Dog toothpaste truly does equal happy smiles – for everyone! Oral hygiene is an essential part of keeping your dog happy, healthy and free of dental problems. We looked at all the available dog teeth cleaning tools and techniques. Now we’ll focus a bit more on the world of dog toothpaste.
Word of Caution…
DO NOT under any circumstance give your dog human toothpaste. It’s extremely harmful and can cause some serious damage, possibly even death. Human toothpaste contains Xylitol – a toxic chemical for dogs. So NO Crest for the pooch, ok? I also caution the use of any Rawhide and Cowhide even if your Vet recommends them. They are extremely dangerous. Stay far away from both. I’m also a bit iffy when it comes to homemade dog toothpaste. There are quite a few recipes on the web, some of which have harmful ingredients or might be totally infective at getting the teeth cleaning job done. Not worth the fuss.
IMO – the best way to clean a dog’s teeth is to give them what mother nature already created for that purpose, natural bones and recreational bones. Bones are effective tools and get the job done effortlessly from your part. It’s as easy as giving your dog a bone. However, if you’re not interested in the whole bone thing, or maybe your dog is sensitive to raw food, then dog toothpaste along with a trusty toothbrush or finger applicator is your other option.
Getting your Dog comfortable with Teeth Cleaning
Presenting a toothbrush with some toothpaste to your dog might seem very unnatural to you and your furry friend. The key to great success is lots of patience coupled with some fun, positive reinforcement. Make the experience happy and pleasant. The tricky part is that you cannot offer treats or stop to play while brushing because that obviously defies the whole purpose.
You might want to practice without any toothpaste to get your pup to accept and enjoy the experience. If you’re not using any product, take baby steps and praise along the way. You can then build up to the actual process. Once you’re able to brush for real, you can reward midway through brushing or once the session is complete with a few minutes of play. Verbal praise at all times is definitely recommended. Let me also note that starting with a young puppy is much easier than later on.
When it comes to dog toothpaste, chances are your dog, at first, naturally won’t be too fond of the experience. Don’t get discouraged if he doesn’t enjoy the particular toothpaste for dogs you’ve chosen. Give it a few patient tries and if jaw-dodging continues or if your dog turns his head with disgust, consider trying another paste.
You’ll want to invest and experiment with a couple of dog toothpastes and dog toothbrushes before landing that perfect one that fits you and your companion. The same goes for different dog sizes. If you have a small dog the finger brush might do the trick over the regular long toothbrush. For larger breeds it could get a little tricky. If the toothbrush feels to flimsy opt for larger more natural dog teeth cleaners like recreational bones.
Dogs have exquisite senses and are very particular about certain tastes. Luckily dog toothpaste comes in many doggy flavors like poultry, mint, beef, vanilla, malt and even seafood.
Dog Toothpaste Requirements
Not all dog toothpastes are alike so I advise you do a little research before spending some dollars. Here’s our list of toothpaste for dogs tips and recommendations:
- Go Natural or as Natural as Possible. Generally if you can read and understand the ingredients of the dogs toothpaste, the better the formula.
- Palatability & Taste go a Long Way. Your dog is the best taste tester so let him give the final taste pass on his favorite dog toothpaste.
- Product size. Be mindful when purchasing your product. Consider its lifespan and expiry date. A good special on a large oral solution might not be the smartest purchase if you have a small Corgi.
- Types. Here’s a look at each type of dog toothpaste available on the market, with our favorite selections:
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Pastes are a very popular choice! The best dog toothpaste would be Kissable because it’s made with natural ingredients from Cain & Able. We also recommend Natural Peanut Butter from Petrodex or the Virbac Toothpaste collection.
Gels are great because they tend to stay active in your dogs mouth for a prolonged period of time! We use the Oral Care Peppermint Gel with Halle and it works like a charm. You can even apply it with your finger instead of a toothbrush. Another good bet is Oxyfresh Pet Oral Health Care. Their Pet Gel is great.
Sprays are quick and efficient. Petzlife carries a good one called Oral Care Peppermint Spray!
Liquids & Rinses will keep your dog’s mouth fresh and clean. The Oral Hygiene Rinse is another popular item from Virbac.
Dog Toothbrush 411
Not all toothbrushes work with every dog. Consider the size of your dog and how comfortable you are using it. You don’t want to buy a cheap plastic double ended brush if your dog’s a big time chewer. Here’s a few you could try:
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- Triple Pet Toothbrush from Petzlife
- Denta Clean Finger Toothbrush
- When needed, we like to use the Dual Head Toothbrush
Which ever dog toothpaste and toothbrush you prefer, make the experience fun, calm and pleasant. It will take some getting used to but taking care of your dog’s oral health is super important. Once you get the hang of it, it literally takes only a few minutes. Nobody wants to be kissing a stinky-breath dog anyway.
