The Schnauzer Forum

The one K9 tooth, located in the front right lower of his mouth is a double. What I think is the baby tooth is on the outside and what appears to be a fully developed adult K9 is inside of it. I have checked and neither tooth is loose. Chewy is now 8 1/2 months old and is still a very active chewer. It does not appear that this double tooth issue bothers him nearly as much as it does me. I am of course concerned about not being able to clean between them and of course he will eventually have decay and or gum issues in that area.

At what point do I go the the vet and have them remove the tooth? Am I over reacting and it is still too early for all the baby teeth to come out?

Hi David..I have seen this retained canine in my poodle pups up to seven months...after this,the canine usually loosens and is pushed out by the new adult tooth...if it's wobbly,a chew toy,gentle tug games etc would help the deciduous tooth to come out.
in your dog's case you say both teeth seem immobile,despite him being an active chewer....the risks for the mouth involve puncture to the gum,incorrect setting of the new tooth,entrapment of food etc..so you want this tooth to come out.
I'd definitely pop into the vet to get his opinion..he may want to do an x Ray or pop him under for a swift removal of the tooth..it really should come out as it is overdue re timing .From nine months on the adult teeth will be setting into the gum and this tooth will definitely complicate things if left.
It will take a vet minutes to pull this tooth with the dog under a light anaesthetic,so not a big surgery..don't worry.
https://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/mo ... baby_teeth

Our Gino had a puppy tooth that had to be removed it was a top. One beside the incisor it was removed at 9mths also had him Nuetered while he was asleep that day. No problems he was back to normal in a couple of days x

David how lovely to hear from you again. I often think about how the two of you are getting on. Otto had a retained tooth until he was 6 months old. I set about trying to loosen it and remove it by playing tug and it didn't take long to go. If the adult tooth is in the right place i.e. not being pushed to an angle then I would try some games of tug and try to get it loose, once loose it will come out. If the tooth has been pushed to an incorrect angle/position then I would get him to the vet for them to see it. When playing tug just make sure the toy etc. is at the front of his mouth and on the side with the retained tooth. Good luck and would love to hear how you both have been getting on.

Thanks for the responses. We do play a lot of tug but not sure its with the toys aimed at the lingering tooth. I will pay much more attention to that. Since the permanent tooth seems to be aligned correctly I will give it a FEW more days and if not coming out we will visit the vet. I may sneak a finger onto it to encourage it to loosen up as well!!

Chewy (names after Chewbacca of Star Wars) and I are doing very well, thanks for asking Julie. We finally made it through the "where to go potty phase" but must admit that the reward form of training did not work. I finally brought out the plastic fly swatter to reinforce my displeasure. Took 2 occasions for him to figure it out and became a very demanding I need to go out NOW fella. He got even with the swatter by the way, I left it somewhere and he got hold of it and it was all over the dining room when I discovered it. As mentioned earlier he is a chewer. He really likes the flavor of the backing on my Early American furniture skirting, an iron on glue white stuff. I have repaired it, doesn't look too bad but I am a bachelor so not as picky as you ladies would be. We are very close but he is also comfortable with me not being home. I have never had a dog as loving as he is. He will jump into my lap and roll over on his back and lay in my arms like a baby would. Loves a good belly rub but will lay there and chew on a toy for an hour. He destroys toys rather quickly though with his living up to his name. I bought a tough touted as being indestructible for active chewers, it lasted less than 30 minutes!

All in all we are happy together and I know that the destructive stage is about over. Stuff is just stuff but a puppies love is beyond it all.

David so pleased that you and Chewy have bonded so well and yes I used to wiggle Otto's tooth with my finger whenever I could.

Sorry I am so late on reporting back. Chewy had his baby tooth removed at the Vet's office a week ago. He never missed a beat and was acting like the puppy he still is within an hour of being home. The one thing I was hoping for though was he would not chew on everything in sight, I was wrong. He is the most active chewer I have ever had in the half dozen dogs I have owned. He is still attacking the skirting on my furniture to the point it may not be repairable. We had a very stern discussion about it tonight. Right after that he hopped up in my lap and took a nap. He destroys plush toys in minutes and if they are the "tough" version he may take an hour. Oh well we will keep trying to get him to stop but he sure is stubborn about some things!

David, glad you got that sorted.

You called him Chewy David, I think he is living up to his name.

David, glad you got that sorted.

You called him Chewy David, I think he is living up to his name.

Chewy is a nick name, he is actually Chewbacha from Star Wars. His first picture at 7 weeks had a lot of Brown in place of the grey. I sent that picture to my 2 sons and their family and got back a comment on the resemblance and encouraging me to name him accordingly. The brown is gone and replaced with grey markings, he is cuter than cute, a true "Chic Magnet" with those over sized floppy ears but at 74 I forgot why that was a good think (almost anyway) But he is an incessant, very strong chewer and destroys a lot. I have tried to no avail to keep good sound play toys and whenever he is caught chewing on something I have been just removing him and putting a favorite toy in his mouth. After I walk away hi is more than likely going back to what I don't want him to chew on. I really have a problem on how to reward proper behavior on this, I can't reward him with a treat when he isn't chewing on my couch! Corporal punishment is becoming more of a reality, sorry but please don't lecture me on that, I don't want to do it but some rules need to be ingrained!

David,

Have you ever tried confining him in a playpen when you are around but can't give him 100% of your attention? I didn't need one for Rosie but my 2nd mini is a very different dog and she gets popped in whenever I'm taking a shower and no-one else is at home. She kicked off about it at first but is happy enough now for a short time as long as she has a few toys.

David, how many walks does he have a day and for how long?

Yes he gets confined to the den now. He doesn't mind and I can actually get some things done. I don't need to exercise any more as I spend most of the day letting him out and then back in and 5 minutes later out. We have a few rabbits and lots of squirrels so he gets more than enough exercise and he does seem to go potty during those trips. Again- it is my fault for the accidents. My computer is in the opposite end of the house from the back door. He does come to me and bugs me, but he almost always has a toy with him, so we play. I get back to what I was doing and he leaves. Then the light (albeit very dim) lights in my head and I say, "I wonder if he needs to go potty" so go to let him out and see he did have to, but not any more. I can only blame myself, not him and if I would pay more attention he would be much better. I did have my other 2 minis trained to ring a bell to go out, a very positive alert. Chewy ate the rope the bell hung on, twice. He is definitely a different dog than my others, which is great. I need training more than he does.

David, sounds to me like the chewing behaviour is a response to a lack of stimulation that would come from a good walk. A walk will tire out a dog mentally as well as physically, sniffing alone is very tiring for a dog alerting all the senses. This leads to a satisfied pup who won't then find chewing so exciting. With a pup I just don't think you can overcome by letting him out to do his own thing, they get bored... idle hands and all that. Confining in this scenario might be quite harmful but I am no expert.... Do you have any dog walking services near to you that you could use. This could give you some time out and Chewy the stimulation he needs. Just trying to help here David.