# Teething



## Chris Keister (Jun 28, 2008)

Ok so the puppadoo is teething and he sure seems to be having a rough go of it. I have had a lot of puppies and been through this before. I had one GSD pup with an extremely hard mouth that had his full set of adult teeth push through before the puppy teeth came out. 

I'm a little concerned with my pup now. He started a little early, lost an upper k9 and some of the small middle teeth (incisors)?

What is concerning me is he has a lot of swelling in his muzzle. I have never seen this before. One remaining upper K9 has gone grey and appears dead. Of course he is chewing in everything quite voraciously. I found several tree branches and a chunk of 2x4 he got a hold of. I am wondering if he just has an extreme swelling of the gums or if he got a splinter lodged in his gums. 

We did bite work last night before I noticed it and he wanted to do it and bit well. I have always worked puppies through their teething period and never had a problem. 

So have any of you seen some real significant gum swelling to the point it shows I their muzzle or is it time to go to the vet?


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## Chris Keister (Jun 28, 2008)

He also has some sever dihareha. I worked him last week. He was right at 25 pounds so I gave him the bigger dose. He seemed to have a pretty adverse reaction with sever loose stool. There was a lot of tree branch in the stool as well. 

1 week later we have the muzzle swelling and still pretty bad dihareha. I know some pups can have loose stools while teething. This poor guy just seems to be having a real hard time with it.


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

JMO, it sounds like you need to get him into the vet. BTW what did you give him a bigger dose of?


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## Chris Keister (Jun 28, 2008)

FWIW I took him to the river Saturday and today. No problem running and swimming as usual. I tried to look in his mouth and he defiantley does Norway me messing with his gums!!


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## Terrasita Cuffie (Jun 8, 2008)

Well, my guess is that its time for a vet consult. As far as the muzzle is concerned, might try Benadryl in case something bit him. Limit his environment so he can't get to anything he's nots supposed to. The ones that will eat stuff set themselves up for obstruction and/or other gastrointestinal stuff. Not sure about your dose comment--dose of what?

T


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## Chris Keister (Jun 28, 2008)

The wormer was Sentry Worm x plus. Pernatel Pamoate/praziqantel. 

The dosage was for dog 25-50 lbs. he was right at 25 lbs when I gave him the dose. Called the vet cuz I had a little freak out. The stool was extremely loose, clear, and smelled bad. Vet said it was prob the meds and the sticks in his stool so don't worry. 

He had one solid stool since. The color has returned to normal but not consistency. I know I have coccidia in my yard so could be that but I would have expected that earlier not at 4 months. 

I'm more concerned with the muzzle swelling. Could be an insect bite as I have two different kinds of wasp around the yard. 

If its not better in the next day or two we'll go to the vet I was just wondering If anyone has seen some gum swelling due to teething as I have described.


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Chris, what you described I haven't ever seen. At least not like I am imagining it. Can you take a picture of it? I mean, is it noticeable enough that it would come through as unusual in a picture?


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## Chris Keister (Jun 28, 2008)

Realize the confusion. Damn auto text wrote worked. I ment wormed him last week.


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## Terrasita Cuffie (Jun 8, 2008)

Ohhhhh, okay. I haven't seen muzzle swelling with teething. The only muzzle swelling I've seen is with the dog that liked to catch bees and she was allergic to them. After the first vet visit, I always kept Benadryl on hand. I haven't heard of anyone talking about coccidia for a long time but back in the day Albon was the only thing really effective. Since then, they may have come up with something new.

T


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## Chris Keister (Jun 28, 2008)

No Nicole I don't think the swelling would be visible in a picture. The black muzzle hides it. I noticed it cuz he let go of the rag once while working him which was kind of weird. That's when I Checked his mouth and saw the swelling. 

I know I have coccidia in the yard. I just find it hard to believe he would not have contracted that earlier. 4 months is when their immune system is able to handle it. 

I think the loose stool is due to the wormer. I usually use Panacur but the Sentry was on sale so I thought I would give it a try. I don't think it agreeded with my pup 

Could be a couple of different things that are just coincidental. Like I said if the swelling doesn't go down and the loose stools doesn't clear up in the next day or two I'll take him in.


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## brad robert (Nov 26, 2008)

Firstly on seen muzzle swelling from bee stings or infection from animal bite.

Also seen some GSD pups need to have teeth pulled by vet as they were just not coming out and were starting to cause problems.


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## Kara Fitzpatrick (Dec 2, 2009)

NO. don't give your dogs ANY meds... just take him to the vets. geez. 
I hate when people come in and say all the numerous medications they have given to their dog to try and help... then we have to figure out what we CAN give the dog. 
plus you want the vet to see the symptoms and what is going on to get a better diagnosis.