Get your dog toothpaste and toothbrush and get to work – Happy Cleaning!
Kittyluver (2)
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Great article! But do we all really know why keeping our dogs’ teeth clean is so important? Find out here.
Hi,
Is there any effective homemade natural remedies for toothpaste, excluding salt or baking soda if possible?
Our choice of dog toothpaste is very limited here, it’s not easy to find natural toothpaste.
Thanks
I don’t specifically have a homemade dog toothpaste recipe to propose. There are many formulas that you can find online but I haven’t really heard of any good one that is safe and works well with good reviews.
I recommend several dog teeth cleaning products in my article that are all good bets.
Most of the dog toothpastes, gels, sprays and rinses can probably be shipped internationally.
Another option you have is to give your dog some recreational bones to chew on for natural cleaning, they work like magic – always make sure you supervise the chewing at all times.
Hope this helps.
Even the Natural toothapstes by Petrodex and many others contain sorbitol. Is sorbitol okay for dogs? I also give my dog recreational bones — one per week. Is that good enough or should I aslo brush. So far I have been doing both — daily brushing with Petrodex natural dog toothpaste and recreational bones.
Hi Greg, thanx for the great question and four paws up for taking your dog’s oral care seriously :)
The amount of sorbitol (plant-based sugar alcohol food additive) found in many dog toothpaste formulas is very small so the side-effects if any are minimal resulting in mostly diarrhea or upset stomachs. However, if your dog seems to be having adverse reactions to the toothpaste, discontinue it’s use immediately. The key is to monitor your dog.
For more information check out this report.
Xylitol is another artificial sweetner. In my Toxic Foods for Dogs article I discuss about the dangers of Xylitol.
How are your dog’s teeth in general? What’s your breed and how old is your dog?
You don’t need to be doing both, bones and brushing.
IMO yes, generally the recreational bones will do the trick, that would be your #1 option.
I always recommend “giving your dog a bone” and if he likes it, that’s great!
My dog is a 75 pound seven year old white Germen Sheperd mix. Six months ago when he went in for routine teeth cleaning, the vet had to extract 5 teeth. I was very surprised that his teeth were that bad. Since that time, I’ve made a lot of changes. I give him one or two recreational bones per week — Bravo Knuckle bones that have some meat on them, marrow bones, and whatever the bones are that Nature Variety’s sells. I get them all from the pet store. I also started brushing his teeth nearly every day with CET tooth paste that the vet gave me. I became upset recently when I realized that CET has dextrose in it. So I changed toothpastes to one that does not have dextrose in it — Petrodex Natural toothpaste.
But my dog is fighting a yeast infection in his ear, and I have read that sorbitol should be forbidden while fighing a yeast infection in the ear. So I think that I will just stick with the recreational bones.
I stopped feeding any kibble to him a month ago. (He was on the grain free kibbles like Orijen and Nature’s Variety Instinct.) I am feeding him Stella and Chewy’s freeze dried raw and one large can of Insinct per day. I am reading a lot about raw diets and raw meaty bones to hopefully transition him to that, to help his teeth. He will not eat any of the frozen raw patties, but he eats meat off the recreational bones, so maybe he will take to some RMBs to help his teeth too. I don’t know yet.
He is extremly active and looks great. We run abput 50 – 70 miles per week together (cross country running).
I keep reading mixed things about recreational bones – that they can break teeth or wear teeth down. But he is NOT an aggesive chewer. I use them as directed, give them to him frozen, and I just let him have the boens for a few hours while I read in hte back yard with him. My feeling is that they are good for his teeth and if used as directed are positive for his oral health. But I should probalby give them to him a little less often, maybe one per week
I guess you can tell how much I love my dog by me trying to learn and do all I can for him.
Hi Greg so happy tho hear from ya :)
We are very happy to hear that you’ve made such big time changes with your dog’s diet. You really sound like a compassionate responsible, dog owner. Four paws way up Greg!!!!
It’s funny how sometimes certain situations will happen, such as yours with your dogs teeth and all, that help us realize that we might need to make a shift in our habits.
Great to hear your weaning him off the kibbles. I think it’s going to be the best decision you’ll ever make in your dog’s entire life, trust me!!
