SHould I pull his teeth?

[Allyson Kendrick]

Jake is 5 1/2 months old and has been losing his teeth for a few weeks now. he has his adult canines in, and his milk canines have not fallen out. we have an appt on friday to get them pulled out at the vets, but today i noticed that some of his other teeth are loose. Should i wiggle them out? Should i wait for the vet to do it? (and have her charge me for it?) what do you think i should do? If i should wiggle the loose ones out (he seems VERY reluctant to chew anything where the loose teeth are), what/how should i go about this? Ice cubes?

[Teresa Jones]

Poor little guy! I have read that puppies usually start to teeth around four months and teething can last until they are 7 or 8 months. Why does the vet want to pull Jake's milk canines when he is still so young?

I'd let Jake's loose teeth fall out on their own. Try giving him ice cubes or give him a frozen wash cloth to chew on or a kong. Not only will it help with the teething and soothe whatever discomfort he may have, but it may actually help in getting the loose teeth out.

[Andre Mendizabal]

Hey Allison, if you think you can pull them out, do it... its better than paying somebody else to do the same thing you do for free ;) My roommate pulled some of his dog teeth (a husky), he first gave him ice cubes and a frozen cloth to chew on, then, we sat the dog in the floor and grabbed his body, I grabbed the body while my hubby grabbed his head, then my roommate opened the mouth, held the tooth with the frozen cloth (not too frozen after beign chewed on) and just pulled hard, he did it with two teeth that wouldn't fall out and were just hanging there... then he gave him more ice cubes to lick and chew... it was a stressful moment, but it was a quick one too... since your dog is really small, it may be easier... just be sure that they are loose enough that they can come out with a pull... otherwise it will hurt a lot... :mad:
Good luck!!! :smile:


PD. Personally I couldn't do it... I'm a declared chicken, I couldn't do it with my own, less with a dogs' :rolleyes:

[Allyson Kendrick]

thanks for the advice! I actually did pull it out. My husband came home and I showed it to him. So he held him down and i grabbed his mouth. All it took was a little wiggle! He didn't care at all!

My vet wants to pull his milk canines b/c his adult canines have already come in and the milk teeth are not even a hair loose. I've tried wiggling them, but they are in there tight--not to mention SHARP!!! Do you guys think I should wait it out and see if they get looser and fall out on their own? We have pet insurance that will most likely cover this expense, but i don't want to put him through this if it isn't necessary. He is only 5 and a half months old. What do you think?

[aussiesmum]

Aussie had the occassionaly tooth that didn't fall out in time and the adult teeth began to come through. The most common way she lost teeth was by plying with other dogs. Otherwise we'd just engage in her a VERY tough game of tug-o-war. That usually did it without the stress of us pulling them out.

[Teresa Jones]

I'd wait it out (tug-o-war, play, ice cubes, wash cloths), espeically since Jake is still young. I don't see the sense in putting you and him through the stress.

[Clair Taberner]

for a similar, amber had her baby canines in front of her adult canines for quite a while and they didn't look like they were going to come out either, as in they were still tight upto when her adult one's were way more than just poking through, then on a game of tug they just sort of popped out! like other's have said, leave the vets for now. it does sound like they r just out to make some cash imo.

[Susan Bacon]

Allyson, I've had two different vets tell me it's not totally necessary to pull unless you notice a change in their breath and/or if the gums appear red and puffy around the tooth. All these things mean that an infection has developed, otherwise the milk teeth have not caused a problem Beans is 10 months and still has a milk canine (we've named it needle tooth) that is still set in there tight. He's got a molar on the same side that he hasn't lost yet too. I think he must do most of his chewing on the other side. Anywho.... I think you're right about holding off for quite some time! Susan

[Maisy Moon]

A chisel and small hammer and my baby is doing great!



Just kidding :p I was concerned a few days ago about a missing tooth in my 4 month old rottie. Since then she has lost 1 to 2 teeth a day. Last night I saw one of her front teeth had been pushed aside from the new one coming in. I got a paper towel for grip and pulled it out...the root was very shallow to non existant....now she is back to chewing my house away.

[Krysta Smith]

Lola had one of her baby canines pulled on monday when she got spayed because her adult one came in behind it and it hadn't fallen out. She almost had to have both the bottom ones pulled but the day before she was scheduled to be spayed one of them fell out. I don't think the other one would have fallen out on it's own, it was far enough behind her baby one that they didn't even touch. Being six months old already and not wanting to put her under anesthetic twice I decided it would just be better for Lola if they pulled the tooth while she was already under. Now I don't have to worry about it.

[Sherri]

Allyson, Have you had the teeth pulled yet? My beagle/rat terrier had the same thing.. His "baby eye" teeth were still in as his adult eye teeth were growing in.. I was getting impatient and thought we needed to get them pulled, my husband kept saying to wait.. We called his parents (dad a vet and mom is the vet tech/assistant) and they also said we could wait.. I of course was the worried mother and asked our trainer what she thought as well and she said to wait. About 1 day later, the baby eye tooth on the left side fell out, then at puppy play group the next week, the right one fell out as well.. I was glad I waited. If a vet has to pull a tooth out, they put your dog under and it is stressful on the dog.

[Liz Gilbert]

When we got Cocoa, he had his adult canines in, but still had his baby ones in, just above where his adult teeth had come in. When we took him to the vet, she told us that if they didn't come out on their own in the next few weeks, they would have to be extracted. I didn't want to put him through that, and had thought about wiggling them out myself... but he was chewing on something, and out they came :) so luckily he didn't have to deal with me trying to get in his mouth to get them out ;)

Good luck! I Hope they come out on their own!


Love,
Liz

[Grace Erick]

Your dog's case may be different than mine, but when my dog was in to see the vet for vaccines, he said a tooth was lose but it will fall out on it's own.

If the vet does pull your dog's teeth, he may have to be put under anesthesia which is costly and has a little danger attached to it from being under anesthesia.

I just had my dog's teeth cleaned and they put her under and pulled two teeth, but they were bad adult teeth that had to come out. They put her on a heart monitor also, because it's like going in for surgery.

Maybe you can bring him into another vet's office and have the vet's technician look at him and give you their opinion. Some vets want to make the money, so they may want to pull them even if it's not necessary, so you can keep asking vets and get the same answer, pull them!:)