Purebred Breeders reviewed the importance of dental health in a recent post and here are some training tips to be able to brush your dog’s teeth.

Train for the cleaning
Working anywhere near your puppy’s mouth puts you at risk of an occasional frustrated nip or two. Take these steps to make brushing your puppy’s teeth a little less worrisome:
- Brush frequently. Ultimately, you need to brush your puppy’s teeth every day, but realistically, you’re better than most pet owners if you can brush them once or twice a week. Frequent brushing gets your puppy used to the brushing routine and to the idea of having her mouth handled by you.
- Choose the best time. A great time for brushing puppy’s teeth is when they are a little tired, this way they are less apt to fight with you over handling their mouth.
- Train your puppy to allow you to touch their mouth.
- Get your puppy ready to have their teeth brushed by doing the following:
1. Flip up their lips.
2. Wet the edge of a clean washcloth so you can rub your puppy’s gums and teeth; hold a corner of the wet portion of the washcloth with your index finger and use a gentle, circular motion.
3. Talk to your puppy in calm, soothing tones.
4. If your puppy grows impatient, do Steps 1 through 3 for only a few seconds, and then stop and give a treat.
5. Repeat Steps 1 through 4 every day or every other day, gradually lengthening the amount of time you spend doing them.
Eventually, you’ll be able to build up the amount of time your puppy allows you to touch their mouth to where you’re giving your puppy a nice tooth and gum massage without any fuss.
Getting down to brushing
After your puppy gets used to getting a gum massage with a wet washcloth, the next step is to have them get used to the finger brush and pet toothpaste. You can start brushing your puppy’s teeth by following the same technique you used before with the washcloth.
Follow these steps to properly brush your puppy’s teeth:
1. Squeeze some dog toothpaste onto the brush and allow your puppy to lick it off.
A finger toothbrush that’s made for pets is your best choice for brushing
Don’t ever use human toothpaste! Human toothpaste contains fluoride, which in large quantities is poisonous to dogs. Dogs can’t rinse and spit, so they pretty much swallow whatever it is that you are putting on their teeth. Doggie toothpaste, on the other hand, is flavored with malt, chicken, or some other yummy flavor for puppies. It makes the experience a little more enjoyable for your pooch.
2. Flip up your puppy’s lips and gently rub the toothbrush and toothpaste against your puppy’s teeth and gums for a few seconds.
3. Give your puppy a treat, even if they only allow you to work on their teeth for a few seconds.
4. Repeat Steps 1 through 3 again every day or every other day, gradually lengthening the amount of time spent brushing.
If you gradually increase the amount of time you spend working on this teeth cleaning process, you’ll eventually build up enough time to give your puppy’s teeth a thorough brushing.
For more on Purebred Breeders, visit Purebredbreeders.com and to read the article in which Purebred Breeders reviews Doggy Dental Health, click here