I have had a few customers lately that have mentioned some behaviours that their young pups are displaying that are quite challenging. All the pups have been around the four months to six-month age range.
Some of the behaviours that the pups have been displaying are;
Excessive biting in the evening,
Tearing and ripping at clothes
-_Trimingham-_Norfolk_(1).jpg?width=209&height=140&crop=209:145,smart&quality=75)
Biting the lead
Manic behaviour
Not being able to settle
Chewing on things they haven’t previously chewed
Regressing with things like toileting
Crying
Bleeding gums Plus, many others!
What they describe are the symptoms of a puppy going through teething, which is a very DIFFICULT time for them. It’s important to note that they are not doing things to deliberately upset you, they quite often are experiencing pain and discomfort and it can be very similar to a baby going through the teething process.
Your pup can find difficulty eating, could have bleeding gums, and feel the need to chew to try and alleviate the discomfort. If they can’t alleviate the discomfort then you may see the behaviours as described above as they quite literally don’t know what to do with themselves.
Not all puppies are the same, some sail through the teething process, but if you have a puppy that is struggling, then here are some suggestions to help you and your puppy through the teething process.
1/ Give Puppy lots of legitimate outlets for teething, like natural chews, some great chews are fish sticks, braided lamb chews, small rabbit ears, pigs ears, chicken breast jerky. All these are healthy chews with no added nasties.
2/ Frozen vegetables can help, like carrots, broccoli for your puppy to chew on.
3/ Observe which toys help your pup with teething, is it a rubbery toy or a soft one that helps alleviate the pain.
4/Kongs with frozen meat in are great and give the pup a soothing chew outlet.
5/Puppy teething gels can help.
6/Puppy Yak chews are great too.
7/Treat searches in cardboard boxes (let them rip up the box!)
Overall, while your puppy is teething, try to keep up your regular routine, establish what can help them when they are biting more than usual and as always, have a large bucket of patience! Most puppies will be through the teething phase by 6 months, some may take a bit longer. Remember it doesn’t last forever.One of my lovely customers was at her wits end with her ‘shark pup’ when he was teething and now he is 10 months old, she says it was all worth it Despite the shark teeth, enjoy your pups, they grow up all too quickly.