My 8 month pup has now got all of her second teeth through, all are fine except the upper right canine, there's 2!

The puppy one has not been pushed out by the adult one and they sit side by side (running with the gum line not across it).

It's set as firm as ever and seems not to cause a problem, just looks stupid when she grins :). Is this something I should think of having removed?

>Is this something I should think of having removed?

Yes, definitely, or it'll distort her mouth and cause problems. I've had to do it with two puppies. Don't leave it too long - sometime in the next week or two will be fine.

I'm a bit shocked Jeangenie, I s'pose part of me thought it was not a problem and that the silly thing would fall eventually. Is it a commom problem? I must admit I've never seen it before and we've had lots of dogs over the years. Now I'll have to dig out the insurance stuff, I bet there'll be some evil small printed clause that excludes dentistry. Just out of curiosity what sort of damage (bill wise) did you experience?

The thing is, if the root of the baby tooth hasn't been reabsorbed so that the tooth can be shed normally by about 6 months, then it isn't going to - and the root is at least twice as long as the tooth that you can see! I was amazed! It's a fairly common problem, particularly in smaller breeds, I understand - but two of my dals (mother and son - perhaps there's a genetic tendency?) have had it and they're not small! I can't remember how much it cost, I'm afraid, because it was about 9 years ago since the last one!

I'm assuming this is a Sheltie? If so, I think you've been lucky not to hear of it before, as I think it's relatively common in the breed.

M.

Hi Lily Mc
Yes it's my 3rd and no I've not come across it. Does it cause major problems?
I'm ringing the vet tomorrow anyway, I was thinking of having it removed but I thought it was probably my vanity for the dog and only a cosmetic thing.

Does she eat raw bones?

Hi Westcoast
No she doesn't have raw bones.

To be honest I know lots of you on the forum do give bones to your dogs but my vet has always put me off this, with horror stories of operations he'd had to perform.

I have been tempted to give bones to my dogs and did once to my Goldie ( big raw beef knuckle type thing) she chomped for ages then threw up loads of bone peices. That sort of put me off.

I do have lots of those Nylabone things that they all chew on.

Are you saying that maybe a bone would help to loosen the tooth?

Are you saying that maybe a bone would help to loosen the tooth?

I've seen it work many times before, but maybe your Vet would prefer to give a general anasthetic. :)  I rarely see my Vet.

I'll bet my vet would love to give a general anaesthetic, it's money in the till, but maybe I'm a bit cynical. If it's possible for a bone to help I s'pose it can't really do any harm.

I wonder if perhaps I've left it too long for that now as the teeth have all been through for at least a month, I've been checking her mouth everyday for the past few weeks to see if it feels loose and it doesn't.

As I said earlier I thought I was just being vain on the dogs behalf but if as jeangenie says it can distort the mouth and wonder if it could push the rest of her teeth out of position and then cause irregular wear. I didn't realise it was a common thing in small breeds and as Lily Mc says particularly in Shelties.

Does it have a name? I'd like to read up about it if I can find any info on the inter web thingy

I'd just call it a retained canine LOL.

Not my breed, but have just checked with a friend in Shelties and she would normally say around 6 months, so would definitely have it removed now as she's 8 months.

M.

If it's possible for a bone to help I s'pose it can't really do any harm.

I would buy a large bone and not leave her unattended if you haven't given them before. :)  I've groomed 10 year old dogs with double canines that have had no trouble but it would obviously be better for the puppy teeth to be gone.  Although they feel solid, puppy teeth have no roots and so a few days of energetic chewing usually moves them.

My toy breed is renowned for bad mouths and teeth problems but as I reared my pup with raw chicken wings from 8 weeks old, she's had no problems shedding her puppy teeth and has a better mouth than most in her breed. :)

My Bedlington pup still had one of her puppy canines hanging on at 61/2 months, it seemed really firm but before ringing the vets I decided to get her a REALLY BIG knuckle bone - roasted!! (It was bigger than her head LOL )    She has steamed bones all the time but wasn't really making an effort ;)  within 2 days that tooth was out - I heard it hit the floor :)

It wouldn't do any harm to try a bone first ;)  but make sure the bone is bigger than the dog's muzzle at least (I went for bigger than her head as it was roasted - very funny to watch LOL)  ;) that way they can't get to grips and crunch it easily ;) and supervise - then any bits that break off can be taken away before they get eaten ;)   I'd never leave a bone with an unsupervised dog ;)

Well I'm going to ring the vets tomorrow anyway and will probably opt for removal, but having said that I fancy giving them a bone to chew on and despite what my vet says I do find it hard to believe that 'bones are bad for dogs (his words not mine)

I mean why on earth would an animal have those type of teeth if not for bone crunching, the trick now will be to find a butcher that actually bones out a carcass rather than get his meat in already done.

Thank-you all for your advice.

Just read your post Dill, did you get one of those bones already roasted from Pets at home type place or was it one you bought raw and cooked yourself?

If you google 'dog retained deciduous teeth' you'll get lots of information like this which is informative.

Hi Jeangenie
Followed your link, read the info and have phoned 'vets' this morning, we're booked in for 8.20am this coming Friday, poor little sausage will be frightened to visit the 'vets' without her 'sisters' as all visit's so far have been a 'family outing' :)

>Just read your post Dill, did you get one of those bones already roasted from Pets at home type place or was it >one you bought raw and cooked yourself?

Yes! Pets at Home was where I got this one - its HUGE!  and has lasted for ages - she chews it for about half an hour at a time now - an hour the first few days :-D

Good Luck!