Teeth Brushing for Dogs?

I love animals and especially dogs. However, I think trying to turn dogs into humans gets to be a bit nutsy. For example my good friend brushes her dogs teeth. This is something a dog could never do for itself, which is why they were designed to survive without daily tooth brushings.

Am I the only one that feels that brushing a dog's teeth is over the top grooming? What other grooming rituals do you perform on your dog? She also takes her Poodle for massages.

 

I don't do anything like that. Like you said, they take care of most of those things themselves.

I do buy Greenie treats, though, which are intended to help clean his mouth. The reason? He is SMELLY, lol. It's definitely more for us than it is for him sometimes.

 

Our dogs did have a lot of plaque on their teeth, which didn't seem like it could possibly be good for them. They ended up losing some of their teeth too as they got older. We would try and brush their teeth from time to time, but it wasn't very effective and they weren't particularly fond of it either. Dogs weren't necessarily designed to eat the type of dried dog food we feed them either.

 

The logic of brushing the dog's teeth came from the fact that most dogs eat dog food and kibble. Back when they weren't domesticated, they would probably scavenge for food or hunt down prey animals. Eating these animals and chewing on bones or sticks probably help them keep those teeth plaque free. But since most of us now are feeding dogs kibble, that is why people opt for brushing their dog's teeth just to be on the safe side.

I just give my dogs big bones because they love those. It also keeps the plaque away.

 

I don't brush my Homer's teeth. He wouldn't let me. I'm pretty sure he would bite not only the brush but also my hand . I buy him dogs mints, he loves chewing them, I hope it's enough. He chews something all the time, so he has very strong teeth.

 

We just buy the bones that do the same thing as teeth brushing. It depends on the breed but some breeds definitely have nastier teeth than others that need cleaning.