Most puppies loose their baby teeth by six months old. The last teeth we see change are the canines, the fangs. Just like two-legged kids, the adult tooth should push the baby tooth out. Sometimes the adult tooth isn’t lined up quite right and both teeth remain.
In some cases, the tooth is just loose enough your vet can pull it in the office during a wellness exam. In other cases, the tooth may need a bit more work to get it out; these cases do best with anesthesia. It is common to pull these teeth when dogs get spayed/neutered.
Some dogs don’t get their baby teeth removed – either they were fixed young or the teeth were not noticed. These dogs are at risk of dental disease and having debris caked between the extra teeth. This leaves the dog at risk of early tooth loss.
Have your vet take a peek next time you are in the office – taking care of extra teeth early will head off some future problems.
Dr. Cathy Alinovi DVM
As a practicing veterinarian, Dr. Cathy treated 80% of what walked in the door — not with expensive prescriptions — but with adequate nutrition. Now retired from private practice, her commitment to pets hasn’t waned and she looks forward to impacting many more pet parents through her books, research, speaking and consulting work. Learn more at drcathyvet.com
Sherrie Ashenbremer
February 5, 2015 at 11:43 am
I have a question I have 5 dogs, only 2 of them will let me brush their teeth. I worry about dental health, they don’t like Nylabones, they get bored with Antlers, I heard ZiwiPeak has deer antlers and deer hoods covered in beef (I think) I see the Fresh Pet has a bone. Please I don’t want my dogs to get bone or bone piece in their throat or tummy. Or lodged in their intestine (which could happen my vet said if I keep feeding them Greenies) and I feed them Blue Buffalo bones to help teeth too. But I’m sure Greenies and Blue Buffalo bones are not good. Anyone who has some advice, I would be thankful
Anne
February 6, 2015 at 10:00 am
Hello I would not recommend Deer Antlers; (we all know Greenies bad); the reason Deer Antlers are not healthy is they have “a certain (growth) hormone) which can accelerate premature aging in pets and peoples:
get the pup’s teeth filed
Sherrie Ashenbremer
February 6, 2015 at 11:29 am
Thank you I didn’t know that about deer antlers, I keep hearing how good they are for dogs and their dental health. I will not give them to my dogs.
jb
March 16, 2015 at 5:59 pm
Go to a good butcher or farm that sells pastured beef. Purchase size appropriate marrow bones. After marrow is consumed, stuff with ground beef for prolonged enjoyment.
Never give bones unsupervised. NEVER give cooked bones or too small bones. Make it a challenge!
My Girls are 8 & 6 yrs old & have the most beautiful clean, white teeth & fresh breath. I let them have their bonies 1 or twice a week as a treat. They lie on the floor & work the marrow or beef out of them, knaw on the bones until their jaws get tired. I pick them up, rinse them off & save them for next time.
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Robin
February 5, 2015 at 7:23 pm
Commercially made bones and chews are next to useless if not contributory to dental problems including slab fractures and broken teeth. The best way to keep bright shiny clean teeth, healthy gums and fresh breath is to feed raw meat and EDIBLE bones. Raw chunks of meat force muscle fibre and tendon to floss between the teeth, crunching through edible bones scrapes off plaque, and most important of all, the enzymes in fresh raw meat kill dental bacteria and create a surface on the teeth that is too slippery for crud to adhere to. Please investigate raw meat diets for dogs, they provide a plethora of amazing health benefits and save you money at the vet.
Sherrie Ashenbremer
February 6, 2015 at 11:31 am
Thank you Robin, can you suggest a brand or what do you feed your dogs? I currently feed Orijen and Mulligan’s Stew but not sure where to find raw bones?
Robin
February 6, 2015 at 1:08 pm
Susan has some good quality raw brands on her list and since the list exists to help fund Susan’s awesome work for truth as well as keep this site available to all of us, it wouldn’t be prudent for me to suggest any commercial brands, on the list or off. However, I rarely buy commercial for my dogs anyway. They are fed fresh raw whole chickens, turkeys, occasional rabbit, (bones and all) fresh organic eggs ( from our own chickens) fresh raw fish, mostly sardines and trout, and the only stuff I add is sea kelp, krill oil, and Primal Defense probiotics. In the summer, I freeze fresh eggs for a cool “pupsicle” treat, and the dogs go nuts. Dogs were never designed to eat dry processed foods, kibble has only been around commercially for about 65 years, and as the pet food companies continually state they are “improving it”, it can be reasonably assumed they didn’t have it right in the first place. Susan has further confirmed what many us already suspected….many commercial foods and kibbles are literally POISONOUS and therefore, deadly to feed our pets. My dogs are long coated Toys, and their hair doesn’t mat easily, it’s thick, luxurious and shiny, their teeth are brilliant white and clean (often a challenge in tiny dogs due to the small mouths) they have clean fresh smelling ears and skin, they poop infrequently small stools that keep their glands flushed, the only reason we go to a vet is for OFA health testing and confirmation of overall health.
Sherrie Ashenbremer
February 6, 2015 at 6:39 pm
Robin, thank you for getting back to me. I did purchase Susan’s list a few weeks ago. I will look at the raw foods on her list, one of them must have a good bone. I have 5 dogs, one of them is a Shih Tzu that has very bad allergies, crusty ears, red rash on his belly and back legs, bad crusty rash on his left arm pit. He has been on steroids and Calvamox (antibiotic) on and off for a couple years now. All of my dogs are rescue and Bailey (Shih Tzu with allergies) came to me in such bad shape. I did purchase one of the foods on Susan’s list, just started Bailey on it a week or so ago. Hope and pray it really helps him. I will switch the other 4 dogs to a better food after I get Bailey’s allergies under control. My Peke (Opie) has horrible breath, I really want to get a good safe bone. I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan so any of the foods I order must be shipped to me. It could be a problem with a raw foods diet. Thank you so much for all the good advice, I really want to get my dogs in the same health your babies are. Sherrie
Robin
February 6, 2015 at 9:21 pm
Sherrie, your post sounds like you are very focused on the bone portion of the diet. While bone is indeed important, the more important thing is to provide real raw meat to your dogs. You don’t need to get something shipped, just go to the supermarket and purchase some fresh chicken, or whatever meat is on sale.
Don’t buy ground / minced meat, get whole pieces, using the size of a chicken quarter as a guide.
Muscle meat is fine too. The thing you want is the health enzymes in the raw meat and the action of the dog being forced to rip and tear apart his meals.
Here an interesting link made by a vet about the deleterious effects of kibble ( specifically Science Diet) on dog’s teeth: https://www.facebook.com/n/?video.php&v=834170913296149
Google raw prey diet for dogs for lots more helpful links and groups.