Is it common for older dogs of small breeds to lose most of their teeth?

Are you inquiring of ‘pure bred’ dogs?? Just curious because my family has a very small dog who we believe to be part chuiaua and collie (we think), who is 18+ y/o and has all her teeth.

To be sure the owner is telling you the truth, you should take it to a vet before adopting it to get the full picture of the dog’s health. The owner/breeder should be okay with this and if not, I would not adopt the dog as there could be underlying disease or illness that you really don’t want to deal with.

Having once been bitten by a 14 year old maltese, I can assure not ALL old dogs lose their teeth. Could be something peculiar to the blood line they have. But 6.5 is very young to have lost most of its teeth.

I would be leary.

Find an online group devoted to the breed you are researching, go to yahoogroups.com
and ask the question there. It just sounds suspicious to me.

Premature loss of teeth is usually attributed to poor dental care, same as humans. Most vets recommend a professional cleaning twice a year, although this can be very costly.

I hate having my dogs knocked out for any reason unless it is completely necessary. I give my dogs raw bones and periodically brush their teeth. The 12 year old akita has never had his teeth cleaned by the vet and they are in excellent condition for a 12 year old, his gums are healthy and his breath is sweet. The other dog who is on the same diet, has had some problems and had to have an extraction, while she was out he did clean her teeth. I think like humans, some dogs are genetically programmed to have healthier teeth and gums.

I have a chihuahua that’s 17 right now, she’s lost some of her teeth, my vet says it’s perfectly normal for her breed to lose most of their teeth when they get to be that age. as for other breeds, I’m not sure, but certainly wouldn’t be surprised

I’m not sure about ALL of them. I have a 9 year old Yorkshire terrier who has all of his teeth.

I thought it had more to do with shape of mouth than size of dog…
for example, I have an Italian Greyhound (who is awesome, by the way)...
we were told by the breeder to brush his teeth everyday b/c dogs with that type of mouth (long and narrow) are more prone to problems with teeth.

If you feed any dog soft food and never brush their teeth, they are going to drop.
My dog is a small dog and he is 9 and still has healthy teeth. I brush his teeth and feed him dry foods and taken him to the vet to get his teeth clean only once two years ago.
I don’t feed him human food unless its for health issues and only for a small while and I watch his health.
A dog that looses his teeth early isn’t being cared for very well or is being allowed to eat too many sweets or people food. Dry food helps to keep their teeth clean longer and healther in the long run.

@Pandora – I don’t mean to be argumentative but dog food is made out of the crap that is left over after the so called people food is extracted. So it is in essence, just that, crappy people food. My dogs eat only non dog food or quality people food if you want to call it that and their teeth never need cleaning. I would not put my dogs under anesthesia for any reason unless they were deathly ill.

Raw meaty bones will do the trick, give your dog a raw bone every day and as you say no sugar products and your dog will not have teeth or gum problems unless it is a genetic thing with that particular dog.

I agree that dry food is better for teeth than canned, but it is by no means optimum. Check out RAW and BARF diets on google, they are what dogs used to eat before the convenient processed stuff in bags came onto the market and vets started selling it for huge profits.