teething – Pawjourr | Blog contributors

Introduction to puppy teething

Just like human babies, puppies are born with no teeth. Their first set of baby teeth, or milk teeth, grow in between 3 and 4 weeks of age. When your puppy is around 4-5 months old, these teeth will fall out to make room for their permanent set of adult teeth. By 5-7 months, all the adult teeth will be present. It is important to note this can vary depending on the breed.

This means that puppies experience teething twice, once for their milk teeth and again with their adult teeth. While teething is generally not a painful process for your puppy, they may experience some discomfort in their jaw at this time. The best way to help them alleviate this is to provide your puppy with specifically-designed soft chew toys. This will also prevent unwanted chewing of other objects around the house.

Puppy Teething Timeline

Signs your puppy is teething

red, inflamed gums

drooling and offensive breath

increased chewing behaviour – chewing is the most obvious sign that your puppy is teething and you can help them by providing them with safe toys and discouraging biting

bleeding gums – a small amount of bleeding from the gums is normal and you may find specks of blood on your puppy’s favourite chew toys

missing teeth – you may find these on the floor but it is also common and safe for your puppy to swallow these as they fall out

decreased appetite – puppies may eat slower or less as it causes them discomfort

puppy in lower mood than usual – some puppies may whine and fuss or be more irritable than usual

When is it necessary to see the vet?

Some puppies experience a slight fever while teething which should be monitored to ensure their temperature does not climb too high.

While teething often involves some bleeding from the gums as your puppy’s sharp teeth emerge, if you notice a large amount of blood, immediately seek professional assistance from your vet.

Before all your puppy’s adult teeth have grown in, you should book them in for a dental appointment at your local Greencross Vets for a precautionary checkup.

What to expect at the dental checkup

The vet will check your puppy for:

crooked teeth – this can be caused by two teeth coming in at one spot, or if a baby tooth has not fallen out when the adult tooth is emerging. This may be evident during their vaccination checkups

jaw misalignment – for some breeds with short muzzles, a slight underbite is normal However, if your puppy is showing signs of a strong underbite or overbite, vet intervention may be required to correct chewing and eating issues in the future. These conditions are best treated early

bad breath – this is not normal in dogs and may indicate that your puppy has a low grade infection

broken or cracked teeth – if a tooth has broken below the gum line and the nerve is exposed, your puppy will be in discomfort and may develop an infection

bleeding and swollen gums – this may be a sign of teething

tartar build up – while tartar build up is uncommon in puppies, it occasionally does happen. Implement a dental routine while your puppy is young to avoid dental diseases in the future

Review of Nylabones from a landshark

I have a puppy who is about 20 weeks now. Overall, Donut (my pup) has lost about 8 teeth, and currently, she is still busy biting everything that’s insight. We’ve bought her KONGs which I did a review of here. We’ve also heard good things about Nylabones so we gave some of those toys a try as well.

Find my landshark’s review of Nylabones below:

Nylabone Flexible Chew:

Nylabone Flexible Dental Dog Chew — Taken from Nylabone Website

We fondly call this Donut’s blue bone. It is one of her more durable toys. This toy has lasted us about 18 weeks now and it is still going strong. The knobs are all intact though she seems to have lost interest, we spice things up by adding some treats in between the knobs in order for her to love it again. I love the durability and it’s semi-soft meaning it’s gentle on puppy’s gums.

Rating 10/10

Nylabone Pro Action (Bacon Flavor):

Similar to the blue bone above, my pup donut loves this bacon bone. It seems to be good for cleaning her teeth thanks to the rough ridges. However, the only comment I have for the product would be that it may be too hard. The bone is solid and I do worry sometimes that it may break my puppy’s teeth. This bone is made for extreme chewers but even extreme chewers can break their teeth.

Rating 8/10

Nylabone Power Chew Textured:

I was perfectly happy with the durability of the first two bones so this purchase left me sorely disappointed. My then 1.3KG puppy was able to destroy and bite off the plastic in a matter of minutes. We no longer let her use it because we fear she’ll ingest the plastic. I regret buying this and it’s really a wasted purchase that really only lasted us an hour.

Rating: 1/10

Nylabone Antler Alternative:

I’ve read mixed reviews about letting dogs eat deer antlers so I was glad I came across Nylabone’s antler alternative. I was pleased with this purchase, like the blue bone, it material was not too hard but was still durable. It’s one of my puppy’s favorite toys and has constantly used it during her teething phase. After a few weeks of having it, it now shows a bit of wear and tear but that’s okay, I’ll be purchasing another one soon!

Rating: 9/10

Nylabone Pacifier:

This toy was also made of durable and gentle material for puppies but I would only give it a 50% success rate. My puppy enjoys the blue pacifier while she barely touches the pink one. I think the pink pacifier is too big for her mouth so I am observing to see if she learns to like it the larger she gets.

Rating: 5/10

Nylabone Puppy Teething Rings:

Product Image — Taken from Nylabone’s website

This by far is her favorite toy. Every time we place it on her pen or on the floor she is just ready to play with it. After about 2 weeks of playing with it daily, the texture of the toy turned a bit rough but she still thoroughly enjoys it. We had to get another set because she just wouldn’t stop playing with it even if it was worn down. The teething rings have certainly saved our hands from her teeth.

Rating 10/10

Follow my pup Donut for more of her teething adventures!