Puppy Teething - The Teething Blues

Got a new puppy? Then get ready for the teething blues. One of the things you may, or may not, be prepared for when getting a new puppy is its desire to chew.

What is Puppy teething - Often this process can be quite destructive depending on exactly how you handle this situation.

Instinctively puppies often chew because they need to - not because they want to destroy all your personal items. As puppies begin to loose their "milk teeth" and get their 42 permanent adult teeth they will chew to help alleviate some of the discomfort and pain they are experiencing while teething. Much like the process human babies go through, this process is also known as teething with puppies as well.

Overall, the best thing you can do is to protect your puppy from potentially harmful situations and help set him up to be successful in getting through this major developmental stage.

Below you'll find several ideas to help your puppy safely get through this teething stage.

1) Give your puppy plenty of exercise and attention to help relieve boredom which often leads to inappropriate chewing in the first place,

2) Crate the puppy if you cannot watch it at all times,

3) Use commercial sprays to alleviate inappropriate chewing of your household items. There are many of these products on the market - Listerine is also a good alternative,

4) Do not confuse your puppy by giving the puppy your old shoes or socks to chew on - it cannot differentiate your old ones from your brand new ones,

5) Give your puppy plenty of toys of its own to chew on - it is also good to give these to your pup whenever he begins to teeth on you while playing,

6) Give your puppy one of its own toys whenever it acts as though it may be interested in chewing on something that it should not chew on in the first place,

7) Move all items you do not want the puppy to get into out of its reach right now - cover all power cords, remove pens/ pencils, plants (many are poisonous), books, favorite collectibles, etc., up to higher ground until your puppy has completed teething all together,

With a little bit of planning, patience and plenty of caring, you can easily help your puppy through this important teething stage of it's life and to help it to mature into that wonderful dog that you know it can be. Good luck.