Doggy baby teeth?

gimmick

Is there such a thing? Found some small teeth in the dogs bed over the weekend. I have never heard of dog baby teeth. Is this a thing or had we get to the vet?

borderlinemeath

Yep, just like humans, dogs lose their baby teeth as well. Keep an eye and make sure they all fall out and that the adult teeth aren't coming up beside the baby teeth, it can cause pain and gum infections and sometimes the baby teeth might need to be removed by a vet.

A nice frozen carrot or a frozen chew toy can soothe sore little gums. They're just like babies really!

Ms Tootsie

Yes there is. Dogs / puppies tend to lose them at around the 4 -5 month mark. It is odd to find them in the bed though, normally the pup swallows them or them come out stuck into a chew toy no worries with that though. I'd suggest playing a game of tug of war with a toy or an old sock and that will help the rest of them on the way as well. The teeth usually all fall out around the same time. We found one of Frodos in his lead. He was always biting on it when we were trying to train him on the lead

gimmick

Cool. He is 5 months old so the timing sounds about right. Poor pup.

Someone said to me as well that pups go through the terrible teens as well at about 8 months. He is hyper enough as it is, so that ain't gonna be fun.

anniehoo

The first set of dogs teeth are called "Milk teeth"

Dunny

Yep! Lola just lost hers!

seamus

You'll find the in the poo as well.

The "teens" can last from 9 months to 3 years, though if you regularly exercise him and do obedience/agility training, it'll be a lot less stressful and much more fun.

gimmick

We walk the legs off him. He gets at least 3 short walks a day (as in 45 mins in the evening, 15-20 mins at lunchtime and 20-25 mins before work). We do agility with him on Tuesday evenings and then at the weekend he will get 1 2hr walk a day and one 45 minute walk. So hopefully these will prevent teenage tantrums.

fatmammycat

My lad (Gsd) has just hit 8 months now and he's no more trouble than he was at 4 or 5. I wouldn't get too overly worried about a sudden change in personality, if they're well exercised and mentally active they'll be fine. * says she exhausted just in from half an hour's rope pulling/chasing*

Honey-ec

gimmick wrote: »

We walk the legs off him. He gets at least 3 short walks a day (as in 45 mins in the evening, 15-20 mins at lunchtime and 20-25 mins before work). We do agility with him on Tuesday evenings and then at the weekend he will get 1 2hr walk a day and one 45 minute walk. So hopefully these will prevent teenage tantrums.

What breed is he? You could well be over-exercising him, tbh. Until the growth plates fuse (generally at around 18 months old) 5 minutes exercise per month of age is generally what's recommended for larger breeds.

It's not as much of an issue for small breeds.

gimmick

Cocker Spaniel. I doubt we are over exercising him as he is still going full speed once we get home. And when we do get home, it is not like he goes straight to bed, its usually more play he is after.

DBB

gimmick wrote: »

Cocker Spaniel. I doubt we are over exercising him as he is still going full speed once we get home. And when we do get home, it is not like he goes straight to bed, its usually more play he is after.

What Honey-ec was getting at was not his energy levels, but the damage that can easily be done to developing bones and joints by too much exercise, particularly higher-imapct exercise like exercising on a hard surface (footpaths), or running about on uneven surfaces.
This is not a problem you're going to know about until the dog is older. As Honey-ec said, there is a rule of thumb there, and it's a good tried-and-tested rule of thumb. You might get away with it, but you are running a greater risk of joint/bone problems because that is a hell of a lot of walking you're doing with your pup. I was only a couple of hours ago talking about this very subject with my vet, an orthopaedic specialist. So, perhaps replace so much walking with training exercises, playing with toys, nosework etc