Mini bully question(s)

MiniZig

HI First time posting but I've been stalking this forum for some time
We have mini bull terrier, Ziggy, who will soon be 6 months old. His teething phase is now going on for a month and a half and mainly his eating is problematic, some days he'll eat normally and some day he won't eat at all.

That's my first question:
Is it normal for teething phase to last that long and for puppies to be that picky about their food? I had rottweilers my whole life and honestly can't remember them being that fussy during that period o.O

Secondly, he had a slight problem with his baby teeth, mainly his canines that were still present when his adult teeth started to show which you can see in the first pic. Anyway, after that I started to notice that he is actually gonna have an underbite, he had quite a normal bite when we got him ( with 10 weeks).
His lower canines are still a bit narrowly placed which is my biggest concern because I don't want him to be in any pain what so ever
So I wanted your opinion ( we are going to see a vet tomorrow), will they eventually move more toward outside?
They moved a lot while they were growing, pushing those baby teeth outside from the sides (you can see on his lower gums those cut-like marks, that is where those baby canines ended eventually before falling off) .
Also, I wanted to try a dog show with him (that was not why we got him but still, I just wanted to see how it all looks and feels even though I hate crowds and big events lol ).
However, having that underbite, will it cause him to be disqualified maybe?
Again, he is our second child if I may say so if he is not good for shows so be it, he is still our less hyper child that hates snow and rain and early mornings (yeap, my son is more hyper than our bully )

Willowebt624

Perfectly normal for a bully to mouth until they are a year old some older lol aslong as its playful and not agressive i wouldnt worry the teeth thing sounds normal my bully still hd a baby k9 when her big one grew in beside it it eventually just fell out and about the bite usualy a bull terrier pup with a perfect bite at 8 weeks will develop an over or undershot bite our bullys bite wast good at first and she is now 6 months and her bite is almost perfect you would rather an undershot bite than over shot in my opinion some people like an over shot bit as it usualy makes there head seem more full and btw ours is 6 months and still mouths a bit some just take longer to mature!!!

Willowebt624

Wasnt the best***

Willowebt624

Also i would say if his teeth dont cause him any pain leave them alone vets tend to make rash decisions on dogs with “wonky” teeth i belive if its not causing any problems why remove or shave them down!

MiniZig

Thanks for the feedback
Unfortunately, there are already marks in his upper soft tissue from them
Vet said to try the ball therapy for a month, 3 times a day for 15min just to keep it in his mouth and squeeze it ( Zig is not a big fan of balls actually unless the food is in them ). If that doesn't fix them they'll have to extract them O_O He mentioned acrylic "braces" but he also mention a lot of possible complications with upper teeth and soft tissue using them.
I don't know if it is possible to cap them, he didn't suggest it and I forgot to ask for that possibility

that1Boomer

I think Willow mentioned a lot that will be echoed in here. between birth and a year old, they go through some amazing changes, teething, head shape, leg length, even eye placement can be shifted. Lets not forget the ears. Those things can be tricky. But in the end. They all pan out. Sometimes you just have to let nature do it's thing. Then correct if pain or functionality are involved.

My McKenzie is now a little over 2yrs. She just topped out and stopped growing. 60+lbs. The vet was talking about modifying her diet to get her back down to 50lbs. I asked her what her calorie intake should be per day, and she is right on the money. I guess my point is, make sure your vet is familiar with EBTs. Honestly, they are different. Not like other breeds.

Teething is a longer process then we would expect, so just give it some time and find a treat ball or a teething bone. Just do a little more encouragement. When he bites you, exchange your body for the bone or ball. He will catch on. A rope toy can help during teething, I just do a lot of supervising when they have one. Once they decide to tear it up, I take it away. You don't want those strings in the intestines.

As for eating, mine is super picky. Only eats when she wants to, and it has to be what she likes! As a puppy, we hand fed her. That's the only thing she would eat. So between that and a treat ball loaded with food, she got her meals. lol

He is a good looking little guy. All the best to you and Zig.

