Tired of looking for a new dog toothpaste? Have you tried a few store-bought options but none of them seemed like the right choice for your dog?
Maybe the time has come to try your hand at making your dog’s favorite homemade dog toothpaste!
With a little love for a challenge and our help, you will get a 100% natural product that will help your dog’s dental health. As we like to remind you as often as possible – clean and healthy teeth should always be a priority.
For that reason, we decided to share with you a few proven recipes. You don’t need outstanding culinary skills for either of them! Even better: we bet you will be preparing them with a smile on your face.
Let’s dive in!
Table of Contents
What Ingredients Will We Use in Our Recipes?
We chose completely natural ingredients for making our toothpaste. Actually, it’s very rare to find any of these ingredients in your regular store-bought toothpaste!
For this reason, we will first list all the ingredients we have selected in our recipes so that you can prepare yourself before you choose one to try out. We’re sure you’ll find most of these ingredients in your kitchen already, so there is no need for any expensive shopping.
The ingredients we picked out are:
- coconut oil
- baking soda
- cinnamon
- mint leaves
- chicken or beef bouillon cubes
- parsley
Your dog will definitely like these ingredients since they are very common, probably a familiar taste, and entirely healthy. Also, all the recipes are budget-friendly, which is always a good thing, right?
We are starting our list with the first one.
Recipe #1 – Simple Does The Trick
Difficulty: very easy | Time required: less than 5 minutes
List of Ingredients
- 4 teaspoons of baking soda
- 4 teaspoons of water
Preparation
- Select a bowl of an appropriate size.
- First, put the baking soda. Then gradually add water. Mix the contents carefully.
- When it becomes thick as a paste, it is a sign that the preparation is complete. You got a completely natural homemade dog toothpaste in no time!
Depending on what kind of mixture your dog prefers (test and find out), play with the amount of water you use.
Baking soda is a completely natural ingredient that makes a positive contribution to maintaining your dog’s overall oral hygiene:
- It will remove the unpleasant smell coming from your dog’s mouth.
- With its abrasive action, it will clean plaque on your dog’s teeth.
- It will reduce the chance of disease development.
Quick Tip: If your dog doesn’t like the aroma of this paste, add a bouillon cube. Chicken or beef should contain some sodium as well.
Recipe #2 – The Cinnamon Toothpaste
Difficulty: easy | Time Required: about 5 minutes
List of Ingredients
- 20g of cooled and liquid coconut oil
- 1/2 cup baking soda
- 7g of cinnamon
Preparation
- Put the coconut oil in a bowl. The important thing to remember is that the oil needs to be cold.
- After the oil, add baking soda and finish with cinnamon. Mix well to get the right texture.
- Leave for a few minutes for a better aroma.
- After putting it in a smaller container, close the rest of the paste in a bowl and leave it in the fridge. Before using it again, make sure to put the toothpaste at room temperature for a few minutes, making it more pleasant for your dog.
Coconut oil combined with baking soda and cinnamon is a real hit!
Why?
Coconut oil kills bacteria. It also eliminates your dog’s bad breath. In addition, your dog will enjoy the aroma of coconut, which is always an important thing. Finally, cinnamon will be a great addition to coconut oil in removing unpleasant odors.
Recipe #3 – The Chicken Toothpaste
Difficulty: easy | Time Required: less than 5 minutes
List of Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons baking soda
- a chicken bouillon cube
- 1 teaspoon of water
- 1 teaspoon of parsley (fresh or dry)
Preparation
- Place the listed ingredients in a bowl of a suitable size. Make sure to add the water as the last ingredient as it will make it easier to dose depending on how thick you like the mixture.
- Use an airtight container of smaller size to pack some toothpaste for immediate use. Leave the excess contents in the refrigerator.
- You can use this toothpaste for a maximum of 2 weeks from the moment it is placed in the refrigerator.
All the ingredients work perfectly together to make an amazing homemade dog toothpaste!
The aroma of the meat will simply delight any dog. They will enjoy brushing their teeth and quickly get used to it, making taking care of their dental health much easier.
Recipe #4 – The Minty Fresh
Difficulty: medium | Time Required: 7 minutes
List of Ingredients
- 1/3 cup of coconut oil
- 2 teaspoons of baking soda
- 2 teaspoons of dry peppermint
- ½ a teaspoon of cinnamon
Preparation
- Add baking soda, dry peppermint, and cinnamon to the blender.
- Lastly, gradually add coconut oil and start blending. When everything is finely chopped, you can pour the contents into a container with a seal and store it in the refrigerator.
- You can use this paste for about two weeks. If you notice an unpleasant odor, the coconut oil is most likely spoiled, and it would be best to throw it out.
Quick Tip: If you want to add a stronger mint aroma, you can use aromatic peppermint oils. It will increase the smell of the paste, and your dog will smell better. However, make sure to use it in very small amounts! Otherwise, your dog most likely won’t like it.
