Quote Originally Posted by mustlovedogs
Ellie cannot STAND getting her teeth brushed...she hates it! Can someone please give me tips as how to get her used to the toothbrush being in her mouth? She tries to bite me when I try to brush her teeth...and I don't want her to get gum disease or anything like that. Please, any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
I have tried a couple of times with my dogs past and present the brushing trick, and didn't have too much luck with it. Why? Because they would try to eat the doggy toothpaste faster than I could brush with it. In fact they would lick or try to eat the toothbrush before I could even get the thing into their mouths! Basically I concluded all I was doing was feeding them a tube of wonderful tasting doggy toothpaste.

The best and only way to treat and delay the return of gum disease is to have the teeth cleaned by the Vet usually every 4 yrs. Basically if you see red on the gumline it's probably needed. Think about it this way, even if you brush your teeth, the only way to get the tartar removed from under the gumline is to visit the dentist. The same holds for your dog. My previous dog of 11 yrs had her teeth cleaned twice. My present two 3 yr olds aren't to that stage yet.