# K-9 with baby canines



## AcadianTornado (Jul 30, 2012)

Hi to all,

I just have a quick question: Whistler's got two baby (primary) maxillary canines that have not fallen out. Problem is that the permanent maxillary canines have erupted into position and the primary (baby) teeth are still relatively solid. To the experienced crowd out there, are these going to eventually let go or should I go to the vet for a visit. I know it's a general anesthesia for the removal of these canines which I obviously would like to avoid just to put him under for dental extractions..

Thanks,

AT


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Give it some time. They will normally fall out on their own.


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## Kamikaze6rr (Jul 22, 2012)

I took my dog to the vet for the same thing. She told me to be patient and wait. They will fall out. Within the last month one fell out. So I am sure the other will also. 

Scary but the adult tooth will push the baby tooth out. 

Trust me I felt the same way


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## AcadianTornado (Jul 30, 2012)

...I forgot to mention that I work in the dental field (on humans...) and never have I seen a baby tooth fall out if the permanent tooth has already taken its place in the mouth next to the baby tooth entirely. That being said, I don't know if the chewing patterns of a V or the anatomy of the roots will eventually make them 'looser' but in evaluating them, they are pretty solid! I'm almost tempted to play tug of war with him shaking left to right to put more pressure on the baby canines..


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Astro had this issue with his two upper eye teeth. My breeder suggested wiggling the teeth as often as possible as well as playing lots of tug games and have lots of big bones. 

I did it every night for about 7 weeks before both eventually came out. I would wait till he was asleep and then wiggle one till he stirred. Wait till he was asleep and then wiggle it again. Repeat this till they come out. The last one came out while we were playing tug with a piece of thick rope. 

Astro now has lovely healthy white teeth.......


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## VictoriaW (Mar 16, 2011)

Gracie's adult canines came in, leaving the baby teeth in place. Vet wanted to remove. I stalled. They fell out on their own in a couple of weeks. Her bite is absolutely fine.

Play tug, give pup lots to chew, etc.


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## Oquirrh the V (Jun 24, 2011)

Yep, Oquirrh's adult canines came in right beside his baby ones. Eventually fell out. I did play extra tug games with him.


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## KB87 (Jan 30, 2012)

We had the exact same issue with our boy. His adult K-9s came in right in front of his baby teeth which were solidly planted in there. Our vet mentioned that it isn't uncommon and over time we should try to wiggle it and keep an eye on it, otherwise during his neuter she would extract them and get them out of there while he was under. Within 2 weeks one of the baby teeth fell out and then about 3 weeks later the other did as well.

We gave our boy antlers and hard bones to chew on. Eventually I think playing tug with a toy was the kicker with one of them. The other fell out while he was in his crate. We've seen no issues with his teeth/bite/chew due to this.


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## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

Not sure how old he is but my vet always gave a six month "rule". If they weren't out by six months, they could remove them. But we never made it that far.


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## Suliko (Sep 17, 2011)

*AcadianTornado*, I saw in your "Aha"post about this topic and thought I'd share my experience. How old is Whistler? I wouldn't hurry to remove the baby teeth. Same happened to my little Pacsirta. She lost one of them right around 7 months and the second one fell out few weeks later. Our vet too wanted to remove them (when we come in for spay...which we're not doing), but I wanted to wait a bit longer because the thought of general anesthesia in such a young pup wasn't sitting well with me. Do the teeth make Whistler feel uncomfortable?


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## AcadianTornado (Jul 30, 2012)

Suliko, thanks for the response. Well, they are pretty firmly in there, he just turned 6 months. I'm picking stuff between his teeth (primary and permanent canines) everyday. I've been pushing on them for about a month now and they haven't really moved or become much looser. I'm a dental professional (granted not on animals...) but the vet also agreed on taking them out. He really gets things wedged in deep between his teeth and seeing as though there has not been much augmented mobility in his primary canines with the permanent canines fully erupted as well as the molars, I agree with the vet to prevent further issues.. Unfortunately we can't just freeze his teeth and yank them out as Id like...


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## Suliko (Sep 17, 2011)

Looks like you made a decision, and I'm sure all will go well  I don't think Pacsi's baby canines ever came loose before falling out, but I never tried to move them either. My oldest V. Sophie's came real loose though and actually looked somewhat gross : Good luck and keep us posted on how the process goes!


