How to Help a Teething Puppy and Their Teething Process

teeth of a puppy

Dogs and humans have many similarities. While we call a young human being baby, young dogs are called puppies. They grow their baby teeth and eventually lose them the same way humans do. To learn more about your pet’s experiences and how to help them, the following can guide you through the process or jump straight to that section of content you came here for.

Your pet’s baby tooth

Just like humans, dogs have two sets of teeth. As your puppy starts to grow, he also grows his first set of these body parts, the baby teeth (also called deciduous, primary or milk) which are eventually replaced by the second set, the permanent teeth. However, dogs have more baby and permanent teeth compared with humans. They got 28 deciduous ones while humans only have 20. They have 42 permanent ones while humans only have 32.

Your loved one’s baby tooth will start to poke out of his gums in two or three weeks from birth. The incisors will come out and they will be followed by canines then later on, by the premolars.

A puppy’s baby tooth is longer and thinner. Eventually, the bigger permanent ones will replace them and fill his mouth. Since the baby or milk teeth are super sharp, you should always be careful with them.

When they start to fall

The milk tooth continues to grow up to 14 weeks, after which, they begin falling. It continues until the thirtieth week but you won’t probably know about it because small canines just swallow or chew their teeth when they got the chance or when dislodged. It may sound scary but nothing to worry, it is perfectly alright because it won’t cause him any harm.

Sharp milk tooth

Puppies may be tiny and adorable. In addition, they are sweet and gentle. However, be careful with their baby teeth because they are very sharp and they will surprise you of the danger that it can cause. Nevertheless, one reason for this sharpness is its ancestry. In the past, your loved pets need to feed themselves by tearing through meat so they can cut them into bite-sized pieces. Unfortunately, there weren’t any dog food during that time yet.

During the weaning process these sharp body parts can help feed your pet on its own. Since it is painful when they clamps down on the nipple during the nursing process, the mother dog eventually starts to refuse to nurse.

When there is hardly any milk or food from the mother, the puppy has to learn to become self-reliant and source its own food. Eventually, he learns to eat on his own.

You might wonder why your puppy can bite so hard. At this stage, the sharp teeth can also become painful on him making it hard to control the intensity of his bite. He will play around and bite as much as he wants but will realize the effects of his mighty bites when he senses his playmates starting to stay away because of it.

In the end, your pup will learn to manage his bite but until then, you have to be patient with him. Train him to stop when he goes overboard.

The process

You have to understand the teething process to effectively assist your dog. Just like humans, puppies undergo unpleasant experience during the entire process. Here are a few things you will observe when your puppy is on this uncomfortable stage:

  • He will eat less but chew more. Chewing helps him feel better as he can gently work on his food.
  • He will chew more when the fangs starts erupting. Having things to chew can help increase his sensory experience. During this time, you need to be careful of his chewing because he might ruin your things and your furniture.
  • Invest in high quality chewing toys to prevent him from gnawing on your things. Start from soft, rubber toys and transition to harder rubber as his jaw grows stronger. This is one reason why he starts trying out the hard furniture because the soft toys don’t satisfy him anymore.

Helping the permanent tooth to come in properly

At the stage when your puppy starts losing his milk teeth, his bite won’t be sharp anymore and you wouldn’t need to worry of him damaging your things. However, it is your responsibility that his permanent ones come in normally. Here are a few things you need to consider:

  • Watch out for deciduous teeth that don’t fall out. These may cause problems and affect the growth of the permanent ones.
  • When a permanent tooth ends up dropping into the mouth, it can cause pain and other illnesses on your puppy such as mouth ulcers.
  • Ensure that all of his milk teeth are out within 4 to 6 months. If you still see them, it is time to go to the vet and have them taken out.

Seeking the vet’s help

The vet is the most important person to partner with when it comes to taking care of your dog’s teeth. Learn more about how to take care of your puppy at the start of this experience. He might suggest a dental care regiment to help you succeed in this venture.

Your puppy’s vet knows what you can do to help alleviate the pain your pet is experiencing. He knows when you can provide him soft rubber toys and when would be the best time to provide the harder rubber toys. He can clean your puppy mouth regularly as well as work on the other grooming processes.

When there are retained deciduous teeth left after 6 months, the vet can perform a surgery to pull it out. This will increase your pup’s chances of growing permanent tooth properly.

Just like everything else, experiences have their own perks and pains. It may be painful to your puppy and you to experience the discomfort during the process but the result of having a good set of permanent teeth outweighs all the inconveniences and pain. Your puppy’s teeth won’t be as sharp as when they started erupting and your puppy will learn to control his bite and become more mature as it eventually takes shape.

Posted by
olesia@themammothgroup.com