aikibujin Posted December 21, 2009 Report Share Posted December 21, 2009 So Polar was a stray that my friend found wondering the streets. They found her around Oct. 20th, and I adopted her when I got back home about a month ago. We figure she was about 3-4 months old when my friend first found her, but I'd like the experienced folks on the forum to take a look and see if that's a good estimate. This is what she looked like a few days after my friends found her, she was pretty dirty and her coat wasn't looking very good. She also had skin rash on her front legs which she stratched at a lot. This is her size compared to a 11-month old female St. Bernard. And the following two photos are taken recently, two months after she was found on the street, and one month after I adopted her. So what does everyone think? How old was she when she was first found? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyn Posted December 21, 2009 Report Share Posted December 21, 2009 Does she have all her adult teeth?. Thats usually complete around the 4-5 month mark. Hard to judge when shes obviously had a rough start to life and she could well be developmentally behind in size, but I would say around the 5 month mark. Without her true date of birth, once you have estimated her age, give her a 'honorary' birthday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted December 21, 2009 Report Share Posted December 21, 2009 hmm i dunno if its just me but she looks like a malamute she looks big specially next 2 the st bernard - but yeah adult teeth normally fall out n get replaced inbetween 4 to 6 months have u had a vet look at her they can usually give u a rough estimate ov old dogs are we rescued bings n they told us he was around 3 years old when we got him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aikibujin Posted December 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2009 Does she have all her adult teeth?. Thats usually complete around the 4-5 month mark. Hard to judge when shes obviously had a rough start to life and she could well be developmentally behind in size, but I would say around the 5 month mark. Without her true date of birth, once you have estimated her age, give her a 'honorary' birthday Thank you Lyn. I haven't found any loose teeth yet, so as far as I know, she's got all her adult teeth. And the reason I'm trying to find out her estimated age is exactly as you suspected, to give her an honorary birthday. hmm i dunno if its just me but she looks like a malamute she looks big specially next 2 the st bernard - but yeah adult teeth normally fall out n get replaced inbetween 4 to 6 months have u had a vet look at her they can usually give u a rough estimate ov old dogs are we rescued bings n they told us he was around 3 years old when we got him I don't really know the differences between malamute and husky, besides that malamutes are generally bigger than huskies. My friends have taken Polar to a vet shortly after they found her, the vet guessed she was around 4 months old then. But keep in mind that we live in a pretty small village in southwestern China. The closest vet for pets (as opposed to for horses and cows) is a 3-hr drive away, and I don't think they are really that knowledgeable about the breed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidjk Posted December 21, 2009 Report Share Posted December 21, 2009 got ot he vets they can usually give a failry good estimate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted December 21, 2009 Report Share Posted December 21, 2009 are the teeth small and thin like needles or r they big thats how u can usually tell if they r adult or pup teeth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyn Posted December 21, 2009 Report Share Posted December 21, 2009 I can't see any Malamute in her. She looks like a woolly-coated sibe to me, and definately looks like shes spent her life outside as a definate 'outdoor dog' coat on her. Not all vets are good on estimating sibe age. they disguise their age pretty well. I asked the locum vet we saw for microchipping to guess the age of our boy when we first rehomed him. He reckoned about 5 years old.....Hes actually 11! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikkj2001 Posted December 21, 2009 Report Share Posted December 21, 2009 The first pictures Look like she was right smack in the middle of being 3 months old. Looking at the more current pics only i would say 5-6 months. Looking at both together I thiunk current age is mid 5 months. So I would say 5 Months old/ look at the teeth and see if there is any chipping on the bottom teeth. if there are chips on a good deal of the bottom front teeth... she likely hasnt lost them yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted December 21, 2009 Report Share Posted December 21, 2009 I agree with the others I think around 5 - 6 months Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aikibujin Posted December 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 Thank you all for the replies. Since I've never had a puppy before they got their adult teeth, I don't know what puppy teeth look like. Here's a best shot of Polar's front teeth I could get with her squirming around. These look fairly adult-like to me, are these adult teeth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewbacca_&_me Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 wow, Im surprised I didnt know anything about estimating age by teeth. If I was to go by that id say solo was def not 4 1/2 months when he came to live with me. I think by size she actually does look to be around 5 or 6 months old though. Good luck Boer, how has the training been going with polar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyn Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 Yep, they look like fairly newly-through adult teeth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aikibujin Posted December 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 Good luck Boer, how has the training been going with polar? Erika, thanks for asking about Polar. I've had her for 4 weeks now, and she's quickly becoming a very big part of my life. She now knows "sit", "stay", "down", "release" (dropping anything she's eating/holding), ""go potty", come", "heel", "move" (to get her moving when she's in my path), "inside", "out", "off", "speak", and "quiet". She can also fetch a frisbee fairly well when there are no distractions. I'm tryig to teach her to play dead now, and also some of the mushing commands because eventually I'd like her to pull a bike. She doesn't respond to commands 100% of the time, she does better when she knows I have food or treat for her. She does "release" very well though, as this is the command I started to train her as soon as I got her. No matter if she's eating her dog food, chewing on a bone, playing with a toy, or just picked up some goat poop that she thinks is oh so tasty, she will drop whatever is in her mouth when I say "release" (even if she tries to take a few extra gulps of food before she stops). She heels ok now when she's in the mood, for example I just took her out for a 25-min jog, and she was running right next to me the whole time, including the warm up and warm down walk. If she gets in front of me, I just need to say "heel" and she will slow right down until her shoulders are even with my feet (which is where I try to train her to walk). Days like this make my heart fill with joy. But then there are days in which no amount of change of direction or other technique will get her to stop trying to walk in front of me, and sometimes it's so frustrating it puts me in a bad mood for the whole day. My girlfriend says I take better care of Polar than her. Haha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utahraptr Posted December 24, 2009 Report Share Posted December 24, 2009 I need to say oh wow! What a difference between when she was found and a month after you had her, she is beautiful! And she looks so well loved, healthy, and happy It looks like she has her adult teeth now. Our pup, Kahtadin, started losing his back in the end of October (about 16 to 18 months old), and his adult ones were in by November (by about 20 months old). So she's probably 5 or 6 months old now, maybe a little older than that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aikibujin Posted December 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2009 I need to say oh wow! What a difference between when she was found and a month after you had her, she is beautiful! And she looks so well loved, healthy, and happy Thank you! I try to give Polar a loving home, since she had a little rough start in life. I will take care of her as best as I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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