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## McMahon_Vs (Nov 27, 2012)

Our pup is 11 months now and his top baby canine's have been holding on too. One finally came out about 2 months ago but the last one is still solid. We just keep it clean and make sure there is no swelling or discoloration. I'm sure it will come out on its own eventually. I'm not willing to put him under just to pull a tooth out. Especially not when V's are known to have anesthesia sensitivities.


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

AcadianTornado said:


> Suliko, thanks for the response. Well, they are pretty firmly in there, he just turned 6 months. I'm picking stuff between his teeth (primary and permanent canines) everyday. I've been pushing on them for about a month now and they haven't really moved or become much looser. I'm a dental professional (granted not on animals...) but the vet also agreed on taking them out. He really gets things wedged in deep between his teeth and seeing as though there has not been much augmented mobility in his primary canines with the permanent canines fully erupted as well as the molars, I agree with the vet to prevent further issues.. Unfortunately we can't just freeze his teeth and yank them out as Id like...


I got Astro when he was 6.5 months old. He still had his baby eye teeth. I just wiggled and playedtug till they eventually came out. keep persevering, it's way better than surgery. He doesn't look like a line bred hillbilly Vizsla at all...........  His teeth are lovely


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## AcadianTornado (Jul 30, 2012)

Well its done! He had them removed this morning. He's doing great tonight! I had the vet save the teeth for me and I can post a pic of them if it's not offensive to the forum or its members. Perhaps Harrigab can confirm on this.. The lengths of the roots are quite impressive and seeing as though the permanent canines were already in position, I think it was a good call to do them as recommended. 

If someone can confirm I can post the pics for educational purposes.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I can't see where anyone would be offended by puppy teeth pictures.


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## AcadianTornado (Jul 30, 2012)

Alright, here they are: the arrow marks the portion we can see in the mouth vs the root of the tooth. At the top is an Iphone 4 charger connection for comparison. Note the length of the roots. With the permanent canines in their absolute position, these roots would have never resorbed and in his case would have caused periodontitis due to chronic foreign body impaction between the teeth... Food for thought!


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## adrino (Mar 31, 2012)

OMG!!! Those are huge!!! 

I followed your post AT but waited for the results! Good you've taken him to the Vet to get them out!

If I get the chance I'll post some pics of Elza's teeth just for comparison.


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## littlelulu (Jun 21, 2011)

Whoa!! Those roots are looooong! Good thing you got them out! I hope it wasn't too pricey.... we had to get one of Lulu's incisors pulled after she broke it (we never figured out how... likely in play..) and it was ridiculously expensive.  Argh. 

Hope Whistler is still feeling OK! The worst part for us after Lu's procedure (other than the bill) was not being able to give her bully sticks for a while!


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## AcadianTornado (Jul 30, 2012)

Well, 

I don't think he had any issues to recover, he was bouncing when I got him back from the vet and he's still bouncing off the walls as I speak ... the anesthetic didn't slow him down one bit! 

It was a bit expensive, but I'm just glad it's done. I forgot to lock his crate this morning and he re-figured out how to break out of it. So, coming home from lunch got me to find that my Coax cable from my tv was to shreds, lots of toilet paper strewn all over the apartment, crumbs of bread or potato chips, ripped paper and whole lot of other messes... I'm going to remember to place the latch on that crate door... either that or put a combination lock on it!! 

No matter the mess, can't help but to love that innocent face


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## littlelulu (Jun 21, 2011)

Oh my! Given his level of umm... enthusiasm  for escaping and shredding things, it sounds like Whistler is feeling just fine after the extractions! Toilet paper is definitely V crack. Lulu isn't crated while we're at work so we have to make sure all bathrooms doors are closed so she doesn't pull it off the dispensers and systematically shred/eat it. Well, they actually have to be closed when we're home, too, or she'll go for it then .

Their sweet faces certainly get them out of a lot of trouble! And since Whistler is Lulu's half brother (her mom is Piper, too), I'm sure his face is just as devastatingly charming as Lu's! Their ears kill me, too. Here is Lu practicing her sweet face in the first pic and her "I-just-ate-everything-in-the-bathroom-garbage-can-and-am-ready-to-do-more-naughty-things" face in the bottom shot. ;D


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