Show Me Those Pearly Whites!

A little over 2 weeks ago I took Lexi to the vet because she was having some tummy problems. She really hadn't been feeling well since I picked her up from my parents after we got back from vacation. She had no desire to play & wasn't really eating any of her food, so I started her on chicken & rice & she seemed to improve shortly after that but as soon as I tried to put her back on her regular food she would get sick again. So when I took her to the vet they did a check up & thought she had a parasite & ran some tests. They also checked her teeth & told me that since she will be 4 year old this year they recommend having her teeth cleaned. I told the vet that teeth cleaning was an expensive procedure & that I would have to save up in order to do that but asked if there was anything I could do in the meantime to hold her off until we could afford it. The vet said, "brush her teeth." So after Lexi's test results came back they ended up putting her on a veterinary diet, antibiotics & some kind of dewormer...$145 later we walked out of the vet's office. When we got home I told Dan about the teeth cleaning, teeth brushing, etc. We decided to go over to Petco & buy a doggie toothbrush & toothpaste. Here's what we picked out: Of course I had to get a hot pink toothbrush :o) & the toothpaste is vanilla flavored. The toothbrush gave instructions on how to ease your pet into brushing so the first thing we did was put the toothpaste in her mouth so she could taste it; we then put toothpaste on our finger & rubbed her teeth & gums so she could get use to the feel of something rubbing her teeth. Her breath instantly got better. We can stand to have her yawn in our faces & also lick our noses now without saying, "oh Lexi, you've got horrible breath!" After 3 to 4 days of using our finger, we started using the toothbrush & surprisingly she didn't fight us. I think its because she loves the toothpaste so much. We brush her teeth every night & when I'm on my way up to get ready for bed I say to her, "you ready to brush your teeth?" She follows me upstairs & sits on our bed & waits for me to get everything ready. Its so sweet. After we're all finished she gets lots of pets & kisses from us so she knows she's doing a great job. Last night I decided to take a video of me brushing her teeth so now you get to see:

After I took this video, Dan was irritated that I didn't ask him to brush Lexi's teeth. It didn't even cross my mind to ask so I told him he could brush her teeth Sunday night - he was instantly in a better mood. :o) Here's a photo right after I brushed her teeth - she's such a good girl: