Tooth update

Yesterday we took Niila to the vet again. We wanted to make sure that there's nothing too dramatic going on in her mouth now that her teeth have grown more and we also happened to get an appointment to some kind of a dog teeth specialist.

The vet was really positive and said that in most of the cases like Niila's there is a high possibility that the permanent teeth will become completely normal after all. He also said that there's no sign of inflammation in the hole in Niila's palate and that we shouldn't be worried about that unless the hole becomes red, swollen and really sore.

The vet also gave us a tip that we should give a ridiculously large raw bones to Niila. According to the vet it will help the teeth stretch toward the right position and that it works better than just pushing the teeth with fingers. We are little suspicious, but naturally we are willing to do anything to help her achieve the perfect smile.

We took a new picture of the hole in Niila's palate. The picture is not as sharp as the previous one, but it still shows some difference. We believe that the hole is slightly wider nowadays, which would indicate that the left canine teeth is moving. The hole is not helping the process, though. Niila places the canine tooth to the hole because that's where it probably feels most comfortable. When we move her jaw where it "should be", the left canine tooth is actually quite close to the right position. So I would say that the pushing therapy works, it just works really slowly and you have to have lots of patience.

Anything else is fine in our dog kingdom, by the way. Papu is her usually cute self and Niila is the nuisance she is supposed to be during the puppyhood phase.

Mandibular canine tooth linguoversion in pictures

We took some pictures of Niila's canine tooth problem. Now I call it a "tooth" problem, because the other canine tooth is looking a lot less serious. The other canine tooth has not made a hole in the palate and the position is already nearly correct. However, the lower left canine tooth doesn't look good at all:



As you can see in the picture, the lower canine tooth is growing inside the palate. Currently the hole it digs looks like this:



It certainly doesn't look nice and I'm sure it creates great deal of discomfort in Niila's mouth. Poor thing. We have been practicing the "pushing therapy" every day when Niila sleeps, but we don't know yet if it works. J.R. called the vet today and she asked us to continue pushing the teeth at least for another week. Apparently her case is not awfully serious yet. Anyway. We have been practicing the "pushing therapy" every day when Niila sleeps. She only lets us push the canine teeth when she sleeps, and when she sleeps she doesn't seem to be even aware that something is going on with her mouth. She just sleeps like only a puppy can.

But it's hard to be her mommy right now. I don't want her to feel pain and it kills me that I can't help her instantly. There's no magic pills to transform her teeth over night.

At least the little girl is looking happy.

What's new with Niila's exciting life?

Yesterday we took Niila to the vet to get her the first set of vaccines. It was so much different this time. When we took Papu to the vet for the first time, she needed a muzzle and J.R. needed a band-aid. Niila was nothing but brave and we were super proud of her. The vet seemed to be pretty fond of her too, but I guess vets are supposed to admire every puppy they come up with. Anyway. We learned that we might have an issue with Niila's lower canine teeth. They came up late and now their position is a little incorrect too. It wasn't really a surprise though because Niila's mother had canine teeth problems too. It was a risk we were willing to take so we can't whine about it now. Anyway. To prevent the future problems we are supposed to carefully push the canine teeth towards the correct position every day. If that doesn't work within a month, the milk canine teeth need to be pulled out.

It's quite funny actually. We did our best to find a good, reliable breeder when we decide to get a miniature pinscher. And I think the one we found was really good, no complaints. Papu is absolutely perfect... except mentally. Her timid personality  is against the breed recommendation, so even if we wanted to, we shouldn't breed her. And now we got Niila, who has the perfect social personality... but has a physical flaw so we shouldn't breed her either. Good thing we don't want to be breeders!

I have also managed to socialize Niila with some new kids recently. I ran into three little girls when I was coming back inside after one of the many pee trips. The kids asked me if they can pet her, and though I don't like kids and wanted to go inside to continue my other things, I said "OK". It's vital to get her properly socialized with kids since we don't want to double the problems we have with Papu.

The girls were all over her and even though I said "one at a time", it didn't seem to have any effect. I started to worry because Niila tried to hide in my legs and she looked really uncomfortable. Luckily I remembered that I had treats in my pocket and I took them out and asked the girls to give as many treats to Niila as possible. And once she started to receive treats from three directions she seemed to be completely fine with the quite rough and clumsy cuddles.

Ears up

I was going to write about dog foods but I got a little side-tracked. That's funny too.

Let me guess, you're a cat person?

Don't you find it funny when a person who hasn't obviously ever own a dog writes how dog owners are retarded and probably somehow even crazy? I do, and that's something I just recently read from HS.fi (online version of a Finnish news paper). The story started when someone saw somebody shopping with a chihuahua in a hand bag. You know, because it's the end of the world when you take the dog shopping with you instead of leaving it alone at home for hours. And yeah, it's seriously twisted when you carry the dog when you're in the shops as it would be otherwise prohibited to take the dog inside. For a dog owner this is a perfectly logical scenario, it's just not so common in Finland yet.

And according to the writer, there must be something seriously wrong in a person who calls herself a mommy of a dog. Well, excuse me? How do you define what is a "mommy"? If it requires that something comes out from your v-jay-jay, that would leave out all the adopted kiddies?  And what about extended families? If I raise a dog from a puppy, feed it, play with it, train it, take it out... I think it gives me the right to call myself a "mommy" if I want to. And if I'm the mommy... then I can call the dogs as my furry babies too!

I don't think there's anything wrong or twisted to think that the dog is part of the family. Of course they are. In a matter of fact, I think there is probably something very wrong in the humans who exclude the dog from the family (though working dogs may be an exception).

I think it's natural that only dog owners understand dog owners, but what makes a non-dog owner to believe she can criticize dog owners without creating a serious conversation? The text has received 306 comments so far. Most of the people said that her "truths" were plain stupid and that she knows absolutely nothing about dog ownership.... and the rest of the crowd said she's "right" and all dogs should be like abolished from the earth. Those silly people.

I think these so called dog despisers have missed something. And that something is fun. Why would anyone get a dog if it only means an endless list of chores and responsibilities? I think you're supposed to have fun with your dog! You're supposed to sign every single holiday card with your dog's name if you want to, or to write a blog from your dog's perspective (according to the writer these are all symptoms of craziness). And maybe you could even dare to take the dog shopping in Finland.

I know I'm having a blast with my dogs, no matter what other people might think about us. How about you?