Dog teeth chattering

[Straight Shooter]

I have a 14 year border-collie cross dog who about 2 weeks before Christmas started smacking his lips chattering his teeth and usually finishes it off with a big yawn. He also shivers alot.I took him to the vet and they took blood work etc and said to just keep an eye on him. Apart from this chattering he is other wise find. Has anyone else experience this behavior with their dog? Thanks

[Snickerdoodle]

Our older dog does it also - he's a Jack Russell. There is two possible options that we've found.
1. Its a form of a seizure - I think its called focal motor seizures
The other idea was
2. Tooth/Teeth issues/decay/bacteria build up.

At this time I don't believe my dog being put under anesthetic is a good idea, so we are just watching it carefully.
Good luck

[Frozen Nibs]

Is there a particular time of day he does this? IE. before being fed or just before an event like going out for walk? Or is it a consistent chattering of teeth?

My dog had seizures for a while after being hit by a car but I have never noticed the teeth chattering bit... just extreme excitement followed by a dog version of a grand mal seizure. Thankfully, we were able to contain the excitement which eliminated the seizures.

[doc2013]

The focal seizures sound right to me. They are a weird bunch of seizures. I went through hell with my little guy trying to figure out what was wrong with him. He is on Phenobarbitol now and doing awesome.He has focal seizures. I would also get a real in depth check up on his/her teeth too. Teeth problems in dogs are tricky. They can look like just a regular cleaning needs done, then while under anaethetic, they find it's way worse far in the back of the mouth that is hard to see while the dog is awake. Good luck.

[Nom_de_Plume]

My dog also does this teeth chattering thing. (started about 4 months ago) She's a 10 year old Maremma. I've noticed she does it mostly if she's been getting lots of pets and then you stop. She doesn't have any of the other other symptoms described above like shivering or anything else.

[Straight Shooter]

I guess this teeth chattering phenomenon is more common than I expected. After I posted this topic I went on line and was amazed at how many dog owners had the same teeth chattering issue. Age did not seem to be a factor neither did the breed of the dog, most owners almost found it comical from the you-tube videos that I saw. The Vet did mention the seizure angle which many people would agree with.