Why does my petite mini goldendoodle still have their baby teeth he's almost 7 months old? My vet says their adult teeth should have erupted!
First, vets know A LOT of things and they often see many puppies of all sizes and developmental stages. However they see many different breeds and majority of puppies the puppies they see will be 15lbs and over. That's so much to know and only Google knows that much! So vets have a general knowledge bank of when puppy teeth should be falling out and the adult canines should be erupting, but they don't have the specific knowledge as that puppy's breeder. Let me elaborate. Ethical breeders have A LOT of knowledge about their specific breed and within the breed, that breed's particular size. With that said, a good breeder knows a lot about the puppies they are raising. They know about their genetic issues, their structure, their teeth, their coats, their temperaments, the best way to train them...the list can go on, but you get the point.
Second, smaller dogs like your petite miniature goldendoodle take longer to get their puppy teeth and also take longer to loose them. A few may retain their puppy teeth into adulthood (most do not) or have a lack of adult counterparts. The dogs that have a lack an adult counterparts may have retained puppy teeth for their entire life. This is normal but not common for a smaller breed. Sometimes it is genetic sometimes it's their mouth size.
So let's talk about what can happen to their mouth when they have a delay in developing puppy teeth.
They can have an overbite or underbite (depending on which canine teeth are delayed).
They can have late adult eruptions between 6-8months rather than 4-6 months.
They could retain puppy teeth as their adult canines push through (you'll see two layers of teeth, like a shark's mouth)
If puppy' teeth do not fall out after the 8 month mark and adult teeth have erupted this may cause the following mouth issues:
Crowding
Food and debris accumulation
Tartar deposit
Gingivitis and periodontal disease
Wearing of the enamel
Weakening of the teeth
Abnormal growth and development
Retained puppy teeth that have adult canines as you see from the list above can and often times do cause mouth/teeth problems. But there are some things you can do.
HOW TO HELP PUPPIES LOOSE THEIR PUPPY TEETH
STICKS -There is something you can do to help those puppy teeth fall out. Freshly fallen tree branches. They LOVE chewing on them and they are soft enough to get between their teeth. The soft wood helps to wedge their puppy teeth out even if they aren't even slightly loose. This is not something that they should be doing after they get their puppy teeth to fall out because it is invasive to their gums and it will wear down their adult teeth, but it works wonders for getting puppy teeth to loosen up and fall out. NO, they won't swallow the wood. They will chew the branch and literally spit out the wood and any teeth that loosen up. This trick has worked for every one of my older puppies that have retained puppy teeth and also have had their adult canines start to erupt. Over the 15 year of breeding toy poodles, I have about one puppy a year that will retain puppy teeth as their adult teeth are erupting. When I notice this or I get a call from a new owner about this, I make sure that fresh yard sticks are a part of the tooth loosening process.
