A big part of trying to persuade people to think of brushing their dog's teeth comes with the health benefits and economic benefits. A problem is that this motivation is not quite enough for some dog owners. They will take a cheap or easier way of dealing with the problem.
It was suggested to me by a retailer, Lynn who works at Pawsh in Cambridge that an important benefit is socializing.
We love playing with our dogs and things can get pretty rough sometimes. We learn not to get them too upset or we might get bitten. If we have children we are careful that they don't play too rough. Occasionally our dogs will pick up something of concern such as potentially poisonous or dangerous food. On some occasions we might be asked to give the dog a pill or medicine that we soon learn they will resist. These experiences illustrate a limit to trust.
Brushing a dog's teeth is a way of building trust. The dog needs to understand that you do not want to hurt it, but that you want to do something that at first might be a bit scary or uncomfortable. Brushing a dog's teeth requires patience. Do a little at a time letting your dog appreciate you mean no harm. Over time some dogs will enjoy the experience and it should not be unpleasant for the person doing the brushing.
At some point the brushing should become pretty routine. At this point the trust level between you and your dog has been elevated. You can certainly continue to have fun with your dog, but be more comfortable. Your dog should be more co-operative when taking things out of or into their mouth.
The fact that your dog is healthier and you might have less need to spend money at the vet's might be the main motivation for the effort, but having a more trusting relation with your dog is one of the benefits.
The photo on the top is an example of using the Triple Pet finger brush and on the bottom is using the Triple Pet classic brush.
You made some good points there. I did a search on the topic and found most people will agree with your blog.
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