You want your puppy to grow up to be healthy adult dog. Since teeth and mouths serve such a large function in the everyday life of dogs, keeping your puppy healthy during the process of losing baby teeth and gaining new teeth—also known as teething–is of utmost importance.
Below you’ll find information from our Atlanta dog sitters on how to help your puppy through the process of teething, which includes instructions on reducing their discomfort and creating behaviors that will last for the rest of their lives.
Understanding Teething in a Growing Puppy
In order to help your puppy, first you’ll need to understand the changes their mouth is going through while teething.
A puppy is born without teeth. Between three and eight weeks of age, though, baby teeth will start to grow in, 28 in total. Baby teeth will start to be replaced with adult teeth between three and eight months of age. Before the adult teeth can come in, the baby teeth will start to fall out; don’t be alarmed if you find baby teeth lying around your home. You can throw them in the trash.
When the adult teeth come in, the first to arrive will be incisors. These are the smaller teeth in front of the mouth that are the most visible. Next to arrive will be the canines (the longer, sharper teeth on both sides of the incisors), and then the premolars and molars (the flatter teeth towards the back of the mouth). When all of the adult teeth have come in, your puppy should have 42 teeth, give or take a few depending on the breed.
The process of teething can result in some other physical symptoms. These include red and irritated gums, extra drooling, decreased appetite, listless behavior, and a slight fever. They will also be much more likely to nip and bite. As long as your puppy seems generally healthy, there’s nothing to worry about. If any of these symptoms last for a long time, call your veterinarian.
What You Can Do to Ease Your Puppy’s Teething Pain
The process of teething is painful for a puppy. Luckily, there are things you can do to relieve their pain, and assist them as they grow into adult dogs.
The most important—and easiest—thing you can do to assist your puppy with teething is to give them chew toys. Chewing on toys will relieve the pressure of new teeth breaking through gums that the puppy feels in their mouth, and also keep the teeth strong and primed to chew food.
Chew toys that are made of rubber, rope, hard plastic or nylon work best. Please note, however, that there are certain chew toys to avoid. Refrain from giving hard bones to your puppy, as they can cause the baby teeth to fracture or crack into pieces, which may lead to a piece of tooth being left in the puppy’s gum. This can affect the growth and emergence of the new adult tooth. You should also avoid giving your puppy old shoes or outdated household objects, as it will hard for them to distinguish the unwanted items from the items that you don’t want to be destroyed. Your puppy will want to chew anything they find, so be sure to hide, move, or secure any object that you don’t them to chew on or that could be dangerous to them, such as loose wires.
Puppies’ pain can also be relieved by chewing cold things. You can give them an ice cube—plain frozen water will work, but they like the taste of chicken stock and frozen chamomile or lavender tea can be especially soothing to them. You can also buy them freezable toys, a frozen rag that has been dipped in water and twisted into a chewable shape, or frozen carrots.
And just like humans, puppies enjoys massages. To relieve some of the pain in their gums, you can put a finger toothbrush on your finger and gently rub it in circles on their gums.
Health and Behavior Training Tips for Growing Dogs
Making sure your puppy is comfortable as it grows adult teeth is important. But teething is an important time to begin to develop behaviors that your puppy will carry into adulthood and throughout the rest of its life.
Mouthing, nipping, and developing the ability to bite and chew is a natural part of the teething process for a puppy. However, it’s important to train them not to bite too hard on people, and not to do it too frequently. This is called ‘bite inhibition.’ Biting is natural for dogs, but bite inhibition teaches the dog to bite with less force, and less frequently.
To teach your puppy to bite with less force, you’ll need to teach them that biting is painful. When they mouth your hand and bite on it, exaggerate the pain by yelling “Ouch!” and leaving the room. After a minute or two, re-enter the room and show them that you still love them, and give them the chance to make up. They should begin to understand that they’ve hurt you, and that they’ll need to learn to bite with less force. To reduce the frequency of biting, teach your puppy how to stop mouthing when you demand them to. This will require teaching them a signal word (“Off!” is frequently used) that is reinforced with rewards.
It should be noted that bite inhibition is the extent of training that should be done with a puppy. New tricks are likely not to stick, as they are in pain and still going through major developmental changes.
Teething is also an excellent time to establish proper dental care for your dog. Get into the habit of checking their teeth weekly, and providing proper care to keep their teeth in good shape for the rest of their lives.
Contact Our Atlanta, Georgia Dog Care Experts
Teething is the beginning of a long, healthy life for your puppy. Contact our Atlanta, GA dog experts for more information about maintaining vitality in your dog by visiting and the Georgia dog care services we offer at Critter Sitters, Inc. to help.
