# Do you brush your dog's teeth?



## Bequavious (Mar 9, 2013)

And if so, what products do you use and how did you get your dog to sit calmly while you're brushing? Both my dogs have very nice teeth, but they're also young so I don't want to get complacent 


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## Baillif (Jun 26, 2013)

Kind of. I use jute tugs sometimes, and I'm fairly certain that does plenty of brushing on its own. Brush while playing I guess.


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## qbchottu (Jul 10, 2011)

No need to brush
Give antlers, knuckle bones (raw not processed), and bully sticks. Fun and easy way for dog to clean its teeth and strengthens the jaw muscles.


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## MyHans-someBoy (Feb 23, 2013)

Nope. Hans gets raw knuckle bones, raw marrow bones, elk antlers, and bully sticks. His teeth stay nice and clean.


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## Arlene/Archer (Mar 7, 2013)

Nope, he's a raw fed dog so no dye in his food, no soft food around the gum line and with plenty of bones he has hollywood style sparklers.


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## MyHans-someBoy (Feb 23, 2013)

I should add that I have a Siamese cat whose teeth I brush and believe it or not-he holds very still. He loves the taste of chicken flavored toothpaste. 


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## Gretchen (Jan 20, 2011)

No. My last two dogs have had excellent teeth without brushing. They do get bones to chew.


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## Kaimeju (Feb 2, 2013)

Raw knuckle bones and beef feet. I tried brushing for a while with CET enzymatic toothpaste but it didn't do a **** thing. My dog came to me with plaque build-up that the vet said would have to be removed through a cleaning, but she is working away at it on her own through chewing on bones. Her teeth look great and the last time we took her in they said a cleaning would be a waste of time.

Just beware of tooth fractures with hard bones like knuckle bones and antlers. There are softer bones like feet and necks that you can give, but it is always best to supervise until you know your dog can handle them. My dog is a champ with knuckle bones but she will get rawhide chips stuck in her mouth at weird angles and panic.


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## Bequavious (Mar 9, 2013)

Wow no one brushes? Mine have antlers and a couple hard nylabones, but I always thought you had to brush too? I know a crazy amount of dogs get gum disease, so I wanted to be careful. I'd love to feed raw, but right now we have zero freezer space  Plus the thought of balancing micronutrients freaks me out lol.


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## jrglade (Sep 17, 2013)

Does anyone know a website to check out raw knuckle bones and raw marrow bones?

So much advertised I want to be sure I am getting the right thing.

TIA


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## qbchottu (Jul 10, 2011)

Go to your local butcher and ask them for knuckle bones for your dog - most will be familiar with it. They should look like this:
http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/diet-nutrition/112397-raw-marrow-bones-what-exactly-2.html
Watch the dog to make sure teeth do not crack or break. Tough chewers can sometimes overdo it and crack/break teeth - canine dentistry is very expensive!


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## blehmannwa (Jan 11, 2011)

We do all the bones and we brush every night! We use the enzymatic toothpaste and toothbrushes from Costco. No dog breath!


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I feed raw and the raw has enzymes that break down the gunk that accumulates on the teeth. I had an 11 yr old dog with nasty tartar build up and when switched to raw, her teeth and breath cleaned up nice. Before that she always had nasty fishy smelling breath.

I seldom give recreational chew bones and my dogs have pretty clean teeth without the need to brush them. No dog breath here either.
Sometimes the 'dog breath' noticed actually comes from the gut, not so much the mouth/teeth. So if there is a problem with nasty odor, look at the whole body, not just the mouth or teeth.


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## VTGirlT (May 23, 2013)

Zelda gets her teeth brushed if she eats poop or something nasty..  I can let it go after that and kiss her in the end.. haha 

But in general she does not as she has her antlers, nylabones, and bones to chew on. In fact.. I worry about tooth chipping and grinding if anything!

A lady made a point to me at work the other day.. that her little dogs have bad teeth problems and said that little dogs are more likely to have them than larger dogs, because they chew less on bones and what not.. Not sure if its true, if its true that little dogs chew less on bones, antlers, etc. Than i guess it would make sense.


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## Kaimeju (Feb 2, 2013)

jrglade said:


> Does anyone know a website to check out raw knuckle bones and raw marrow bones?
> 
> So much advertised I want to be sure I am getting the right thing.
> 
> TIA


Better to get them from your local butcher. I went to mine and asked, "Do you have any bones for dogs?" A lot of grocery stores have marrow bones in the frozen meat section too. If you order them from a pet supply place they will be way overpriced.

You don't need to feed raw to give a dog a raw bone now and then. It can be a nice treat several times a week.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

we use a tooth paste our Vet recommended. i didn't teach my dog
to sit there while his teeth are being brushed. my GF went to brush
his teeth one day and he sat there and let her do it.


