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Originally Posted by Saltypearl  What is the general thought about pulling the baby teeth when you have them spayed ? I was going to wait until June for Bailee to be spayed and the trainer at Puppy Class said it was not a good idea as Bailee will be 8 months
She is 5 months now and has not lost any teeth , that I can see.
I do not want her to go into her first heat , not sure about pulling teeth? How do they eat with no teeth?
I have never dealt with this with larger breeds. |
The reason why the remaining baby teeth are pulled at the time of spaying is so the dog has to be put under anesthesia only once. Unless you know what to look for, you might not ever see a lost tooth. The baby teeth usually don't fall out until after the adult ones come in, so you will sometimes see a double row of teeth when the baby teeth don't fall out on their own. The ones that don't fall out by themselves have to be removed by the vet. Bella was spayed at 7 months of age, and she needed only four baby teeth removed. She already had all of her adult teeth, so there were no gaps, and she didn't have any problems eating afterwards. The vet can easily tell which teeth are baby teeth and which are adult teeth, so the vet will be able to answer your concerns.
About the age to spay, it's best to wait until after the growth plates in the legs have closed. That normally happens by 8 months, but the vet can tell by an x-ray. Small breed dogs like Yorkies *usually* don't go into heat before then, but it *could* happen. We had Bella spayed at 7 months as a compromise.