DETERMINATION OF AGE. 1Y5 



The temporary teeth are twenty-eight in number — six 

 incisors, two canines^ and six molars in each jaw. 



They are softer, wider apart and get more so with the 

 o;rowth of the jaw, smaller and more pointed, than those 

 that will succeed them. The incisors of the dog are very 

 characteristic, owing to their cusps or points, usually three 

 in number. 



The shedding of the teeth begins at about the four- 

 teenth to the sixteenth week ; but in this case the central 

 incisors are the first to be renewed, and the upper molars 



Fig. 11.— Anterior View of the Incisors and Canine Teeth in a Year-old Dog 



(Chauveau). 



are cut before the lower. Usually the canines appear soon 



after, but they are more frequently delayed than the other 



teeth. However, there is a good deal of difference, often 



in even the same litter, as to the exact age at which the 



renewal begins, the teeth are all shed, and the permanent 



set is completed. Usually the dentition is complete before 



the fifth month, but in the smaller breeds the completion 



of the process may be delayed till the sixth or eighth 



month. 



There is no increase in the number of incisors or 



canines, but the molars in the second set are twelve in the 



upper jaw (occasionally fourteen) and fourteen in the 



lower, making the total number of teeth forty-two, as in- 

 13 



