# Ball Therapy?



## Kait (May 6, 2021)

At his 12 week vaccines the vet noted that Tuck has a base narrow canine. Apparently it’s not a terribly bad one, but bad enough that she recommended we try ball therapy to address it before it becomes a problem.

We’ve been trying for 2 weeks and Tuck is just not having it. He doesn’t want to chew balls because they’re boring, he wants soft toys that squeak and crinkle. We’re going to keep trying, but I’m not sure how much success we’ll have.

Anyone have experience with base narrow canines/ball therapy? Did the therapy help, and how did you convince your poodle to cooperate with it? If it didn’t help, what did you end up having to do to prevent the canine from causing issues? She mentioned options like flattening the top of the tooth or worst case extracting, but obviously extracting a canine wouldn’t be ideal.


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## Liz (Oct 2, 2010)

Mia had linguoverted canines as a puppy. I had her puppy canines pulled and then did ball therapy, which turned out to mean little more than "play with balls." Mia's not crazy about balls, but she would chase them down, carry them back, and chew on other toys/chews, all of which helped to push her adult canines into place. Her teeth came in perfectly, as is the case 99% of the time.

See other threads here, here, and here for more discussion.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

I have no experience with the ball therapy… but have you tried applying something yummy to the ball such as a thin layer of peanut butter or canned cheese?


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## Kait (May 6, 2021)

Liz said:


> Mia had linguoverted canines as a puppy. I had her puppy canines pulled and then did ball therapy, which turned out to mean little more than "play with balls." Mia's not crazy about balls, but she would chase them down, carry them back, and chew on other toys/chews, all of which helped to push her adult canines into place. Her teeth came in perfectly, as is the case 99% of the time.
> 
> See other threads here, here, and here for more discussion.


Thank you for the threads! For some reason when I searched I got nothing. I’m happy to hear Mia’s adult teeth came in normally. This is all new to me so I have no context for how worried I should be.

Tuck doesn’t even like to carry balls back to me most of the time. He loves fetch and actually didn’t even need to be taught how to play, but balls he just chases and then chooses a soft squeaky toy to bring back to me instead. He does enjoy chews, I didn’t realise those may help. Fingers crossed. 



Skylar said:


> I have no experience with the ball therapy… but have you tried applying something yummy to the ball such as a thin layer of peanut butter or canned cheese?


I have, and he still doesn’t care. That’s unsurprising, he also doesn’t care about Kongs even with yummy things spread on the outside.


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## AluePoodles (Jun 25, 2013)

Poodle jaws go through some CRAZY growth adjustments - and that's no over exaggeration. I never really understood until I bred my first litter, and it's just wild how much their jaws shift and change. 

Week to week my keeper would go from undershot, to base narrow, to an overbite, scissor, and back again. At 6 months he has a lovely scissor bite. 

If your puppy isn't tolerating ball therapy, you can push on the inside of the canines yourself using your thumbs and a light amount of pressure. Do this a few times a day.

At 12 weeks you have more than enough time for the bite to settle, but if you are worried, I would recommend the canine method if your puppy isn't tolerating ball therapy. 

Make sure the ball you're using isn't too big or too hard, there's some great graphics out there but also a lot of misleading information; you want the ball tough enough to give very little give but not the hard rubber material that makes it unenjoyable for the puppy. 

Good luck! 

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk


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## AluePoodles (Jun 25, 2013)

I also wanted to say please don't jump the gun with shaving the teeth or pulling them. 12 weeks is so so young and pulling those teeth before they are ready; while can sometimes be necessary; often isn't. 

Have you talked to your breeder? 

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk


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## Kait (May 6, 2021)

AluePoodles said:


> Poodle jaws go through some CRAZY growth adjustments - and that's no over exaggeration. I never really understood until I bred my first litter, and it's just wild how much their jaws shift and change.
> 
> Week to week my keeper would go from undershot, to base narrow, to an overbite, scissor, and back again. At 6 months he has a lovely scissor bite.
> 
> ...


That’s very helpful information, thank you! He’s 14 weeks now, but based on what the vet said and your information lines up with we have lots of time. I just wanted to make sure I’m not neglecting his dental health.

The information our vet provided recommended a specific chuckit ball which is what we bought, in a size small (he’s a mini, currently 9lb at 14 weeks). Does that sound accurate? 



AluePoodles said:


> I also wanted to say please don't jump the gun with shaving the teeth or pulling them. 12 weeks is so so young and pulling those teeth before they are ready; while can sometimes be necessary; often isn't.
> 
> Have you talked to your breeder?
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk


I haven’t spoken to the breeder yet, but I will. The vet definitely didn’t say that we should jump to do any kind of procedure for the tooth yet, just to try the ball therapy and that if it’s not working and he’s experiencing issues down the road they may need to be discussed then. She’s going to keep an eye on it to make sure we can look into intervention if required when the time comes. Most of what we discussed was options for if the permanent tooth comes in and he still has the issue.


