Eating, drinking, playing tug rope - your dog’s teeth have a tough job.

Plaque and tartar build-up can create an ideal environment for bacteria to make themselves at home in your dog’s mouth, leading to smelly breath, infected gums, dental pain, or a root abscess and in very severe cases, damage to your dog’s internal organs.

Some people feel that feeding their dog a diet of dry kibble helps to maintain good dental health, but the idea that dry food keeps dogs' teeth clean is a controversial one. If you type ‘dry dog food clean teeth’ into your favourite search engine, you’ll find lots of interesting articles and research that has been carried out to look into this.

Butternut meals are complete and balanced with vitamins and minerals such as calcium to support bone health. We also have our tasty Smile Sticks which are specially designed to promote dental health and keep your dog's mouth nice and clean. However the latest research has proved that good old-fashioned brushing is still important, even if using dental products.
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You might be reluctant to brush your dog's teeth in case they won't like it, but most respond well and actually enjoy the new fuss. Doggy toothpaste can be really tasty too (make sure you don't use human toothpaste because this is toxic to dogs).

Prevention is always better than cure, so it'd be ideal to introduce teeth brushing to your puppy early on, so they grow up with this as part of their normal routine. Keep each session nice and short. To start, gently stroke your dog’s cheek for a minute or two whilst they get used to the action. For the next few days, let them lick a small amount of toothpaste from your finger too. Next, rub some toothpaste on your dog's gums. Using a soft, doggy toothbrush, build this up to gently brushing their teeth.

Of course, you should always take care when putting your fingers into your dog’s mouth, and we don’t recommend doing so if your dog is likely to become annoyed and snap out of frustration. In this case, a trip to the vet might be best so they can assess the condition of your dog's teeth and perform a quick scale and polish every now and again if need be.