Is Brushing Your Dog’s Teeth Necessary Or Nuts?

Actually – and understandably – even moreso.
When it comes to dogs, there are an array of things that are debatable with one being the widely accepted belief that canines are direct descendants of the wolf.
Certainly, dogs and wolves share a genetic heritage. However, recent DNA analysis proposes that both dogs and wolves descended from a common wolf-like ancestor. Evidence of the domestication of dogs is dated at around 14,000 years ago; the ritual burying of dogs as if they were a member of the family appears 2,000 years later.
We’ve been loving them, or at least what they provide for us, for a long, long time. Brushing their teeth is pretty new on the list.
In the wild, carnivores don’t spend hours gnawing on meatless bones for their teeth cleaning and gum stimulation – that all happens with the vigorous ripping and tearing of hide and flesh.
Complex behavioural changes are slow to evolve. You don’t have to be a behavioural psychologist to understand that; just consider the last time you adapted a routine, a healthier menu or to a relationship that drifted, deepened or disappeared. Despite a millennia of selective breeding for dogs in general to be less aggressive than their wolf-like ancestors, the territorial pack animals living with us and (hopefully) coming when we call, bear enough similarities to their wolf cousins for hybrids to still be available, although not recommended to be left unsupervised around small animals and children.
Neither are they the focus of dog bling and clothing so de rigeuer for more diminutive and snappier breeds.
Is it realistic for owners to vigorously brush the deciduous teeth of their six-week-old puppy, or their second set a few months later at a level comparable to dealing with the skin and sinews of large prey? Is there enthusiasm and time for it? Probably not – and don’t even try asking the dog.
Despite vets’ encouragement over the years because of gingivitis that’s essentially from canned, packet and soft foods, the truth is that brushing the dog’s teeth is at best sporadic, and largely zilch.
Even proponents of it don’t seem to hold much faith. The Director of the Veterinary Oral Health Council, Professor Colin Harvey suggests that aside from brushes and dental wipes, additional products include dental diets, treats, water additives, gels, and toothpastes. According to him, the key is daily use; much easier to accomplish if there’s a way to make this daily oral hygiene a hijinx of fun interaction.
It’s hard to definitively mark the moment when the kids being at school and the adults at work meant the dogs in the backyard at home were overtly neglected and covertly emotionally abused. Whenever it was, dog sitting and dog walking services mushroomed like Maralinga between 1955 and ’63.
For those who may pinpoint Bruiser – 2001’s Legally Blonde dog star (not Sirius; though ironically named Moonie) as the first extravagantly pampered pooch, the cosseting of lap dogs goes back to at least the 14th century. Emperors and kings, along with their consorts, as well as the clergy and leisured classes liked keeping dogs as pleasurable pets rather than for herding and protection; their effigies often placed at the feet of their master’s tombstone.
The vision of Reese Witherspoon’s breakthrough character Elle Woods carrying her bedecked and bejewelled Chihuahua around in pink tote, was closely followed by the seemingly copycat dog action of Paris Hilton in real life. It appears an illustrious moment in the decision of a whole generation of dog owners to treat their canine companions like biological proof that Barbie, a human baby and few tufts of fur made it into George Langelaan’s telepod.
Even when it’s not your own, it’s difficult to ignore a baby’s innocently perfect little face, all wide-eyed and ready to look straight into your soul. It’s the same with puppies. Both hijack with cuteness that makes a bad day better. It’s a response hard-wired in our brain, which is why it almost impossible to resist.
Other things are not; one of which is the use of the term ‘fur baby’. It’s an affectionate term I personally find both cute and questionable and I have loved and cared for dogs throughout my life; the last being 17 years with a beloved Dalmatian, a dog choice that requires resilient energy, an unending sense of humour and a vacuum cleaner with enviable suction.
It was a long and lucky time indeed – the only tedium within it the continual and tactful deflection of references to my ‘fur baby’ (she’s a dog) and being her ‘parent’ or more grotesquely ‘pawrent’. (She’s a dog; I’m not). Maybe my ambivalence to the term is its desperate attempt to prove emotional attachment which is both implicit, and irrelevant to anyone who’s not me or her; nor did she replace or negate the need for human relationships and conversation.
That being so, it’s a term so popular that the Oxford Dictionary included it in its official lexicon in 2015. The same year Animal Medicines Australia found that 64% of people considered their dog a bona fide member of the family while 23% regarded them as a respected and loved companion. Now closer to 85% nominate their canine as family, and it’s estimated that for every 100 people, there are 20 dogs.
