The Importance Of Brushing Your Min Pin’s Teeth Daily

For some of you Min Pin and dog owners you may find the idea of brushing your pooch’s teeth weird. A chore or time better spent elsewhere even. While the recommended daily brushing of your dog’s teeth will be an ‘extra thing’ to add to your daily routine, it is very important. Even more so if you feed your dog a dry or canned food diet. Generally if a dog has been fed a raw diet and raw meaty bones from puppyhood he isn’t likely to develop dental health issues or even need a daily brushing. We go into this more here. The more carbs your dog’s food has the more the need for daily teeth cleaning, just like we have to do. Dental disease is rife in dogs just coming into adulthood and gum disease will be experienced in some form by dogs during their lifetime. Added to this Min Pins are one of the breeds more predisposed to poor dental health.

Protecting your dog’s teeth and gums include daily brushing, giving him suitable chews such as dried animal parts and raw meaty bones and an occasional de-scaling by the vet (if needed). De-scales are important if your dog has a lot of stubborn tarter build-up that brushing won’t remove. The best way to prevent your dog developing dental problems in the first place is daily brushing from puppyhood regardless of what you feed but fear not, if you haven’t started doing so it’s never too late. We didn’t start brushing Mikki’s teeth till last year and we’re relieved we started. The results of taking up daily brushing for your dog are not instantaneous and you won’t see visible improvement if he has a lot of tarter build-up but be sure that it’ll be doing his teeth and gums good, as further damage will be prevented.

Have We Found The Best Doggy Toothpaste?

We might have. We have been through many brands of dog toothpaste and found them to be poor quality. What do we mean by this? Toothpaste is toothpaste right? We don’t think so. You don’t have the same attitude when it comes to choosing your own toothpaste so why should your dog’s be any different? Our primary concern here at Heathside is to search for the products with the least amount of chemicals in them from the big brands whenever we can’t find a suitable natural alternative. The product we’re reviewing has mostly natural ingredients (see photo below). The other concern as far as toothpaste goes is that Mikki had seriously unpleasant bad breath which was due to his bacteria-harbouring tarter build-up. Aside from never having had a consistent daily tooth brushing routine in place he was fed a dry food diet which is now known to cause dental health problems. So we needed a toothpaste that was going to help his awful breath problem for starters.

What To Look For In A Dog Toothpaste

Most dog toothpastes are enzymatic meaning they contain enzymes to help remove and prevent plaque but some will do this better than others. For dog toothpastes you should always look for one that is enzymatic. Another thing is scent and flavour which are important for both you and your dog. Some dogs are fussy with flavours and will make the process of having their teeth brushed difficult if they don’t like the taste. Some toothpastes also smell bad-take it from us. You should ensure that you read product reviews from whichever toothpaste you decide on and this is because the most important judge of the palatability of the product will be the dogs; if most owners are saying their dog liked licking the product, it’s likely one that tastes great.

We’ve tried one other toothpaste from Arm & Hammer. This product helped with his bad breath but didn’t have the same natural ingredient profile. It was also a different scent and flavour which Mikki loved the taste of but we disliked the strong (artificial) meaty smell of. If you are expecting toothpaste to improve your dog’s bad breath an unpleasant-smelling product is the last thing you want in his mouth. However other brands of toothpaste we tried had failed on both fronts. Whether or not they helped remove new tarter build-up we cannot say because we moved on from them quickly. We also recommend not buying a toothpaste that is too cheap because you will get what you pay for (in our experience). The bigger pet brands may give you more for your money but will be lacking elsewhere. 

Arm & Hammer Fresh Spectrum Coconut Mint Toothpaste has some impressive claims:

• Their proprietary ingredients of baking soda helps neutralise plaque, deep cleans and freshens breath
• Their coconut oil formula sticks to teeth and gums to provide a longer protection and a longer lasting clean
• The coconut oil helps restore pH balance inside the dog’s mouth, neutralising acids and contributing to fresh breath lasting hours and hours
• Contains concentrated enzymes meaning you only need to use a small amount each time

Our Experience

Many dog toothpastes come in a plethora of flavours as well as smells. This one smells very pleasant to us. It’s difficult to describe and we wouldn’t say it smells anything like ‘coconut mint’ but it does have a non-offensive, ‘biscuit’-type scent. If that makes any sense? We find that we get a good amount of coverage of Mikki’s mouth even by using a tiny amount on his toothbrush. Mikki’s breath has improved my country miles when using this toothpaste which we’re over the moon about! 

Mikki loves the taste very much and even though he is trained in having his teeth brushed, the high palatability of the product does help. We would say that this toothpaste comes in small tubes compared to some other popular toothpaste brands at just 70g. Initially we were disappointed given that it’s one of the more expensive brands.

