Believe it or not, you need to learn how to brush your dog’s teeth. French bulldogs require dental care just like any other dog. Scheduled brushing and cleaning will ensure your Frenchie’s teeth, gums, cheeks, and tongue are clean, healthy, and free of any detritus they collect from sniffing and licking the floor. It’s a cinch to brush your French Bulldog’s teeth once you get into the habit. Just make sure you get a canine-friendly dental kit. Feeding a high-quality hard food will ensure your Frenchie’s teeth are strong, plus, get plenty of intermittent scrubbing to keep your Frenchie’s teeth sparkling white.
TEETH BRUSHING DIRECTIONS
- Make sure your Frenchie has already exercised or had a chance to get out any residual energy for the day.
- Feed your French Bulldog dinner and wait about an hour before beginning to brush their teeth. Choose a calm time for teeth brushing. It should be you and the dog without a living room full of active children or other pets.
- Entice your Frenchie with a treat to get their attention, placing them front-and-center before you.
- Introduce the toothpaste to your Frenchie. Start by showing your Frenchie the toothpaste and letting them lick it from your finger.
- While it works well for us, human toothpaste can have ingredients that are toxic to dogs. Wet the doggy toothbrush and apply approximately 3 pea-sized lumps to the brush.
- Select a good spot for teeth brushing. Make sure you have good lighting so you can see what you’re doing, and make sure to push the toothbrush into your Frenchie’s mouth, gently, down towards their back teeth.
- Place your thumb directly between their front teeth, pulling down gently on their jaw.
- Brush in gentle circles, aiming to spend approximately 10 seconds brush each area of your dog’s teeth.
- If your Frenchie is tolerating toothbrushing, you can brush both the outside and inside of the teeth when you are brushing. The inside of the teeth will be a little harder to brush, so if necessary, work on adding this step after your dog is calm with the outsides of the upper and lower teeth being brushed.
- Praise and reward. Getting their teeth brushed is unnatural for your bulldog. To make this a positive experience, frequently praise your dog. This seems counterintuitive because you are cleaning the teeth and then giving some food. However, the initial goal is teaching the skill and later you can work on removing food from the equation.