Recipe #5 – The Beefy One
Difficulty: medium | Time Required: up to 5 minutes
List of Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons of baking soda
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil
- 1 beef bouillon cube
Preparation
- Gradually add all the ingredients into the blender.
- The blender will grind everything completely in less than a minute and create a consistent, thick mixture.
- After that, pour the contents into a bowl and stir the resulting paste once more.
- The next thing you need to do is put the toothpaste in the fridge.
- When you notice that the bowl is cold, it means that the paste has got its final shape.
As always, wait for the paste to become warmer before using it to brush your dog’s teeth. The easiest way to do this is to get it out of the fridge for about 10-15 minutes before the brushing.
If you use cold paste, it won’t be easy to apply the paste to the toothbrush. Also, your little friend will not appreciate the toothpaste temperature.
Why Should You Make Homemade Toothpaste?
If you enjoy making things for your dog, whether it is clothes or their favorite meal, this will be an added adventure.
All you have to do is go to the store and get ingredients. In a matter of minutes, you will give your pup a useful and healthy gift!
Easy as pie, isn’t it?
You are well aware of the consequences that result from neglecting your dog’s oral hygiene. However, it’s not just about the hygiene, but about how you make sure your dog stays healthy.
By making homemade dog toothpaste for your dog, you completely control the ingredients that your dog ingests. All of the listed ingredients are completely safe and will not have a harmful effect. Not only that, with just a couple of things we all have in our kitchens already, you can prepare multiple different variations.
We recommend that you consult with your vet every time you add a new ingredient. Probably, your vet can even recommend a new recipe for you to try out.
If you do decide to try a recipe you found on the internet, carefully check its composition. Never use untested foods or artificial ingredients without consulting a vet.
Even More Benefits of Homemade Toothpaste
If you are still not certain if it’s worth the effort, keep reading.
After all, why go through the trouble of preparing your homemade dog toothpaste when there are countless options in the store?
Before you decided on making homemade dog toothpaste, we are sure- you wondered if it was really healthy for your dog.
Homemade dog toothpaste has many benefits, both for you and your best friend. Some of them are:
1. It’s Budget-Friendly
The most common reason why people prepare homemade toothpaste is the price.
The average price of quality store-bought toothpaste is over $10. However, if you add just a dollar more to those $10, you will get a larger amount of homemade dog toothpaste that your dog will adore. Not only that, it will last you much longer!
2. It’s a Natural Product
You are the one who controls the composition of the paste entirely. With proven tips, you are in control of the preparation that has no reason to be suspicious.
Base ingredients such as baking soda and coconut oil are completely healthy and will not harm your dog’s well-being in any way.
3. It’s Made of Common Ingredients
All the ingredients that you use when preparing your dog’s favorite toothpaste are certainly familiar to you. This is because you use most of them in your everyday life, starting from making soup, tea, or brushing your own teeth.
4. It’s Easy to Make
There is almost no person who couldn’t prepare homemade pasta for their dog. All it takes is a blender, a couple of cool bowls, and a few common ingredients. In five minutes or so, you will get a delicious, healthy toothpaste for your dog.
The Disadvantages
Of course, there are some downsides to each of the options.
Homemade Dog Toothpaste Downsides
The only disadvantage with homemade toothpaste is its shelf life.
The shelf life of a typical homemade paste is about a couple of weeks at best. During these weeks, you must keep the toothpaste in the refrigerator, or it will go bad in a matter of days, if not hours.
However, the reason for that is simple – it’s entirely natural, and it doesn’t include any artificial ingredients that extend its shelf life.
Store-Bought Dog Toothpaste Downsides
Have you ever paid attention to the composition of the toothpaste found in stores?
Let’s take a closer look at the potentially harmful ingredients in some kinds of store-bought toothpaste:
- Cellulose Gum – It’s an ingredient that comes from the cell walls of plants. It is not the best option for your dog’s stomach and digestion.
- Glycerin – When buying soap, you will find this ingredient listed on the backside of most soap packagings. Once again, it can upset your dog’s stomach.
- Magnesium Aluminum Silicate – It’s an ingredient you can find in beauty products. Also, it is one of the ingredients whose harmless use in dog toothpaste production is debatable.
- Sodium Lauryl Phosphate – It’s a type of paraben found in shampoos. It can potentially be harmful to your dog’s health in certain amounts.
Now, are we saying that every store-bought toothpaste is bad and harmful?
Of course not. However, with homemade dog toothpaste, you have full control over the production process and application.
Conclusion
Your dog’s dental hygiene is one of the most important things in their life.
With high-quality toothpaste, your dog will always carry around a bright smile. All you have to do is set aside a few minutes every couple of weeks for preparing the perfect toothpaste with just a few ingredients. You will get an amazing product that will make your dog’s breath pleasant and teeth healthy!
Now, let’s hear it from your – which of the following recipes is your favorite?
Let us know in the comments down below, and we will see you in the next post!