Puppy Losing Teeth

Question
I have a 4 month old beagle, and for the past 3 weeks, she's lost 4 teeth. I've never heard of that happening before. Is that normal for a puppy to lose teeth, or does it mean something's wrong?

Answer
Hi Jaime!


People lose their baby teeth, but did you know that pets also lose their baby teeth? Most puppies and kittens begin losing their baby teeth or deciduous teeth at 3 to 4 months of age and they have generally lost all of them by the time they're 6 months old.

Here, we have a 10-month-old dog that still has two of his baby teeth. Once the adult canine teeth are in, you can see some of the changes such as tartar and plaque building as well as periodontal disease and increased redness.

Retained baby teeth, deciduous teeth as you call it, can lead to orthodontic complications as well as periodontic complications where the teeth are joining together there, the tartar that gets in between these teeth can cause periodontal disease under the gum line.

In some cases, the adult tooth cannot normally erupt so therefore you have orthodontic malocclusions that then involves orthodontic appliance to correct that problem. So in most cases, unless these teeth are very loose, extraction of the baby teeth is necessary as soon as possible.

If you look in your dog's mouth and your dog is older than 6 months of age, or your cat, and you see what looks like multiple teeth, give your veterinarian a call.

I hope this has been helpful and I wish you the best of luck!Please keep me posted and give that beagle puppy millions of kisses for me!Sending wagging tails your way!
Nicole