However as mentioned we need only a tiny amount to brush Mikki’s teeth. So it’s lasting longer than we thought and therefore we can honestly say that so far, this is the best dog toothpaste we’ve tried. That said, Mikki is a toy breed and we can’t speak for a larger dog with a larger mouth.

We do recommend Arm & Hammer Fresh Spectrum Coconut Mint Toothpaste to owners wanting to take up brushing their dog’s teeth. For those owners wanting as many natural ingredients as big brand name can offer in a toothpaste, we’ll give this one a big thumbs up👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾

Getting Started With Brushing Your Min Pin’s Teeth

If you’ve never brushed your adult dog’s teeth, the very idea of doing so can be a little daunting. If you have a puppy then you can train him to accept brushing using the same methods below. Puppies are still malleable to new things unlike adult dogs. A prerequisite to brushing a dog’s teeth is they have to not have an aversion to having their mouths touched or having things inside it. Teeth brushing is a very invasive procedure for a dog as well as unnatural which is why most protest. However some just won’t accept it no matter how hard you try. If your dog is a rescue with an unknown past, he may have certain ‘quirks’ which include not liking to be touched in certain places. We highly recommend that if your dog has is not showing signs of warming to the idea of having his teeth brushed, and is appearing increasingly reactive, just stop. The second best option is to feed raw meaty bones up to 3 times a week and a great example for small dogs like Min Pins are chicken wings/necks.

Another option that’s not as good as raw meaty bones are dried animal parts such as beef paddywacks. These are 100% natural and will work hard to clean teeth and gums from all that tough chewing your Min Pin will do. Side note, Mikki loves them! We advise you stay away from any other type of chews. An example of this are ‘dental’ chews that you find from the large pet food companies or even the ones marketed as ‘natural’. They are a tasty treat but do not clean your dogs teeth at all and will never do this job of an animal part. The worst ones actually worsen your dog’s already poor dental health. Plus they are often full of rubbish ingredients which is a no-no if you are trying to feed a high quality diet to your beloved pooch.

Anyway! Let’s get started. As we mention here always ensure your dog is relaxed whenever you are introducing a new routine. He should ideally have gotten all his energy out and maybe even have had a meal so he’s as unreactive as he can be. Always give him lots of praise along with a food reward if your dog is the anxious type. Repeat these steps as many times as needed.

Introduce The Toothpaste

First step is to allow your Min Pin to sniff the toothpaste and let him sample some on your finger. Reward and praise. You’ll see whether he likes the toothpaste flavour or not at this stage. Keep at it. You may want to get your Min Pin used to hand-feeding treats or let him lick other palatable liquid-type foods off your fingers and hands every time you introduce the tooth brushing routine. This way you can get him used to having your hands on his mouth.

Introduce The Toothbrush

Next introduce the toothbrush. Finger brushes (see images below) are suitable for dogs who are having their teeth brushed for the first time and they can be bought here. The last thing you want is to stick a human toothbrush inside his mouth! Same as above let your Min Pin sniff the toothbrush and put some toothpaste and palatable liquid foods on it. Let him lick the food off the brush and praise him making it a positive experience. After doing this a good few times over a week (depending on how your Min Pin reacts to it), you can see how he reacts to having his muzzle held. Once he accepts it see if he’ll be okay with you lifting his lips-remember lots and lots of praise along with food rewards. This is the step that can take the longest. Think of how a vet examines a dog’s mouth. Do the same. When he accepts both the aforementioned steps, try and start gently rubbing the side of his teeth with the finger brush ensuring there is toothpaste on it.

Proper Brushing Technique

Once your Min Pin has accepted having his muzzle held and lips lifted up you can then focus on the proper brushing technique which is vital. Just as we have to get all nooks and crannies between our teeth, the same applies to your pooch. You can at this stage progress to a child-size, human toothbrush. First wet the toothbrush to allow more foaming of the toothpaste.

1. Take his muzzle in one hand, holding it shut to and lift his lips to reveal his front teeth and canines which will be together.
2. Brush both sides and the front teeth. Ensure you brush his gums gently.
3. Using the same hand and keeping the toothbrush in his mouth, gently push it in with your hand now on the top of his muzzle and one finger in his mouth, holding it open.
4. Brush underneath his top set of teeth and behind them if you can and the roof of his mouth.
5. Repeat with the bottom set of his teeth and gently brush his tongue too.

Then you’re all done! Ensure that your Min Pin gets a tasty treat at the end of each brush so he builds super positive associations.

Brush your Min Pin’s teeth in order of the photos

Don’t Delay, Brush Your Dog’s Teeth Today!

Arm & Hammer has an excellent range of toothpastes and the Fresh Spectrum range is one of their best offerings. We will be continuing to use this toothpaste for our Min Pin Mikki.