Need suggestions, tricks, advice?

[Breny]

Brodie won't let me near his mouth. I'm trying sooooo hard to take care of his teeth and he's freaking out so bad whenever I attempt to go anywhere near his mouth. I mean FREAKS OUT!

Even just to try and put a dab of petz life in his mouth and hope it gets on his teeth is impossible.

Last night I forced it(just to take a finger tip of pets life and put in his mouth) and it went in his mouth and all over his lips. Between the struggle and him not liking it, my poor baby threw up

I need an easier way for this. I'm not going to force anything on him.

Any suggestions?

[gutu28]

Have you tried the spray? That might be easier to work with. There are also dental cleaners you can put in his water..

[dani23d]

My vet taught me a trick and it worked right in front of my eyes (Pikko was the same way before we earned his respect and trust):

Before starting, apply toothpaste on your pup's toothbrush and set aside where you can reach it once you complete the following:

1. Set your pup on your lap or on a flat surface where he's can't run too far. Using your thumbs as massaging points, start out by massaging your pup's mid-back section in slow, small circles (holding the rest of his mid-section with a firm but gentle grip).
2. Hopefully he is staying still. If not, continue to massage him around the mid-section.
3. If he starts relaxing, massage behind his neck/ears. Continue to massage slowly in small circles.
4. Slowly massage your way to the top of his head. At this point, your fore- and middle fingers should be under his jaw. Massage the top of his head.
5. Start using your forefingers to massage near his jaw. You should be able to confidently massage outside and around his lips and maybe even have contact with the inside of his mouth.
6. Using the pad of your finger, try to feel his teeth and gums. If he lets you do this, you're getting close! Do this for a couple of seconds and see if you can get him to open his mouth. Try to massage inside.
7. (Optional) The vet slowly put his forefinger underneath my pup's top lips and massaged the lips between his thumb and forefinger.
8. Once you have gained your pup's trust, introduce him to his toothbrush. Let him sniff it out, maybe even lick a little toothpaste off to taste it.
9. Gradually put it near his mouth and use your fingers to pull up his top lips so the teeth show. Gently, but quickly, rub the toothbrush on each side. If he starts getting restless, give him a break and start again with massaging. If the pup is still quite young, give him a daily massage with your fingers to prep him for future brushing.

Good luck!

[Breny]

Originally Posted by gutu28

Have you tried the spray? That might be easier to work with. There are also dental cleaners you can put in his water..

oh now thats an idea! I'm going to have to look that up for his water!!!

[Breny]

Wow great post, and thanks! I will try this too!

Originally Posted by dani23d

My vet taught me a trick and it worked right in front of my eyes (Pikko was the same way before we earned his respect and trust):

Before starting, apply toothpaste on your pup's toothbrush and set aside where you can reach it once you complete the following:

1. Set your pup on your lap or on a flat surface where he's can't run too far. Using your thumbs as massaging points, start out by massaging your pup's mid-back section in slow, small circles (holding the rest of his mid-section with a firm but gentle grip).
2. Hopefully he is staying still. If not, continue to massage him around the mid-section.
3. If he starts relaxing, massage behind his neck/ears. Continue to massage slowly in small circles.
4. Slowly massage your way to the top of his head. At this point, your fore- and middle fingers should be under his jaw. Massage the top of his head.
5. Start using your forefingers to massage near his jaw. You should be able to confidently massage outside and around his lips and maybe even have contact with the inside of his mouth.
6. Using the pad of your finger, try to feel his teeth and gums. If he lets you do this, you're getting close! Do this for a couple of seconds and see if you can get him to open his mouth. Try to massage inside.
7. (Optional) The vet slowly put his forefinger underneath my pup's top lips and massaged the lips between his thumb and forefinger.
8. Once you have gained your pup's trust, introduce him to his toothbrush. Let him sniff it out, maybe even lick a little toothpaste off to taste it.
9. Gradually put it near his mouth and use your fingers to pull up his top lips so the teeth show. Gently, but quickly, rub the toothbrush on each side. If he starts getting restless, give him a break and start again with massaging. If the pup is still quite young, give him a daily massage with your fingers to prep him for future brushing.

Good luck!

[YorkieMom55]

Brenda, one of our vets told us that if it was too much of a fight to use a toothbrush to try a washcloth over your finger & just try and wipe it across their teeth & gums a little every day.
We had a little shock having Rock & Mag's teeth cleaned today. We have one of the nylon rope knotted fetch's & the ends are supposed to be like floss for their teeth. Rocky's only problem was that there were red and white threads wound tight around his front teeth. The tech said that she removed them all but they were holding the food up under his gums. We threw the toy away when we got home.

[PANAMA69]

They also sell treats for dental cleaning. All my girls didn't care for brushing their theeth but now they all used to it I noticed that they like better other flavor thoothpaste that Petz-life but I use both still is just a matter of time (I hope)

[YorkieMom55]

Brenda, this is the toy that Rock had the threads wound around his teeth. He also strips the fuzz off of tennis balls, so no more tennis balls.