Having a puppy can be like going on a roller coaster ride; you love those puppy eyes, and cute puppy kisses that melt your heart. And then there’s your chewed-up slippers, sofa, anything those puppy teeth can get a hold of, including your poor hands, that makes you ask the question, “When do puppies stop teething?”
The feeling of loving your puppy but wishing the teething would stop is why I wrote this blog post, both as a puppy parent and as a vet tech. Sharing ways to handle the puppy teething and making it easier for both of you is what I hope to help you with.
When Do Puppy Teeth Fall Out
Your puppy can start losing his or her teeth around four months of age. Another thing to remember is that each puppy and breed is different when it comes to answering the question: when do puppy teeth fall out? So that is another thing to keep in mind with your puppy.
The thing you might notice when your puppy starts to lose their teeth is actually seeing them on the floor, carpet, etc. It can seem scary and make you feel worried that something is wrong. However, this is natural and nothing to be alarmed about.
The best thing you can do when your puppy starts losing their teeth is to check your puppy’s mouth and gums and see how things are looking. Making this part of your routine with your puppy will help you to monitor the teeth and see how things are going and notice if something seems different than it should be.
Related Blog Post: New Puppy Checklist
Puppy Teething Symptoms
Sometimes it can be hard to tell if your puppy is teething or simply exploring the world by putting things in his/her mouth. Here are some common puppy teething problems:
- Chewing – This is something you will probably see a lot of from your puppy but figuring out if it is actually due to puppy teething is something to ascertain.
- Drooling – This is another puppy teething symptom that you may notice with your puppy. It could also be a sign that the skin around their mouth is wet, or dry from the drooling but still important to look for with your puppy.
- Pawing at his/her mouth
- Blood Spots – You may notice blood spots on the floor, carpet, toys, or even on the paws of your puppy or around his/her mouth. This may be stressful seeing but knowing that this is one of the common puppy teething symptoms will hopefully lessen your anxiety.
- Inflamed Gums – When you look inside your puppy’s mouth, you may see the gums are red and look irritated. That’s because there is a lot of activity going on inside your puppy’s mouth while teething.
- Appetite Loss – Teething can make your puppy’s appetite change because of all the things happening inside his/her mouth. You may notice at each meal that your puppy is not eating as much and that is okay. By monitoring the amount that is eaten and left over, you will notice things improve as teething subsides.
How to Help a Teething Puppy
It can feel confusing and frustrating not knowing what to do to help your puppy when he/she is teething, but here are some things to try to help your puppy
If you have a kong that you already bought for your puppy, then you can put it in the refrigerator or freezer. You can try each way and see which one your puppy prefers.
When your puppy puts the kong in his/her mouth it can help with the inflamed gums and hopefully make it feel better.
Another option would be a Nylabone Puppy Chew Freezer Dog Toy, Lamb & Apple Small/Regular (1 Count). It has yummy flavors on it which could make your puppy more interested in putting it in his/her mouth (as opposed to your favorite slippers!)
The coloring of the toy on the package lets you know when the chew toy is frozen or not. So you know when you need to put it back in the freezer for another round. It might be a good idea to have a backup of this chew toy so you have another one ready at all times.
Finally, another option is the SPOFLY Puppy Teething Chew Toys, Cooling Natural Teething Rubber, 2 Pack for Cleaning Teeth and Protects Oral, Freezable Dog Chew Toys Set. There are two of them in each package. I like the size of these chew toys as they are big enough to reach more of your puppy’s gums.
Related Blog Post: First 48 Hours With a New Puppy: How to Survive Those Crucial Hours
Are you prepared for your next dog walk?
- Checklist of the supplies you need for your walk with examples of each
- High value and low value dog treat examples
How to Help a Teething Puppy Sleep
It would seem easy enough to give your puppy a teething toy to help him/her during the night. However, that could lead to an unplanned veterinary emergency visit you’d probably like to avoid.
Instead, try giving your puppy as many opportunities to chew on the chew toys throughout the day. This will give you a way to supervise and figure out which chew toy is appropriate for bedtime instead of finding a destroyed chew toy and wondering how much your puppy ate of it.
In addition to the teething toys, remember that you have a puppy who has tons of energy and needs a good puppy nighttime routine, which I’ve outlined below:
Make sure your puppy eats and drinks on the earlier side of the evening. Getting your puppy out on a walk or playing in the house will get that excess energy out, and increase the chances that you’ll be successful in getting your puppy to sleep.
Make sure you give your puppy an extra chance to go to the bathroom too. You can never overdo it with potty opportunities.
It would great if your puppy is crate trained as that gives him/her a nice place to rest and sleep which can help you both. Also, make sure you are careful not to leave a blanket or bed in the crate if you use a crate as that could be chewed up while your puppy tries to soothe his/her irritated mouth.
Finally, having your puppy near you in the crate will help you to hear him/her so you can help if the teething is causing them to make noise or if they need to go the bathroom. That way you can quickly help get your puppy back to bed.
Related Blog Post: How To Find The Right Dog Trainer
Puppy Teething Age Chart
2- 4 weeks – Your puppy is getting his/her baby teeth and his/her eyes are not open yet. Your puppy is with the breeder, rescue, or another place, and not with you yet.
5 – 6 weeks – Your puppy should have all of his/her baby teeth. The total amount of baby teeth is 28.
12 – 16 weeks – You may start to find baby teeth on the floor; they may look like rice or little white pieces, and you may be wondering if they are teeth. It is both normal to see baby teeth as well as not even notice them falling out too.
Between 4 – 6 months – During this time your puppy is getting his/her adult teeth which is a total of 42 teeth. It is important to check your puppy’s mouth and see how the teeth are looking and if any baby teeth are still intact.