MiniZig

Thank you
I will definitely ask another vet for an opinion as well. I really don't want to remove his canines.
Luckily his teething phase for some reason don't involve biting me or the rest of the family, he quickly grew out of it, I hope permanently. We give him kongs and kong ball that is mostly ignored unless we put small pieces of carrots or apples in it.
As for the changes they go through during the first year I can definitely see them, especially in his lower jaw and his lower canines they really moved further apart which is good and I do hope that they will continue to move.

Willowebt624

I put a thread in here about puppy teeth and willows lower k9s still touch her soft tissue a little but im certain this will change over time due to having bullys through childhood and alot of experience around me hers also used to poke into the roof of her mouth and over there last month they have changed drastically and her bige is almost a perfect scissor bite never remove a dogs teeth from there mouth if there is no pain vets everywhere dont understand how different a bully grows compared to a straight snouted dog they are weird and wonderful trust me i would wait until a year old before you let vets take any drastic measures on your dogs mouth at the end of the day if your bully is happy there is no problem!!

Willowebt624

That was willows bite when we got her as a pup

MiniZig

Oh myyyy, that looks painful I am also against taking the healthy teeth out.
So far Ziggy accepts me putting a small ball in his mouth and holding it in there for a couple of minutes, I get the look but he has to endure it , chews on it a bit and then spits it out ????

Willowebt624

Willow is the same with tennis balls etc not really interested would mich rather chew something shes not aloud haha, we found that nylon bones etc she was more interested in chewing and i reckon this has helped her teeth a lot because of how hard and robust most of them are! Its worth a shot but they are up in the price range with kong toys here in the uk not sure about the US!

that1Boomer

We use a Chuck-It XL. They smell of vanilla which I think entices the wanting to play with it. McKenzie has 3 of them and keeps one outside. She can not be without something for us to throw for her.

MiniZig

@that1Boomer That face
Hm, I'll try with nylon bones although I am a bit weary of them. I'm afraid that he will just tear them apart and swallow those pieces I can find kongs and we have them, 3 kongs and 1 kong ball. As for Chuck-It, no luck I couldn't find it anywhere and some online shops don't do delivery for Serbia

Seon

Maybe buy beef bones from your grocery meat that he could gnaw on.

that1Boomer

Nylon bones only allow very small pieces to come off and when I say small I mean smaller than a grain of rice. Easily passed through their digestive tract. Nylabone makes a white bone called a Galileo bone. Hard as a rock, yet has the properties I spoke of. We drop one in the food or treat container for a day (to give it a smell) and give it to her. They last for a loooooooong time.

I caption that picture with "Are you going to throw this ball or just sit there ?"

MiniZig

Sorry for not being that active...work/life balance
 Aaaanyway, we gave nylon bone a go and so far that's his favourite pastime activity  
His teeth are looking good. One is almost out on the side, not touching soft tissue but another one is still a bit problematic. It doesn't seem to make him feel any kind of discomfort yet but I'm keeping an eye on it. 

ZEUStheMOOSE

This is known as "retained deciduous teeth" these baby teeth should absolutely be removed! These teeth should have already been displaced by his adult teeth, since his adult teeth didn't grow in directly underneath as they should have. Keeping these teeth in place will 100% keep his adult teeth from migrating into the place where they belong and cause discomfort and long term dental problems. PLEASE take Ziggy for a routine dental to have the baby teeth removed. He doesn't need the baby teeth for anything, you will not regret the decision!

Willowebt624

@Ziggy teeth seem to have farley moved on apart from the under bite which is not uncommon for bullys good to see his teeth have moved those baby teeth out hes looking brilliant!

Winston

My boy has the same problem, he’s six months old and we’re worried about him being in any discomfort with them. The vet has recommended either shaving the height off and capping them, at a cost of around £4K or removing them altogether.

The earliest appointment we could get for him is in two months so hopefully continuing the ball therapy and growth changes in his jaw may rectify the issue.