Puppy Teething: The Timeline and How to Survive It

Teething happens in two phases. The first is when the baby teeth come in, starting at around two to four weeks of age, with all 28 baby teeth usually present by about five to six weeks, while the puppy is still with its litter. The phase most new owners experience is the second one: from around three to four months of age, those baby teeth start falling out and the adult teeth push through, which is the sore, chewy, nippy stage. So a puppy you bring home at eight weeks is between phases and will hit heavy teething a few weeks later.

Puppies start losing their baby teeth at around three to four months of age, as the adult teeth underneath push them out. You may find tiny teeth on the floor or in a chew toy, or simply notice a gap, and a little blood on a toy is normal and not a cause for alarm. Many baby teeth are actually swallowed, which is harmless. The process continues over the next couple of months as different teeth are replaced, finishing up by around six months when the full set of adult teeth is in.

Most puppies finish teething by around six months of age, when all 42 adult teeth have come in and the baby teeth are gone. The heaviest chewing and discomfort tends to ease once the adult teeth are through. Some larger breeds run slightly later. After six months, ongoing chewing is usually about boredom, habit, or adolescence rather than teething, so if a six-month-plus dog is still chewing heavily, the answer is more enrichment and outlets rather than teething relief.

Give it appropriate things to chew and make some of them cold, since cold soothes sore gums. Offer a variety of safe, durable puppy chew toys, and try chilling a rubber toy or a damp, frozen washcloth for extra relief. When the puppy chews something it should not, calmly redirect it to a chew toy and praise it for using that instead. Keep valuables and hazards out of reach. Avoid anything too hard that could crack a tooth, like real bones, antlers, or hard nylon, and skip ice cubes for the same reason. Patience helps too, because the worst of it passes within a couple of months.

The classic signs are a sharp increase in chewing and mouthing, gnawing on everything in reach, and more nipping at hands. You might also see drooling, small spots of blood on toys, a found baby tooth, red or swollen gums, and sometimes a temporary dip in appetite or a bit more fussiness because the gums are sore. Most of this lines up with the three-to-six-month window. If you see these signs in that age range, teething is almost certainly the cause, and they ease as the adult teeth finish coming in.

It can be, and it is worth a vet visit. Normally each baby tooth falls out as its adult replacement comes in, but sometimes a baby tooth is retained and sits alongside the new adult tooth, most often a canine. That crowding can trap food and cause the adult teeth to come in at the wrong angle, leading to dental problems down the line. Your veterinarian can check it and, if needed, remove the retained baby tooth, often at the same time as the spay or neuter. So if you notice a double row of teeth past about six months, have it looked at.