German Shepherd Puppy Teething Guide
If you’re a first-time German Shepherd puppy parent, you’ll find teething will slowly turn into one of the most difficult phases when raising your puppy.
It happens in week-long stages and shows up in ways like your dog chewing up your furniture!
When it comes to teething, you have to be prepared or it could be problematic– especially for German Shepherd puppies.
So that you’re more prepared for your puppy’s teething stages, we’ll tell you more about what they go through and how you can approach it!
When Do German Shepherds Stop Teething
Your German Shepherd puppy will stop teething at around 6 to 8 months of age on average, though there may be some cases of an earlier end to teething, and some even later.
This happens when all of his puppy teeth have already fallen out and been replaced with a complete set of adult teeth.
You might have also heard that it’s possible for puppies to continue teething for a short while after their adult teeth have already grown in.
During this secondary and minor stage of teething, your puppy’s adult teeth are just taking their time to settle into his jawlines.
Teething Stages
German Shepherds grow 28 puppy teeth that are later on replaced by a set of 42 adult teeth that develop when your puppy has stopped teething.
The teething process happens across roughly 6 months and goes through different stages, in which a German Shepherd’s different types of teeth come out one by one.
Early Stages – 2-8 weeks old
German Shepherd puppies are born without teeth.
Your puppy’s milk teeth will start pushing through at around the 2-week mark – when the puppies begin to open their eyes.
This phase is the one you’ll miss as you probably know puppies shouldn’t leave their mother until they’re at least 8 weeks old.
Most of their puppy teeth will grow out between 6-8 weeks.
They grow out their incisors, which are the front teeth, first.
Then they grow out their canine teeth. At this point, they’re ready to eat solid foods.
And finally, their premolars grow out.
Milk Teeth – 8-12 weeks old
Your puppy develops his last premolar tooth at around 8 weeks old.
By then, he should be enjoying all of his 28 milk teeth.
If you have your puppy then, it could be worth taking him to the vet to make sure he has all his primary teeth by that age.
Falling Out – 12-16 weeks old
Surprisingly, German Shepherd puppies don’t really keep their milk teeth for that long: they usually start losing baby teeth at around 12-16 weeks old.
Like with the order of milk teeth growing, the incisors fall out first, followed by the canine teeth and premolars.
As their milk teeth fall out, their adult teeth start to push through, and this is the stage of your puppy’s dental development where they actually begin to teethe.
Adult Teeth – 8 months
Your German Shepherd puppy will spend the teething stage up until around 8 months old growing his adult teeth.
By then, he should have 42 adult teeth fully in place.
This is also around the time when they stop teething!
Teething Signs
You probably know the old-fashioned way of being able to tell when a puppy is teething: when they start loving to bite us so much, or when we find those dreaded chew marks on our furniture.
But it’s important to know what other signs you can look out for as your puppy is teething, as well as how long it lasts.
Increased Chewing
To ease the pain of teething, you’ll notice your puppy is starting to chew much more frequently; either on you, your shoes and furniture, or on his chew toys.
This is probably a trivial time for you to puppy-proof your home and remove any valuables he can chew on out of his sight.
Stock up on chew toys and give him enough to bite on to soothe his pain!
Blood Spots and Sore Gums
As your puppy’s baby teeth fall out, his gums could bleed or become swollen.
You might find blood spots or traces on his toys, and you’ll be able to tell his gums have gone inflamed and red.
This is normal, although painful for your pooch – it’s only because his adult teeth are trying to push through!
Change in Behavior
Imagining how much pain your puppy is in due to teething might explain why he could become irritable or in physical distress.
He might refuse to eat or play, but try to distract him with lots of toys, love, and attention.
Mild Fever
If your pooch’s temperature goes up throughout his teething stages, don’t worry.
Developing a mild fever is a normal part of your dog teething, much similar to the stages we went through as teething kids!
Missing Teeth
Walking around to see a puppy tooth is normal when your dog is teething.
They’ll start losing teeth before they grow new adult ones, so don’t be surprised when you find gaps on their gums!
Excessive Drooling
Teething puppies drool excessively.
If you notice frequent excessive drooling or a suddenly wetter bed with puddles of drool, it means your puppy is teething!
How to Deal with Your Teething Puppy
Chew Toys and Treats
Providing your puppy with enough chew toys as he teethes will help you preserve your furniture and valuables as they tend to be destructive.
Some of them even act as food, so you’ll also be giving your pooch a much-deserved treat!
Frozen Treats or Ice Cubes
You don’t have to buy chew treats – you can make your own at home.
Freezing cubes of chicken, vegetable, or meat broth, or even a small piece of carrot or aloe vera, is a great way to soothe the pain by rubbing the ice cubes on their gums.
Herbal Plants
Just like how we resort to herbal remedies to alleviate our pain, the same can help your puppy too.
You can turn calming herbs like chamomile into tea for your dog to ease his pain.
But wait until the tea cools down completely before giving it to him to drink. If he did not enjoy it, you can always add a bit of broth to entice him.
Puppy Teething Gel
Puppy teething gels that are safe and natural to use go a long way in soothing your puppy’s teething pain.
Chew Proof Your Home
Your puppy will want to chew anything they lay their sight on as they teethe.
Protect your prized furniture by restricting access to the rooms where you keep them, or you can keep them in more secure areas or place them significantly above their height so that they’re out of reach.
Conclusion
It’s important to be understanding of your puppy’s teething stages. They can’t entirely be blamed for their excessive biting or chewing!
Excessive chewing is inevitable, so if it’s not chew toys, it’s something else that you probably care about.
Avoid any destruction of your prized possessions by keeping them somewhere safe and giving your puppy lots of toys and treats he can chew on. After all, he needs to soothe that pain somehow.