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

What about some of those Kong brand balls that squeak or crinkle? Might help to foster a ball obsession ? They are possibly not hard enough, but Annie started with squeaky balls and now loves all balls.


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## Kait (May 6, 2021)

For Want of Poodle said:


> What about some of those Kong brand balls that squeak or crinkle? Might help to foster a ball obsession ? They are possibly not hard enough, but Annie started with squeaky balls and now loves all balls.


I’ll have to look for them, I’ve never seen those before!


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Puppy Peggy loved her Crackle Heads ball:









JW PET Crackle Heads Ball Dog Toy, Color Varies, Medium - Chewy.com


Buy JW Pet Crackle Heads Ball Dog Toy, Color Varies, Medium at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!




www.chewy.com





They come in multiple sizes.

I’m also a big fan of all things Orbee-Tuff, and they make a great squeaker ball. But I’m not sure if they’d be small enough for Tuck.


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## Kait (May 6, 2021)

PeggyTheParti said:


> Puppy Peggy loved her Crackle Heads ball:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Those look promising. I added them to Tuck’s wish list to buy on payday. He does have an orbee-tuff bone that I was able to find locally, I’ll have to see if the store carries the balls too. Sometimes living on a little Canadian island limits my selection of what I can buy in person haha.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Kait said:


> Those look promising. I added them to Tuck’s wish list to buy on payday. He does have an orbee-tuff bone that I was able to find locally, I’ll have to see if the store carries the balls too. Sometimes living on a little Canadian island limits my selection of what I can buy in person haha.


I hear ya! Even living in Toronto my options were limited compared to living in the United States. It’s actually kinda dangerous here! Soooo easy to stress shop online. And it doesn’t count if it’s for our dogs, right?


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## Kait (May 6, 2021)

PeggyTheParti said:


> I hear ya! Even living in Toronto my options were limited compared to living in the United States. It’s actually kinda dangerous here! Soooo easy to stress shop online. And it doesn’t count if it’s for our dogs, right?


I agree. My wallet does not lol.


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## Poodle2021 (Mar 14, 2021)

Another anecdote about my experience: My dog had with narrow base canine as a puppy. My breeder and I discussed it before he came home with me at 10 weeks.

At his first post-purchase vet check at 10 weeks, the ‘traditional’ vet (for lack of a more nuanced description) freaked out, told me we needed to pull his teeth, and generally acted as though this was a major, immediate thing that needed to be done. Also she assumed that my very respected, experienced breeder had not seen it or talked to me about it. The vet did concede (eventually) that it might fix itself as the jaw grew.

That experience confirmed that I would be a better fit with a holistic vet. I didn’t try to fix his teeth beyond ball work, the canines fell out naturally. He loves balls so I encouraged it and watched / worked to make sure the adult teeth were getting outward pressure.

His teeth are a perfect scissor bite, no surgery necessary (on a 10 week old puppy….). Just like my breeder predicted.


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## Kait (May 6, 2021)

Poodle2021 said:


> Another anecdote about my experience: My dog had with narrow base canine as a puppy. My breeder and I discussed it before he came home with me at 10 weeks.
> 
> At his first post-purchase vet check at 10 weeks, the ‘traditional’ vet (for lack of a more nuanced description) freaked out, told me we needed to pull his teeth, and generally acted as though this was a major, immediate thing that needed to be done. Also she assumed that my very respected, experienced breeder had not seen it or talked to me about it. The vet did concede (eventually) that it might fix itself as the jaw grew.
> 
> ...


Eek yeah, if my vet recommended major intervention like that this early I’d be concerned. Definitely just the ball therapy for now. Everything else she mentioned was more of a “heads up in case it doesn’t correct itself” kind of thing. My Vet’s office knows my cat as well who has chronic medical issues and they’re used to working with me enough that they know I like to be prepared with information. I’d rather know so I can learn ahead of time and if it ends up not being needed hey I still learned something 🤷🏻‍♀️


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## TuttoBene (Apr 23, 2021)

Kait said:


> At his 12 week vaccines the vet noted that Tuck has a base narrow canine. Apparently it’s not a terribly bad one, but bad enough that she recommended we try ball therapy to address it before it becomes a problem.
> 
> We’ve been trying for 2 weeks and Tuck is just not having it. He doesn’t want to chew balls because they’re boring, he wants soft toys that squeak and crinkle. We’re going to keep trying, but I’m not sure how much success we’ll have.
> 
> Anyone have experience with base narrow canines/ball therapy? Did the therapy help, and how did you convince your poodle to cooperate with it? If it didn’t help, what did you end up having to do to prevent the canine from causing issues? She mentioned options like flattening the top of the tooth or worst case extracting, but obviously extracting a canine wouldn’t be ideal.


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