Clamping the muzzle shut to keep the dog still — it turns brushing into a wrestling match and the dog starts fleeing at the sight of the brush.
• Doing the whole mouth on day one — the strain adds up and by day three the dog refuses.
• Brushing bleeding or red gums — it hurts, and the dog rightly links the brush with pain instead of treats.

Problems & solutions

My dog chews the brush instead of holding still.

You’re moving the brush too briskly and it looks like a toy. Hold it still for a moment before it goes in and feed with your other hand between sections. For dogs that bite the brush, a finger brush is the better tool.

My dog pulls their head back the second I lift the lip.

You moved two steps ahead at once. Go back to touching the lip alone — lift, release, reward, ten times, no brush. Use a chin rest so your dog can end it themselves, and add one second a day.

The teeth are already yellow-brown and brushing doesn’t clean them.

That’s hardened tartar and a brush won’t shift it. Book a check-up — after a professional clean the teeth start from a clean slate. From then on daily brushing is what keeps them that way.

Reward ideas

The paste itself is half the reward — offer a lick before and after brushing. Add one small soft treat after each section and finish with a chew or a short game.