Of those many things that can be questioned, the positive physical, psychological, and social benefits of the interaction between humans and animal cannot.
Across multiple aspects of psychological well-being, having a pet has strong associations to higher levels of happiness and self-esteem; and decreased levels of depression, loneliness, and perceived stress. There are obvious benefits to physical health with the motivation to exercise, and simply being in a room with a friendly dog can lower blood pressure. They are links to potential friends, provide increased social function, and offer a protective factor against mental health decline.
Of course for every up side there’s a down, and for some their attachment to their companion becomes a reason to not live their life. It is not unknown for there to be financial, social and even nutritional sacrifices with the prioritising of their four-legged family member.

As far as the pooch that’s possibly in it, some breeders now ask as much as $15,000 for one of their ‘designer dogs’ – a controversial subject in itself. Ethologists describe ‘baby schema’ – the infantile features of a round face, big eyes, tiny nose, a softness in texture and smell and sounds on the crying spectrum – that trigger a flood of hormones in the adult brain to release our most innate caregiving behaviours.
Cuteness is a superpower that’s almost impossible to argue against. It has its own economy. While it makes us feel good and generates a lot of money, it also drives unhealthy breeding and un-useful companion lifestyle choices. Considerably more complex than simply a display of wealth, dogs are increasingly becoming status symbols of identity and self-worth, anthropomorphised to a degree of conspicuous commodity that generally encourages attitudes and behaviours towards them that aren’t necessarily in the best interests of man’s best friend.
Maybe brushing their teeth is one of them.
‘Baby schema’ is what makes French Bulldogs an extremely popular breed, regardless of their broad and significant health risks and behavioural issues they are high on the list of most likely to be ‘celebritised’ on Instagram, Tik Tok and YouTube. Other brachycephalic breeds are also among the most desired and most frequently purchased. No matter how much ‘conformation’ they may possess in the context of breeding, it is no indication of how well or how poorly a dog with these physical traits actually functions in the world.
The further and growing interest in miniaturised dogs is said to have breeders selecting ‘teacup’ and ‘pocket’ versions by sometimes mating runts of already-small dogs, or stunting puppy growth to keep them ‘smol’.
So incredibly disturbing.
Dogs that sit ‘funny’ in all those social media uploads aren’t doing it because they’re workin’ it on the interwebs for uber whimsy appeal; they sit like that because normal dog sitting position is painful.
Anthropomorphic behaviour is not supported by scientific knowledge, but rather the intrinsic human need to easily relate. There can certainly be interpretative bias in terms of the animal’s actual state: a misinterpretation that satisfies the perceived relationship in preference to recognising and understanding the animal’s actual intention and motivation.
It’s a sad happiness really.
So well intentioned and yet so misguided, the North American Veterinary Community maintains that diabetes is rising faster in dogs and cats than in humans. Somewhere between 20-50% of dogs suffer obesity because of excessive meals, snacks and food rewards. Were there such a thing, it would be the result of anthropomorphic malapropism where a certain look or posture is misconstrued as one of ‘hunger’ or ‘disappointment’ or worse still, ‘FOMO’.
In this dog-eat-dog world, we’re dressing them up and dressing their dog behaviour down. We’re over-washing them, buying birthday cakes and Christmas presents, painting their nails, dyeing their fur, feeding them too much and carrying them so they don’t get tired.
Modern dogs are struggling. Do we really need to be brushing their teeth?
Periodontal disease in dogs is not uncommonly at a level warranting clinical intervention. Generally it’s the visible outcome of processed foods, including highly unsuitable ultra processed human snacks that even humans shouldn’t be having.
So brush if you must, brush if you like, but maybe brush up on a healthy, more textured dog diet that disrupts plaque build-up before it calcifies to tartar and creates this perio-problem.
Canine anxiety levels are off the charts. A 2020 published study in Scientific Reports evaluated the medical records of nearly 14,000 Finnish dogs and found that a massive 75% suffer some type of anxiety-related issue. That same year, dog owners surveyed in Japan reported upwards of an astounding 80% of their dogs as having behaviour disorders.
It’s a phenomenon of dogs being de-dogged; unable to engage their bodies, senses and minds in ways that at least reasonably approximate their evolutionary history. They need to be on the ground getting dirty and socialised. Not carried around, wet-wiped and reprimanded, trying to adapt to increasingly more challenging, smaller, emotionally demanding home environments. When we hold our hounds hostage to bizarrely unrealistic human expectations, it’ll bite us in the end.
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