Born completely toothless, teething in puppies is an unavoidable process that causes a lot of pain and discomfort for your new family member. Generally, a puppy’s 28 baby teeth don’t start to come through until they are 2-4 weeks of age and by the 6-7th week they should have all their little puppy teeth.
From 3-4 months of age, your puppy’s baby teeth will start to loosen and fall out so their final adult teeth can fully come through at 6-8 months. Both processes are what we call the peak time for teething puppies. You will notice that your puppy will drool more and try to chew everything insight to help ease those sore gums.
To get them through the uncomfortable teething stage, your puppy will need all the care and attention they can get. Let’s have a look at the top tips for teething puppies that you can do as a new puppy parent to avoid those missing chair legs!
1. Quality, Teething Chew Toys
When shopping for new puppy essentials like their first bed, crate and food, high-quality, teething chew toys should also be top of the list. To help with the pain and discomfort that their new puppy teeth will bring, you will notice your puppy chewing more and more.
Besides helping to ease pain, chewing is an important part of a dog’s life, especially for puppies - it helps them explore the world and sense what’s around them. Providing your new puppy with appropriate and safe chew toys will not only help them but it will save your furniture too! Further down we will have a look at all the top toys for teething puppies.
2. Puppy Training
While extensive chewing can sometimes lead to damaged furniture, you should never shout at them for something they can’t help. Instead, offer your puppy some training, whether this is toilet training, crate training or training them on their walks, reward based training will not only help keep their mind off the discomfort but it is an important part in building a great relationship with your puppy.
Not sure what puppy treats to use for training? We have a long list of natural, puppy training treats.
3. Puppy Proof your House
Puppy proofing your house is a very important part of the teething stage because it will help to keep them safe. You should hide any dangerous objects especially in places where they sleep or spend a lot of their time.
Hiding hazardous objects that they can chew such as electrical wires, stings, poisonous plants, and sharp or plastic objects, will help to protect them and keep them safe in a secure environment.
4. Frozen Food & Toys
For teething puppies, freezing certain foods and toys are a great way to help minimise and numb their gum pain. Chopping and freezing bananas and carrots are excellent foods for teething puppies.
You can also add these foods to lickimats and freeze them, offering your pup a fun, tasty snack that will help with their pain. Freezing suitable rope toys will help to reduce swelling gums and you can also use food filled toys like Kongs and freeze them.
5. Soften Their Puppy Food
Wondering why your puppy is hesitant or not eating their dry puppy food? The pain that comes with teething gums means your pup might find it too painful to eat their dry food. A good tip is to add a splash of water to their puppy food to soften it will make it easier to eat or you can offer your puppy wet dog food.
Teething Toys for Puppies
While all these top tips are very important for teething puppies, providing suitable and safe chew toys for your puppy is an essential part of keeping your puppy safe during their teething phase.
Natural Rubber Dumbbell
The Natural Rubber Dumbbell is made from natural rubber with a varied, textured design. This chew toy offers your puppy a massaging and safe experience to ease those sore gums.
Junior Bear Ring Toy
Not only does this Junior Bear Rope Toy have a rubber ring that is gentle on teeth and gums but it has rustling fabric inside the teddy bear, offering your puppy a fun playing session.
Junior Rope Ball
Satisfying your dog’s instinct to chew in a non-destructive manner, this Junior Rope Ball for teething puppies is made from the ideal materials of cotton polyester that is gentle for delicate mouths and it also helps to ease teething pain and discomfort.
Junior Licking Plate
Excellent for calming puppies, the Junior Licking Plate is the perfect lickimat to help numb gum pain when used to freeze certain foods. Banana, carrot, Meatlove Farmers Menu and Arden Grange Liver Paste are ideal foods for freezing on lickimats.
Knotty Doggy Bird & Crab
Both the Knotty Doggy Bird and Crab can be dipped in water and frozen to help with teething pain in puppies. Freezing puppy toys will help to numb any discomfort they feel during their teething stage.
What Do You Think of Our Top Tips and Toys for Teething Puppies?
While all puppies are different when it comes to their behaviour and training, teething in puppies will always be an unavoidable process that needs to be prepared for in time when your beautiful new companion joins the family.
Are there any other top tips you think we might have missed? Let us know down in the comments on what methods you found helpful for teething puppies.
If you’re looking for more helpful information on puppies, check out these blogs below;
Top 5 Puppy Treats and When to Introduce Them