Anyone who has had a puppy knows how tough the teething phase can be for everyone involved. Your puppy might chew up your favorite shoes, destroy the table legs, or even try and chew on the hands and fingers of the people around them. This phase of puppy development can be very intense and can make everyone in the home crazy, including older dogs and other pets.

Dealing with puppy teething can be very easy when you have the right plan and the right tools in hand to make this developmental period a breeze. If you are ready to learn some more about how to handle puppy teething in Bowling Green, KY, you need to check out these tips.

Tips for Puppy Teething

Knowing how to handle your dog’s teething will make them much happier during this phase of their growth. Protecting your personal items and the sanity of yourself and your family members is important during this brief but intense time in your puppy’s life.

Listed below are tips for puppy teething: 

Provide Safe Chewing Toys

Puppies often will chew on anything that they can get their mouth on when they are teething. Not everything is puppy teething safe, and you will want to be sure that you offer your dog teething toys that are safe. There are many toys that are made for this kind of use, and you should focus on providing teething toys that will ensure that your dog will not harm themselves as they are working their teeth loose.

Providing enough toys for this need is also important, as puppies tend to forget where they have placed their teething toys and might just go back to chewing on the sofa. Offering more than just one teething toy can help to teach your dog that chewing on other items besides toys for their use is not ideal.

Teach Your Pup to not Grab Hands

One of the key complaints that people have during the teething phase is that puppies will often grab for your hands and try to teeth on them as well. Make sure that you discourage this behavior firmly so that your dog does not become a biter later in life. You will want to reward the use of the provided teething toys with treats to help reinforce this idea. Using verbal commands is the best method of dealing with this kind of behavior and making sure that you do not offer your puppy chances to grab at your hands when you are not paying attention. Being attentive to the safety of your dog’s behavior will be very helpful later in life when they are bigger and might not realize that they are hurting people around them.

Provide Pain Relief

If your puppy seems to be having a very tough time with discomfort related to their teething process, your veterinarian can offer you some pain management support that might help keep them from whining, pacing, or being anxious during this phase. Puppies that are in pain might not sleep well and may engage in other negative behavior as an expression of their discomfort.

Being able to offer some pain management can help your puppy to get through the teething process without being so emotionally upset. You can also have your veterinarian make sure that your puppy’s teething process is proceeding normally by taking them in to get pain medication and an examination. There are some cases where the teething process is not proceeding correctly, which can be linked with painful behavior.

Crate Train Your Puppy

Teething can be a tough time for pet owners because they need to watch their puppy at all times to prevent damage to the home and personal items. If your puppy is not already crate trained, now is the time to make sure that they become crate trained. Being able to put your puppy into their crate with an acceptable teething toy can help to prevent worry about the safety of your pet and can help your puppy to calm down if they are upset.

Most dogs like to rest in small places because wild dogs will seek a den-type area when they want to rest or when they are not feeling well. Crate training might seem mean to those who do not understand dog behavior, but it can be a great way to make your puppy feel safe. Your puppy cannot spend all day in a crate, but they can take naps and breaks in their crate while they teeth and work on getting through this phase of their growth.

Puppy Teething Doesn’t Have to be a Struggle

While teething can be a less-than-ideal time in the life of any dog, you will find that management of the teething behavior and training can help to make teething less of a struggle for everyone in your home. With the help of these tips for puppy teething, your dog will be much happier throughout this process and your personal items will be spared damage as well.

If you have any additional questions about puppy teething, contact Southcentral Veterinary Services in Bowling Green, KY by calling (270) 282-2564 or schedule an appointment online. Our team will treat your pup like family and will be there every step of the way!