Easy way to brush a dog’s teeth
hi my name is dr. Yuri Burstyn I’m a
veterinarian in Vancouver BC and I’d
like to welcome you to my series of
practical skills for pet owners well
today we’re going to talk about dental
care for dogs
now tooth brushing is always a good idea
and it’s something that you want to
start doing quite early with your pen
preferably when they’re puppy
cédric here is about 12 years old and
he’s going to help me demonstrate proper
tooth brushing technique now ideally you
want to have a dog who’s really
comfortable you’re touching his mouth
you base you get into this when they’re
nice and young get your hands in there
brush your fingers against their teeth
when we start to brush your dog’s teeth
we usually want to get them used to the
taste of the toothpaste the taste
toothpaste we use for pets are usually
flavored so basically like giving a dog
a treat and normally I recommend
starting with just some toothpaste on
your finger and rubbing it on the teeth
up here just to give them a flavor and a
taste for it then usually you end up
with lots of drool and the dogs trim
your finger and turn in a toothbrush so
it’s really just a big messy game that
for them and it does some good for their
teeth now how often to brush is
something people often ask me and I say
as often as you can
you know brushing your dog’s teeth every
day before bed is a great idea not every
is got the time to do that and really if
you’re doing it once or twice a week
you’re probably ahead of the curve but
as often as you can be my best advice so
we have some enzymatic flavored doggy
toothpaste hey sweetness you see
Cedric’s showing some interest in it
already
usually I just get a little bit on my
finger and the litter friend here get a
little taste for it that’s pretty weird
right and then what you want to do is
just start brushing gently just onto the
canines your goal is to get back to
these molars back here but it’s the
canines are more accessible and once the
dog is used to having their canines
brush you can work on the molars and
we’re turn to drool right because it
tastes good once you have your dog used
to the taste of the toothpaste and quite
alright with you rubbing your finger on
their teeth what you do is you move up
to a toothbrush there’s a number of dog
toothbrushes in the market I personally
prefer using just a soft baby to
brush you can get from any convenience
store just your main idea is to have a
soft toothbrush that you can your dog
accepts which is pretty easy to find a
sweetie now put a little toothpaste on
the toothbrush and remember this is
basically a treat so you want to rub a
little bit just on the canines you don’t
need to brush hard because again these
toothpastes are enzymatic so they work
by softening up the plaque there we go
and that’s really all you need to do you
don’t need to worry about brushing the
incisors on the dog they’re not really
very large teeth so if you’re doing that
you’re already doing quite well you know
get clean those canines now once the dog
is comfortable with the canines being
cleaned you can move on to the molars
and the way you do that is just by
lifting the lip up a little bit and
getting back there just like that just
like that that always helps to get a
little bit more of the yummy toothpaste
on there
seddie yeah good boy Cedric
so good can just get in there and brush
brush brush brush brush those teeth
there we go now it might take a little
while to get up to this point and sorry
just take your time to make sure it’s
fun for the dog and of course you have
to do both sides if you get in there
just brush brush brush just like that
just gently massage their gums and as
you can see Cedric is having a bit of a
lick of a tooth brush and drooling a lot
so that’s pretty much all there is to it
it make it a bit of a game make it a
treat for your dog and most important
thing is just take your time work your
way up to brushing those molars just by
working your fingers in and working on
the canines first and then work your way
back to the molars as your dog
allows you and then you can have a happy
dog with clean teeth see that so like I
said at the beginning of the video if
you can do do this as often as you
practically can accept every day is
great but even if you’re doing it once
or twice a week you still have
significant impact on your
oral health if you find this video
useful please like it and share it and
have a good time brushing your dog’s
teeth
