Quote:
Originally Posted by 107barney  The fact that Curly thinks you are going to take something out of her mouth is exactly why she is not opening up for the toothbrush!
Here are my suggestions: First, break the habit of Curly thinking you are going to "take" her stuff out of her mouth. In dog world, if you have it in your mouth, you OWN it. So, you are trying to take away whatever she owns at that moment. Teach her to "give" by trading off with her with something better. For example, if Curly has your flip flop in her mouth and you want it back, just approach her and say "Give" and throw a delicious treat nearby. Delicious means a piece of chicken or a tiny bit of mozzarella cheese. Soon, if you are consistent, Curly will trust that giving stuff up to you means she gets something better. Yay for Curly.
Once Curly trusts that mom is not taking away her resources, she will be more open to you approaching her mouth. The way I got teddy to brush his teeth was to just show him the toothbrush with the peanut butter flavor toothpaste on it. I just showed it to him every day and asked him if he wanted to do it "Teddy, would you like to brush your teeth?" and at first, he'd lick and leave or back away with great trepidation. So I pretended I was eating it...."yum yum Teddy, this is goooood" in an inviting, upbeat tone. It took around 3-4 times before he became interested, and once relaxed, became accepting of my reaching in his mouth and touching his teeth and before long he uses the toothbrush himself. His video is up on the video section of YT.
Good luck! |
Yup, that's what I did. don't expect them to like it on the first try. I did the same and Uni basically brushes her own teeth.
Also Nancy recommended to use Petzlife, and with the use of bullystiks really helps take off tartar. She says the vet said Joey's teeth are so clean. I'm buying it next month when I have some more $$$.
