8. Teething/Nipping

by Andrew November 7, 2021

Teething! What is it?

One of the first chapters you’ll be sure to fully experience when you bring a puppy home for the first time. If you’re not familiar with puppy teething or nipping, it’s when your puppy will start to explore everything with their mouth first.

Meaning your puppies’ razor-sharp teeth will seem to be attracted to all your fingers and toes but don’t worry, this is completely normal behavior for puppies. They’ll stop at around 6 months of age or once their adult teeth set in, buckle up for a fun chapter.

Why do puppy’s teeth?

Puppies grow much faster than babies and as a result, their teeth come in really quickly! They tend to start losing their razor-sharp teeth at around 12 weeks and all their adult teeth should set in by the time they’re 6 months of age.
This entire process is incredibly painful for puppies especially as they’re growing so their gums will often be incredibly sore and sometimes start to bleed. You may notice from time to time that there will be spots of blood on their toys or with other puppies when they play. A little bit of blood is okay but if you notice anything unusual consult your veterinarian.

Getting through the teething stage

The best solution to teething is to provide them toys to chew on and to teach them what is good behavior (i.e chewing on their toys, not your shoes). Keep in mind that you’re also responsible for helping soothe their gum pain.
If they start to chew on objects around the house like shoes, couches or anything else for that matter your first step would be to stop the behavior by saying “No”. After you’ve stopped the bad behavior, you need to teach them/provide them the opportunity to practice good behavior. Now is your chance to give them their toy and praise them with a happy “Yes” after they’ve taken their toy.
Placing their chewy toys in the freezer is often a great life hack to helping soothe their gum pain, the frozen toys will often chill their gums down and relieve their pain.

Note: Remember your puppy doesn't know any better at their age, be gentle and patient as you teach them what's acceptable behavior. A good general rule is to have "no teeth on skin".

How to stop the behavior

When puppies play with each other or other dogs, they’ll naturally start to nip and gnaw at each other. As they play, if a puppy gets nipped too hard, they’ll let out a loud yelp letting the other dogs know that “Ouch that hurt!!”.
We can copy that behavior and create our own audio cues to let our puppies know when they’ve accidentally bit us too hard. Simply saying “Ow!” when it happens and then rewarding them with a treat once they’ve backed off is a good practice. Try not to yell at your puppy but if they happen to get scared, walk away or peacefully place them into their crate for a few minutes.
We want to teach our puppies bite moderation from a young age, so that by the time they’re an adult they know how to control their bite. Dogs will sometimes place their mouth on you when they’re extra happy/excited or in pain at the vet. A dog that’s learned how to moderate their bite will ultimately be harmless if it comes that.
A good practice is to always keep toys within arms reach when you’re at home or with you when visiting a friend’s place. Quickly offering them an alternative when they start to nip on objects will help you tremendously in the long run.

The Tips

All puppies have different diets so you could try incorporating different frozen treats into their diet to help soothe their gum pain, granted you should first consult with your veterinarian on what’s safe to eat. From my experience during the summer, you could freeze some fruit or watermelon rinds to place in a bowl as a frozen treat for your puppy. Soothing their pain and giving them a treat, what’s not to love.

If your puppy doesn’t stop nipping or teething on objects or people after you’ve said “No” a few times, you can try crating them for a couple of minutes until they calm down and start listening. Crating is a popular method of dealing with bad behavior however make sure not to leave them they’re for too long otherwise they could start to view it as a punishment and negatively associate with their crate. Remember to keep it short, 15 minutes at the most should do the trick and let them know what’s not okay to chew on.

After Care

Long term you can look at trying to keep your puppies’ teeth white. Your puppies’ adult teeth will naturally start to turn yellow over time and some people turn to different diets to help keep their dog’s teeth white.
Alternatively, you can look at purchasing dental toothpaste for dogs (make sure it’s meant for dogs, human toothpaste can be toxic!) and dental cleaning treats. These are usually much lower effort solutions to stinky dog breath and can be incorporated into your routine.
Providing your puppy things to chew on, whether that be chewy toys or bully sticks will naturally clean their teeth. Our goal with after care for going the extra mile to take care of your puppy.

Disclaimer

The video and/or my content cannot guarantee that this learning method is right for your dog. The information I give is based on my knowledge and opinion of different learning types and is not directly endorsed by professionals. The methods shown within the video are meant to be demonstration purposes and does not guarantee success with all dogs. If you have any specific questions or concerns regarding the given information, please reach out to us through our Contact Page and we can get in touch.