How do you get your pet to cooperate with brushing teeth?

[LuvOrlando]

My little Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is not cooperative at all with mouth care. She has a small mouth and it is super tough to use a regular dog brush, I know people whose dogs do cooperate but lil' drama mama is not one of those dogs. In desperation, I started looking around and bought some soft silicone bottle brushes that seemed like they could hold some toothpaste as she safely chomped on the soft bristles while I held the brush. It worked really well but didn't last all that long so ordered a replacement but also ordered some U shaped soft silicone training toothbrushes too, I used these when my kids were babires and I thought she might like them. I flip these in refrigerated ground beef bits and fat (from the bottom of the pan after cooking), then I layer her Virbac CET Poultry toothpaste and offer it about 15 min before dinner. So far this is getting way more chewing action than I could ever get from a any pet toothbrushes, which are firm and probably gag her so she runs away. I'm grateful this is working but curious if there are any other ideas people could share, I don't wanna do battle but her little teeth need cleaning.

 

[slo]

If it makes you feel better, my little guy will not let us brush his teeth too. My mom would brush her dogs teeth every other day without a battle, but her dog was a pain with other things. I finally gave up, I give give him a Greenies every night and will probably have our vet clean his teeth when they tell me it’s needed.

I hope you get some advice on here, because I’ll be interested to try what others recommend.

 

[soccerdad72]

We don't - we suck at it.