Puppy's teeth

[zpolino]

I have a 5 month old Boxer puppy. He's a great dog.
Like all puppies he likes to chew on things. He's been great with not chewing things inside but he has to chew everything outside. He likes to chew sticks.

On one of his rawhide chews I noticed blood on it, so I stopped giving them to him. Tonight I found one of his teeth on the floor. It's a small one but still concerns me. I looked at his teeth in his mouth and noticed that in a few areas his gums are red with a bit of blood.

A few things..

1-is it normal for a young pup to lose teeth?
2-do you have any advice to get him to not want to eat and chew every stick outside?
3-I'm prepared to make a vet appoint next week....is that necessary?

Thanks

 

[Zoom]

Welcome to teething time!

1) It's perfectly normal for him to start losing teeth around this age. Have fun stepping barefoot on those at 3am . The blood you noticed on the rawhide is just like when you lost teeth as a kid and they bled just a little bit.

2) Just like kids who are cutting new teeth, the urge to chew is VERY powerful; its' helps to soothe the gums. Also, chewing is just plain stress relief for dogs. There are certain teething toys you can buy at the petstore, some you can freeze, or you can freeze washclothes dipped in water or a bit of broth. As to getting him to leave sticks alone outside, you're going to have to bring some sticks inside and teach him what "leave it" means. Place the stick in a very quiet area with no distractions, have him on a leash and let him look at the stick, but don't let him get it. The second he looks away from the stick (looking at you is best but don't worry if you don't get it just yet), tell him "leave it", praise and give him a very yummy treat. Practice on this until you are getting a reliable ignoring of the stick when you say "leave it". Then go add in some distractions. A busier room of the house, out on the porch, driveway, whatever. Just start slow and slowly work your way up repeating the above instructions.

3) Always go if you feel uneasy, but for just teething...probably not.

 

[Maxy24]

It is all perfectly normal puppy teething. He probably has nasty breath now too. Do as Zoom said and teach "leave it" and until he knows what that means and will do it in outside circumstances, I would clear the sticks either out of the yard or make a pile of sticks and put a barrier around it.

Your puppy needs to chew and, just like baby humans, has sore gums at this time. For this reason you should give cold stuff. Get a kong dog toy, fill it with wet dog food and freeze it. Get a face cloth and wet it, shape it into a toy (instead of just a flat cloth, tie a knot in the middle or something like that) and give it to him to soothe his gums. Welcome to the forum and goodluck with the pup.

 

[RawhideChews]

Boxers are my passion!.. Would be great to look at a picture of your lovely puppy if you have any!

Provide him with a lot of his own chewing items and teach what is right and wrong chewing objects as other guys explained. Much of what puppies learn is through chewing on things, so don't deprive your pet of this pleasure please!
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Rawhide sticks, twists, bones, chips, rolls, compressed rawhides