# Bottom canines wearing down?



## ayoitzrimz (Apr 14, 2010)

Hey everyone, I've been noticing my dog's bottom canines wearing down recently. I'm getting concerned and am not sure what to do.

I don't give him tennis balls or any human made toys. Mostly tug toys, frisbees, and balls-on-rope but even then he doesn't get to just sit around and chew them, they are out of reach unless we are playing.

His chew toys are mostly deer antlers with the occasional moo-tube or recreational raw bones. 

Things he gets to bite on: jute, leather, and syntactic (bite suit material) tug toys, gappay ball on string, magnet ball, schutzhund sleeves.

So I'm not sure, I've taken all the precautions and yet it still looks like its wearing down on the bottom. I don't want the teeth to wear down to the nerves. 

What can I do now? Is the situation really bad or getting really bad? Is this something to be concerned about?

Thanks!

P.S. I took pictures as much as I can tell will help to show it. If you know a better angle / mouth position / etc just let me know, I'll gladly take a few more pics if it helps see things better.


----------



## ayoitzrimz (Apr 14, 2010)

The third picture, all the way to the right shows it the best...


----------



## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

How old is your dog?


----------



## ayoitzrimz (Apr 14, 2010)

He's 2


----------



## BritneyP (Oct 26, 2006)

To be completely honest with you, that looks like fairly normal wear for dogs that bite/tug things all the time.. especially if he is a younger dog. 

My 5 year old's teeth look somewhat similar to that, and he doesn't even do bitework often/at all. My 2 year has broken two of her canines that had to be repaired and one premolar.. so far.

Also, wear from tennis balls and things like that usually occurs on the interior of the teeth.. dogs who have tennis balls a lot or ones who are notorious cage biters will get a curving-style wear on the inner part of their teeth that will weaken them and eventually make them more susceptible to breaking.


----------



## ayoitzrimz (Apr 14, 2010)

Thanks Britney - so do you think this is normal? I can't imagine not using tug as a play object for training and just for having fun with him 

Do you think I can keep doing what I'm doing and not worry too much about it?


----------



## mtmarabianz (Jan 7, 2010)

I feed raw, but I Never give recreational bones to dogs after 6 months of age, in other words, after teething.

I also never feed any femur, weight bearing bones, of any animal other than a chicken 
JMO, I can't afford my dentist, let alone my dog's!!


----------



## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

My dog(almost 3) has all four of his canines flattened. He does protection work, it hasn't harmed his bite.
His wore down around 2 years old from frozen, dirty jollyballs. I let him play with them all the time and the damage had been done before I noticed it/took them away. I also feed raw, but I know dogs do not chew with their canines, they use the back molars for that, and most recreational chewing. So I don't blame the diet/antlers for wear.
All his other teeth are fine, but he is one of those dogs that will keep punching away w/ jollyballs, instead of just carrying it.


----------



## N Smith (Aug 25, 2011)

My female is two and also tugs a lot and does protection (Going for her IPO 1 in June) and I haven't noticed any teeth wear.

Do you think there is a genetic component to early teeth wear/teeth strength?

She tugs on all the things the OP described, and really only chews kongs/rubber toys .

Does everyone think this is caused by the protection work?

I have seen dogs with teeth worn from the sport of course, but they have all been 8 years or more and all doing protection since 8 weeks.


----------



## Smithie86 (Jan 9, 2001)

There might be a genetic component. My old dog who passed, Baer - his lower middle teeth wore down quickly. His breeder finally admitted, since someone else called her out on it, that her maternal lines were not strong on teeth.

Enzo, at 9.5 (10 in mid-May), no issue with any teeth. Has all teeth and no worn down canines.


----------



## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Stosh's teeth have done the same thing and it's from the frisbees. He's never been a ball chaser but he's obsessed with frisbees. All the saliva and rubbing against the plastic surface has really worn them. My mom and her gsd were here for 6 wks and her dog's canines showed the wear after she played with them for just that long. I've switched him to puppy ones and softer ones that are gentler on his teeth.


----------



## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Here is a shot of Karlo's from a couple weeks ago, it was posted by someone on FB and immediately got a comment about his teeth. Surprised they were so noticeable!


----------



## swebster01 (Jul 24, 2015)

I have a Shepard that is almost 2 and loves her Jolly ball. She also loves Kong squeaky tennis balls. Her canines are also wearing down. I am going to take away the Kong ball because of the abrasiveness and watch her teeth closely, but I don't see how a Jolly ball that is made of rubber would wear a dogs teeth!


----------



## Stonevintage (Aug 26, 2014)

I would be worried. They live a long time. You have to protect their teeth.


----------



## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

swebster01 said:


> I have a Shepard that is almost 2 and loves her Jolly ball. She also loves Kong squeaky tennis balls. Her canines are also wearing down. I am going to take away the Kong ball because of the abrasiveness and watch her teeth closely, but I don't see how a Jolly ball that is made of rubber would wear a dogs teeth!


it is what mixes with the ball that wears down the teeth. In my dogs case it was dirt, freezing snow and he constantly would gnaw on the ball in his mouth instead of holding it. I switched to cuz balls because they didn't seem to hold the dirt.


----------