Have you seen any changes in your dog so far since the diet switch? From what I understand, it could take up to 8 weeks before you can start seeing some changes, but when they come, they are dramatical healthy changes.
Healthy home made dog food is really the best option for your dog’s ultimate health and happiness, I’m so happy that you’re really devoted to your furry beast’s wellness :)
Great work on the cross country running, he must totally love that!
From our experience your best bet when it comes to recreational bones is to try it out with your dog and monitor his chewing. Like you said, your dog isn’t an aggressive chewer then you should have no problems, but always monitored :)
Yes, like you said, recreational dog bones are great for the teeth – plus the activity sure makes your dog feel like a dog.
I’m not completely certain that giving it to him frozen is ideal … just thinking that wild dogs don’t have access to frozen bones. I dunno.
We just give it to Halle after it’s been in the over for a couple of minutes, she cleans it up and she chews on it for days. Once she’s worn it down a bit we toss it and give her another one. It’s perfectly safe.
You mentioned that your dog’s been fighting an ear yeast infection, how long has it been going on?
Has it occurred suddenly after the food switch?
The problems with his ear infections have been off and on for about 15 months. I made six vet appointments over the past year about it, between 2 different vets (both at the same animal hospital). When he had his teeth cleaned and he was under anesthesia, he even had his ears cleaned extensivly under the ideal conditions that the anesthesia allowed. He was at his absolute worse for a month right after the ear cleaning under anesthesia. He also got worse afer a medicne combination of baytril and silvadene. He was on prednisone for a while too, to reduce inflamation, which did zero to help him, and in fact he started a lot of nose itching too while on that. Other meds that I can’t remember the names of cleard his ears temporarily, like for a few weeks. Prior to going to the vets for repeated treatments I had tried zymox, which gave him temporary good results, but a moth after I stopped using zymox he got awaful, and that’s when I saw the vet about his ear. I have been diligent about following vets’ directions on ear cleaning and procduct directions. Whatever the vets have given him has produced various temporary results.
I took matter into my own hands after great frustration with vets. He is CLEARLY improving, but it is still a battle. The cytology at the last vet appointment showed it was yeast. So I discovered that many dogs with recurring yeast infections in the ear get them from allergies — food or air allergies. And also the natural balance between yeast and bacteria can become unbalanced by anti-biotics. My dog (Rocky) had lyme disease a few years ago, which was treated by antibiotics successfully. But it is my theory that the antiobiotic treatment for the lyme disease triggered the yeast/good bacteria imbalance. And the potato starch in a kibble diet fed the yeast and made it get out of control.
I am using malacetic otic to clean his ears when symptoms arise, like head tilting, head shaking, etc. It works better than anything the vet gave me or any other cleaner I’ve experimented with. But I feel bad that I still have to resort to using an ear cleaner any more often than once per week, and try not to use more than I have to. The Stella and Chewy’s freeze dried raw comes with a great assortment of probiotics that will help him get the good bacterisa in him to combat the yeast overgrowth. I give him at least one FULL meal of the Stella and Chewy’s each day. Yes, it is expensive, but I’d rather spend money on healthy food than on prednisone, meds, and other vet bills. (I spent almost $2,000 last year on vet bills between his ears and dental surgery). I also have a good air filter for the bedroom, but have had one for many years.
My vet never mentioned raw food or homecooked food, just hydrolisized protien type of food, which included potato starch, by the way, and would have fed the yeast and been of inferior quality to the kibble I was using — Orijen Six Fresh Fish, Insitinc Rabbit, and Orijen Adult (turkey and chicken).
The raw food is working. I started feedin a little raw occasionally two months ago, while he was till getting kibbles and canned food, and now he gets one full Stella and Chewy’s raw meal every day. He has not had kibble since August 9, so this is still not enough time to see the results of the raw food, but already there is improvement. My next step might be to even drop the canned Insitnct food and replace it with either raw meal or homecooked meals. He likes baked wild salmon. ( I know salmon has to be cooked.) I invented a recipie of egg shell and baked salmon fillet to give him twice a week — the egg shell to replace the calcium that would have been in the bones.
I feel like I am on the right track. I am continuing to dialogue with people like you online, am contuing to read about nutrition, trusting my judgements. And his next vet will be a holistic vet — not one who sells mostly corn and wheat filled dental nuggets and starchy kibbles and seems to not know the least thing about safe raw foods (like ones that I have discovered that have been pathogen free by hydro high pressure treatment) or more natural approaches to cures.