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## holland (Jan 11, 2009)

Nylabones are not good for dogs teeth-I have a vet bill to prove it-I am beginning to switch to raw hoping it will help keep her teeth white


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## Angelina03 (Jan 9, 2012)

How does it work with the raw bones? I've never given Rocco any because I'm nervous about it, but I'd like to help keep his teeth cleaned. If knuckle bones are safe, do you let them eat/swallow them? Also, do antlers work just as good? Hubby's a hunter so we have plenty of those...


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## Bequavious (Mar 9, 2013)

holland said:


> Nylabones are not good for dogs teeth-I have a vet bill to prove it-I am beginning to switch to raw hoping it will help keep her teeth white


Yeah anything that's harder than your dog's teeth (even the fuzzies on a regular tennis ball apparently) can cause wearing, chipping, or cracking, and genetics primarily determine how hard your dog's teeth are. The nylabones I have are softer than their teeth though hard enough to be durable. I'm more concerned about the antlers, but they love them, we have an endless supply, and I check their teeth regularly for signs of damage :shrug:


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## Bequavious (Mar 9, 2013)

blehmannwa said:


> We do all the bones and we brush every night! We use the enzymatic toothpaste and toothbrushes from Costco. No dog breath!


Did you have to teach your dog to be patient during brushing, or did she just do it?


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## brightspot (Apr 18, 2013)

I'd like to know that, too. Wylie (7 months old) thinks it's a big game and gets excited and riled up to the point of zoomies.


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## OUbrat79 (Jan 21, 2013)

With 3 kids and a dog I barely have a chance to brush my own teeth, lol. Ammo has to settle for cleaning them on raw bones.


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## Tide vom Nobles (Nov 27, 2013)

We clean ours when they get a bath. They get it about once a month.


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## blehmannwa (Jan 11, 2011)

The dog toothpaste is poultry flavored and we statred just letting them lick it off the brush and gradually working up to brushing the teeth. It is now part of their bedtime ritual.


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## Kat Tastic (Nov 26, 2013)

Our Bassett will lay down and hold still while you brush his teeth with the poultry paste and pull his lips back, but he had it done regularly when he was in show.

The puppy? He just wants to eat the brush. I tried letting him and just brushing as much as I could, but it wasn't getting the outside molars. Instead, I put my finger in the very back between his gums and brush the back quickly. He seems to like gumming my finger and licking at the paste, I figure it's progress.

Now if I could just get him to sit still!


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## bellske (Jul 30, 2013)

I want to lol the mrs thinks I'm crazy. 

I've got these wipe things that I use every now and then but all they really seem to do is freshen the breath and the dog would rather try run off with them and chew them lol


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## blehmannwa (Jan 11, 2011)

IIRC, there was a study done with beagles and the dogs that had their teeth brushed lived an average of three years longer than those that didn't,
We even have a song--to the tune of "Alouette" 
"Brushing Teethies
Brushing Brushing teethies
Brush the teethies, make them clean and white.'
First we brush them up and down
Than we brush them round and round
Up and down, round and rounds."

I fear that I have said too much.


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## Kahrg4 (Dec 19, 2012)

LOL blehmannwa I love it!! Glad to know I'm not the only one who sings to their dog. 
For the record my boys don't get a formal teeth cleaning or regular brushing. I do check maybe once every 3 weeks or so for buildup. So far the raw bones have served us well.


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## Bequavious (Mar 9, 2013)

blehmannwa said:


> IIRC, there was a study done with beagles and the dogs that had their teeth brushed lived an average of three years longer than those that didn't,
> We even have a song--to the tune of "Alouette"
> "Brushing Teethies
> Brushing Brushing teethies
> ...


Lol that's awesome! I wonder if the un-brushed dogs in the study were getting anything to chew on? That would be really interesting to compare, if not.


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## blehmannwa (Jan 11, 2011)

It was a legit study done by a vet school--not the toothpaste cartel--so I would think that they controlled variables like chewing bones. Of course the real magic is in the song.


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## Bequavious (Mar 9, 2013)

blehmannwa said:


> It was a legit study done by a vet school--not the toothpaste cartel--so I would think that they controlled variables like chewing bones. Of course the real magic is in the song.


Haha of course! You could probably just sing the song and it would have the same effect  

Oh one more question though, for those of you who just do bones, how often do they generally get them? From my understanding the raw knuckle bones are pretty messy so you wouldn't just leave them available 24/7 like an antler or nylabone.


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## marbury (Apr 3, 2012)

Raw bones, rawhide, hooves, and antlers. Never any plaque in our house! My 14 year old has perfect pearly whites and they haven't had a single brushing.


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