I just rescued a big red boy off the streets of Waco, he is painfully thin, and has had his teeth filed. Does any one know WHY you would file a dogs teeth?? I keep gettting he might chew rocks, but he is not that kind of dog, he is too shy and has no obessions that I can see so far. Both top and bottom K9 incisor appears to be filed. I know people file bird dogs teeth but why a gsd???

Sound to me like a bate dog it sounds harsh but that whet they do in houston i have resued a few like that.
But he was a gsd I am not sure that is my .02 cents though

Any pics?

Just to clarify, is it the canines or the incisors?

Tennis balls can take no time at all to wear down some dog's teeth. Especially the canines.

Could he have chewed himself alot? That'll wear incisors down to nubs in a matter of a few years. Maybe faster.

Perhaps the dog is a persistant rock chewer. That will wear down teeth a lot. I've been using tennis balls for 40 years, as a reward for detector work. I've got dogs that have worked into their 12th and 13th years, there is no appreciable wearing, other than just age, of their teeth. I keep hearing that, but in my experience, I just don't see the evidence of it.

DFrost

 Quote: david c.frost

Perhaps the dog is a persistant rock chewer. That will wear down teeth a lot.

I know a JRT that obsessed over rocks and wore all 4 of his canines down at least half way - I asked why the owner had filed them down, but she said it was simply his "rock habit".

To ask the same question as Michael, you said incisors (equivalent of your "front" teeth), but did you mean canines (big, long, pointy ones)? If you DID mean incisors, the dog could have a bad bite, making the jaws come together in such a way that the teeth wear in an abnormal pattern. Technically it's called malocclusion - my dog has a form of this and he's worn down ONE of his incisors almost to the gum line... this tooth will hopefully just fall out on it's own and I won't have to have it extracted, but we keep an eye on it to watch for issues.

If you meant canines, I would hate to think it was in some way related to organized dog fighting, though I've heard of filing teeth for that...

~Natalya

What do the teeth look like? Are the teeth all filed down consistantly or do they each look different. Ar they to the gumline? Is there any scarring around the filed down teeth? How about other scars on the body? Belly? Ears?
Depending on what the filed teeth look like, it sounds (initially) like a bait dog for a fighting ring. Usually a rock chewer will file down a part of the mouth, but inconsistantly. A tennis ball issue effects the enamel, and a dog that has severe separation anxiety and is chewing walls/crate etc to escape will not have teeth FILED, but teeth BROKEN - usually around the gumline as well. If all "dangerous" teeth (i.e. canines etc) that are more likely to cause damage are filed down consistantly, this may be the only clear indication of the dogs' past you will get,(possible fighting ring survivor) and you will need to be very firm and fair with the dog. This kind of rehab needs to have major predictability and firmness started day 1. If you wait for the honeymoon period to be over, you could possibly have a serious problem.
Is there any way that you can take photographs of the mouth and any other scars?

Some dogs also trash their teeth if they're a fence/kennel chewer. I've known several dogs who had chewed off the end of their teeth on chain link fencing.

 Quote: Melissa Thom

Some dogs also trash their teeth if they're a fence/kennel chewer. I've known several dogs who had chewed off the end of their teeth on chain link fencing.

Yes, I have seen this, but the ones that I have seen are all in different lengths, and they usually broke THEN were filed down by constant chewing...
Pictures definitely help

I will try and get pics, he is funny about handling,,,,no scars so I think no fighting,,,maybe chewing on cage front..rocks, I dont think so,,,nothing broken and they are his canine bottom and top,,,,no other noticable mouth issues,,,,,so I am just not seeing him chewing on rocks, or as a bait dog....they are pretty level,,,,will try for photos,,,,thanks yall

being pretty "level" is what has me thinking bait dog. If they were uneven, not necessarily. Lack of scars doesn;t mean anything really, either. They may have filed him down and then not used him - most bait dogs end up dying. If he is not chewing on anything in a neurotic fashion, my vote is someone did it to him for whatever reason. Maybe even insane BYB...