20 OCTOBER 2018

I have started brushing Zane's teeth! The first thing I did was purchase my equipment.  I found a package deal that contained both the traditional style toothbrush and the finger style brush you wear on your index finger.  The toothpaste I bought is specifically for dogs and is labeled as 'chicken flavor'.  I haven't tasted it myself so I can't verify its flavor!

The first thing I did was put a dab of the toothpaste on my finger and allow Zane to lick it off.  Every time I  brushed my own teeth, I would put dog toothpaste on my finger and offer it to Zane.  Soon he was coming over to sit beside me whenever I started brushing my teeth!  He seemed to really like the flavor of the paste.  In fact he started to take my finger into his mouth to get more of it!  It was this behavior that made me decide to use the finger style brush for his teeth.  

My next step was to put the paste on the finger brush and call Zane to me.  I had him sit and then allowed him lick the paste from the brush.  For several sessions, I just offered the paste  so that Zane could get used to the feel of the brush.  Once he was eagerly licking the paste from the brush I decided to start to actually brush his teeth.

As had become our little ritual, I put paste on the finger brush and had Zane sit next to me.   This time I pulled his upper lip back to expose his front teeth.  I then gently brushed those teeth.  I made three or four back-and-forth passes before allowing Zane to lick the toothbrush.  That's all I did for the first brushing session.  I repeated this over the next several days until I felt Zane was really comfortable with the process.  I then brushed more teeth during the next session. 

I let Zane tell me when he was uncomfortable.  He showed me this by starting to resist the brushing and pulling back when I attempted to move his lips to expose the teeth.  Any time he resisted, I stopped brushing and just offered Zane some toothpaste to lick off the brush.  I would then offer just the paste for the next two sessions before starting to brush again.  I slowly built up to brushing more teeth, letting Zane be my guide for how much he wanted to tolerate.  We are now in the process of making tooth brushing a regular habit.