Puppy Teething Relief - What You Can Do to Make Your Pet Comfortable

Puppies are born without teeth. In a few weeks the teeth will start to grow and this will bring your puppy a lot of discomfort. It will also make your puppy want to chew on anything and everything.

During this time you want to introduce your puppy to things that will help relieve the pressure in the gums as well as give them acceptable things to chew.

The first set of teeth a puppy develops is known as temporary teeth or milk teeth. This develops in the first few weeks of life and will last till the puppy is about 3months.

After this the milk teeth start to fall out and are replaced by a permanent set of teeth. Teething during both times will be very uncomfortable for the puppy. At this time the chewing instinct for the puppy will also be at it’s highest which is why you have to be prepared.

Cold things provide relief by causing a numbing feeling to the gums, which is relaxing for the puppy. You can freeze all sorts of things and offer them to the puppy but do not go overboard with this. Whatever you give to the puppy has to be safe.

Some methods you can use to help ease the discomfort of puppy teething are:

1. Give your puppy toys to chew; you can put these toys in the freezer for some time. This will make them cold and is of great relief for the puppy. It is better to freeze several toys at a time, that way if one starts becoming warm, then you can just replace it with another one from the freezer.

Toys made from nylon are a good choice since they last long and do not pose the danger of breaking off. They also help clean the puppy’s teeth.

2. You can get a dish towel and soak it with water then wring it to form a sort of rope. You can then freeze this and give it to the puppy the moment he shows signs of discomfort.

3. Take some ice cubes and offer to the puppy to chew. If he is reluctant, you can flavour the ice cubes with some meat flavour or peanut butter. This will make the puppy more willing to chew on the ice cubes.

4. Do not allow the puppy to chew on furniture, ensure you provide him with alternatives when he starts to chew. You may offer the puppy toys to chew or you can give him the dish clothes to exercise his gums on. This will help discourage any future incidents of chewing on furniture and other items such as shoes.

5. There are some gels which are available in pet shops that can be applied to the gum to reduce discomfort. The gel is squeezed on to the forefinger then applied on the puppy’s gums and massaged.

Avoid giving the dog old shoes to chew on as they may bite off part of the shoe and swallow. This may cause chocking or digestive problems for the puppy. The shoe may also have nails or other sharp objective that if swallowed by the puppy, are bound to cause injury to internal organs.

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