Thursday, November 6, 2008

Brushing Teeth

My friend Jolene was telling me the importance of brushing my puppy's teeth and that we should cultivate the habit since young. You see, her 9 year-old Shih Tzu has really bad teeth cos the owners have never brushed his teeth before. They thought dental chews and chew toys are enough to clean the doggy's teeth. But no. To their horror, the Shih Tzu's teeth started to decay one by one and they need to send him to the vet for tooth extractions. Each time the vet will have to administer GA for the dog in order to extract its teeth and as everyone knows GA is really bad for dogs and human. Cos there is a possibility that the dog or human will never gain consciousness....
To avoid bad breath, decaying teeth and gum problems for Chow Chow, we bought him a tube of canine toothpaste and a double-headed toothbrush for some serious dental cleaning action. It was hard initially, cos Chow Chow was turned off by the scent of the toothpaste. We should have gotten him a salmon-flavoured toothpaste instead!

We put a little bit of toothpaste on my finger and encouraged Chow Chow to lick it off but he hated the smell and wander further from me. That leaves us with no choice but to make him sit and hold on to his collar. Hubby grabbed him and tried to soothe him and praise him so that Chow Chow would be less worked up, while I quickly thrust the toothbrush into his mouth and work it in and out along his teeth. Chow Chow liked it better when I allowed him to bite the toothbrush. Maybe since he has a grip on it, he is less fearful and more receptive to the toothbrush. He probably think we are playing with him too. Whatever. I just brush as much as I can along his teeth, upper and lower sets, in and out.










The second time we tried, which was yesterday, he actually stood there and let me thrust the toothbrush in and out of him mouth as he tried to bite at it. There's no need for two people to brush his teeth now.

11 comments:

i said...

Hello Chow Chow, you are such a cutie! Glad you're letting mommy brush your teeth there. Good dental care is very important!

Molly the Airedale said...

You're such a cutie, Chow Chow! Brushing your teethies is a good thing!

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

The Musketeers said...

Wow , chow chow is feeling to taste it ! Cody won't even do it ! BOL !

Lots of Loves ,
Three Musketeers

Chow Chow said...

We try to make teething brushing as fun as possible for Chow Chow :)

BigBrownBearBear said...

Alternatively, my teeth are never brushed. Just by feeding raw chicken spine and bones, the teeth is kept really clean.

Chow Chow said...

Funnily, that was what a dog owner told us this morning - that chewing on raw bones help to clean the dog's teeth. I noticed his dog's teeth are really white and clean!

Amber-Mae said...

It's good to brush your teefies often. Our teefies get brushed once a week or sometimes once in every two weeks but my Mommy uses hooman kid toothpaste or sometimes kid mouthwash coz she said it's better & it's just as safe.

Butt wiggles,
Solid Gold Dancer

billiejean said...

Hello Chow Chow most doggies adore durians. They are rich, sinful and sweet. So don't indulge too often. Just make sure your mummy brush your teeth after eating them.

Snowball said...

Hi Chow Chow,

Thank you for dropping by my blog. Yes. I was at the AVA Roadshow for all 3 days!!! LOL. I stay around the area so jie jie brought me there to meet other pups. Were you there? I dun remember seeing your handsome face.

Yup. Its is important to cultivate the habit of getting your teeth brushed from a youbg age but the best way to keep your teethie clean in a long run is to chew on raw bones.

Luv
Snowball

duo_disaster said...

Oooh! Hello Chowchow!

Its a good habit to start cultivating teeth brushing from young!

Thanks for visiting our blog,
We hope you dont mind us popping over ans sniffing your butt often!

Turbo Tails
Rudolf & Goofy

Ebi n' Emma said...

Chow Chow's such a good boy!

He could stand there & have his teeth brushed!

Ebi & Emma needs me to force the toothbrush with toothpaste on it, into their mouth, forced it open wide enough for me to do brushing! LOL~

Oh, have linked your blog to ours anyway~ Hehe.

Please sign my guestbook!