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

The grey tooth sounds like it died. Happens sometimes, but that combined with swelling would make me think possible infection. Diarrhea on top of it, which may just be caused by the wood he's injesting but may be something more, I'd take him to the vet. It's also possible with the amount of wood he's chewing on that he got a splinter up along the gum line, that happened to one of mine many years ago. Actually she jammed it up between the tooth and gum, but then it was pulled back out, guess it was still attached to the stick?? Took quite awhile for the vet to find the wound since there was nothing obvious on visual inspection, but when he found the hole it went down to the jaw bone.

Anyway, IMO time for a vet visit.


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## Chris Keister (Jun 28, 2008)

@kara yeah I don't really do that. I do my own vaccinations, working, and will give an aspirin for a minor injury but that's about it. 

@kadi. My guess was he got a splinter up in his gums. 

We had a solid stool last night but the swelling seems to be a little worse. Time to go to the vet it seems. Transmission on the truck took a dump today so the the bank account is gonna be real light this month....lol

Thanks for the responses. I'll let you know what happens


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Chris Keister said:


> @kara yeah I don't really do that. I do my own vaccinations, working, and *will give an aspirin* for a minor injury but that's about it.


Please don't give this! Aspirin interferes with a number of medications that are commonly given and if surgery has to be performed, it can prolong clotting times. It has a washout period of 10 days too.


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## Chris Keister (Jun 28, 2008)

Just got back from vet. Upon closer inspection he has several broken/dead puppy teeth. Put him on ammoxicillian. Vet talked about removing to the tune of about $450. 

Doesn't make sense to me. Adult teeth are goin to push them out In the next month or so anyway. This vet is new to me. Oy used him three times. He seems alright doesn't overcharge and is not very pushy. Just gave it as an option. 

I figure if the teeth are slow to come in we just give him a second round of anti biotics. 

Anyone see a real need for extraction I'm missing?


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

The biggest reason for extracting them now would be for pain, particularly on a dog who I assume you want as a working dog? Other problems could be ascending infection if the pulp cavity is exposed, which can cause abscesses or even a broken jaw if the bacteria get up there and start eating away the bone. The dead ones may or may not be pushed out correctly, which may give the dog a malocculsive bite. 

Honestly, I am not at all conservative when it comes to a working dog's teeth. That's their main tool after all.


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## Terrasita Cuffie (Jun 8, 2008)

Chris Keister said:


> Just got back from vet. Upon closer inspection he has several broken/dead puppy teeth. Put him on ammoxicillian. Vet talked about removing to the tune of about $450.
> 
> Doesn't make sense to me. Adult teeth are goin to push them out In the next month or so anyway. This vet is new to me. Oy used him three times. He seems alright doesn't overcharge and is not very pushy. Just gave it as an option.
> 
> ...


If he were mine, I'd stop working him and make sure he couldn't get to anything else. How old is he and how far along in the teething is he? Part of the teething process is that the roots disentegrate and the adult teeth push the baby teeth out. I'd be clear with the vet on why they are dead. But I'd say the roots are gone as part of the process. My friend's bouvier puppy had one adult tooth come in and the baby one was still there. I told her I'd give it a week tops to fall out on its own and then to the vet--given the risk for possible malocclusion. It fell out two days later. I know people on here have talked about tug work with puppies but you've just reinforced my gut feeling of leaving them alone until they have their adult teeth. I never let mine chew on anything other than what I give them due to injury or obstruction issues. 

T


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## Chris Keister (Jun 28, 2008)

The vet said they were broken from trauma. I have worked more puppies in bite work than I can count. I guarantee it wasnt from that. He is a voracious and aggressive chewer. If you saw the way he chews his Kong it very well could have been that. Maybe the sticks he was chewing but I think it was either the kong or his water bucket. I have seen him bite the kennel bars a couple of times so maybe that as well.

He is 16 weeks today so just starting the teething. He has been contained for the last 3 days so no chewing anything he's not supposes to. 

He will go do bite work right now if I wanted to. Did it Friday night before I noticed the swelling. This pup comes from lines known for pain tolerance and resiliency and he has defiantley demonstrated that. 

I have worked every puppy I ever owned through their teething with zero problems. Obviously this guy is done till his teeth come in though.


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## Terrasita Cuffie (Jun 8, 2008)

Chris Keister said:


> Obviously this guy is done till his teeth come in though.


Good, you had me worried there for a moment. What did the vet make of the swelling? I'd still keep an eye on his mouth. What's his water bucket made out of? Have seen some nutso kong chewers without issues but metal and bigger wood [logs] can cause issues. Since he's only 16 weeks you probably have about 6 weeks of keeping him contained. 

T


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