This way if you do see baby teeth in your puppy’s mouth, in addition to the adult teeth, then reaching out to your veterinarian is the next step to do.
While following the puppy teething chart is helpful, keeping a regular routine of looking at your puppy’s teeth every day, is also important and something to make as positive an experience as possible for both of you.
When Do Puppies Stop Teething?
Your puppy should have all his/her adult teeth by 6 months but every puppy is different. That is why looking at the teeth when the baby teeth come out and observing the adult teeth coming into the mouth will help you.
Also, if you are not sure you can always ask your veterinarian when going to the routine vaccination appointments you will be doing with your puppy.
Having another set of eyes from an expert (your veterinarian) on your puppy’s teeth will give you some reassurance as well as let you know how things are progressing when it comes to your puppy’s teething.
Related Blog Post: How to Choose and Use Treats in Training your Dog
When to Start Brushing Puppy Teeth
It would be great to start brushing your puppy’s teeth while going through the teething part of puppyhood.
You may be worried if you have never brushed a puppy’s teeth or think you could hurt him/her while the teething process is happening. The reality of brushing your puppy’s teeth is to keep it simple and start working on it every day.
Getting your puppy used to your hands in his/her mouth, lifting up the muzzle to look at the teeth, and not getting too excited when you do that is a great start.
Paying attention to how your puppy responds to you doing this will let you know if you need to go slower because if you go too fast your puppy may not like it the next time.
Finding the right tools to help when you actually want to start brushing your puppy’s teeth is another key to making this process go smoothly.
Here are a couple of items to try for teeth brushing that I recommend as a vet tech and use myself when working on brushing a puppy’s teeth:
Toothbrush – LovinPup Dog Toothbrush Set, Professional Dog and Cat Grooming Supplies, Best Soft Bristle Toothbrush, Pack of 2 Double Sided Toothbrushes for Large and Small Dog Teeth. This toothbrush gives you two ways to try brushing your puppy’s teeth.
Orgrimmar 2 Pcs Three Sided Pet Toothbrush Dog Brush Addition Bad Breath Tartar Teeth Care Dog Cat Cleaning Mouth. I like the design of this toothbrush and it gives you another way to gently brush your puppy’s teeth.
PESTON [4 Pack] Finger Toothbrush for Dog Teeth Cleaning, Dog Finger Toothbrush Small Breed, Large Breed with Cats, Dog Toothbrush Kit Dog Fingerbrush Toothbrush Pet Toothbrush Puppy Toothbrush This is a toothbrush that you can put on your finger which could be more comfortable for you to use on your puppy.
Toothpaste – Virbac CET Enzymatic Toothpaste| Eliminates Bad Breath by Removing Plaque & Tartar Buildup | Best Pet Dental Care Toothpaste | Poultry Flavor, 2.5 oz tube I use this toothpaste for my own clients. Poultry seems to be the favorite flavor but vanilla, malt, and seafood are other ones you could try with your puppy.
Nylabone Advanced Oral Care Puppy Dental Kit Original Original Puppy (3 Count) This is a nice kit with two different types of toothbrushes and some toothpaste. You may like using the finger toothbrush rather than the regular toothbrush. This kit gives you that choice.
Related Blog Post: How to Stop Your Dog from Jumping Up On You and Others
FAQs:
When Do Puppies Teeth the Worst?
Knowing the time frame that I mentioned above with teething will help you, but there is no real answer to tell you when it is the worst.
Remembering that puppy teething is happening dynamically and that even when you think you are getting a break or making progress the next day may not be the same.
Finally, you have to keep telling yourself, over and over, that this is part of the puppy teething phase and it is not permanent.
Do Puppies Stop Eating When Teething?
There could be a chance that your puppy may not eat as much at every meal. Monitoring how much food your puppy leaves will give you a definitive answer. Also, if he/she is eager to eat or not is another indicator of how your puppy is doing with the teething.
You may want to give smaller portions of food during the day so as not to overwhelm your puppy and see if that helps with eating meals. You can also try giving a chew toy and see if that helps before trying to feed a meal.
These are just a couple of ideas to try with your puppy and being open to various ways to help your puppy with teething will help you both.
Also, keep in mind that if you are concerned about your puppy not eating or maybe eating less than usual, then talking to your veterinarian is another option as well.
However, you may not even notice a difference. Every puppy who is going through teething can respond differently. Just know that his/her mouth is going through a lot and that means some pain is involved.
Related Blog Post: How to Socialize Your Puppy and Why It Is Important
Are Puppies Still Teething at 1 Year?
Your puppy should be done with teething before he/she is one year old. If any issues come up with baby and adult teeth with your puppy they should be addressed at the exact time those issues are happening.
Hopefully, the regular veterinary visits you go to with your puppy and monitoring the teeth yourself should help to make sure your puppy’s adult teeth are doing well and no puppy teeth are around anymore.
Conclusion
Understanding puppy teething is going to help you feel more prepared as well as understand that the behavior you see from your puppy is all part of the process.
Often the lack of sleep and the fact that your puppy cannot tell you what he/she is feeling can add to the frustration and pain, as those baby teeth are sharp, but I’ve provided a couple of ways to help make puppy teething a little easier for you and your puppy.
Another area you may be struggling with at this age is all the jumping your puppy does on you and anyone else that comes over to your house. This can be cute at first, but can be an annoyance for you and your guests as time goes on, as unfortunately, it’s not a phase that puppies simply outgrow.
The reality is that it will actually get worse with time. That’s why I created an ebook called Stop The Jumping to get vetted advice – pun intended – from a veterinary tech on how to easily get a handle on the jumping (and nip it in the bud). I kept it simple, so you can grab the ebook here, and get the relief and peace of mind from not having your puppy jump on you, your kids, and others around you.