Yelp! Yelping!!!!
WHAT could have happened to suddenly change Toto, My puppy’s playful mood? On closer examination I noticed blood in his mouth and some white object Hanging loose, as he continued to make heart breaking noises! Oh please, don’t swallow IT!!!
I managed to swipe IT out of Toto’s mouth and on closer examination, it was a baby tooth!
My Toto was loosing his baby teeth, also called milk teeth, which is normal when the puppy is over 4 months old.
Toto is almost five months, so he is normal, but I don’t remember having any teething dramas with other puppies I had the luck to have as companions over a life time. Toto is different!
Clearly, Toto was in pain and his teething process might require my attention to make it easier.
If at this point someone reading this post thinks “is she (me) crazy? It’s just a dog!” I ask such fictitious person to stop reading because I treat my dogs as companions, not as “just dogs.” As a result, I took the time to research and here is the summary of WHAT I learned on PetMD (www.petmd.com/dogs) specifically the article “Everything You Need To Know” by Matt Soniak and also on the AKC site.
Puppies are born toothless but quickly acquire a set of 28 teeth. They serve them well, as we all know (and probably a number of our shoes) for about 4 months.
The last to fall out are the canines and at about six months the permanent teeth erupt as soon as the baby ones fall out.
The adult dogs have a set of 48 teeth (versus only a set of 28-baby teeth.) One Could Say, dogs are toothy as compared to cats who only have 30 and humans, 32:) we better watch out!
By 8 months a dog has all his permanent teeth in.
How to care for a teething puppy?
Most times, providing adequate chewing toys is all a human could do.
WHAT constitutes an appropriate chewing toy?
The toy must be SOFT CHEW and FLEXIBLE ( must bend in your hand,) should not have sharp edges or splinters. Anything sharp could greatly harm your puppy.
PetsMart and any quality pets stores has the Chewing products clearly marked.
For instance, Nylabone BRAND has the chewing toys marked: Softer for puppy chew, and even a set of two toys, a soft chew and a medium one. Do not purchase hard chews for puppies, as they may break their teeth. This could be a problem, as the dog’s teeth roots are deep and if a tooth breaks and the roots remain in the gums, they might get infected and surgery might be necessary.
If a tooth falls and you notice blood, wash the area with warm water. I also continued to rinse Toto’s gums to make sure if he plays with leaves outside and dirt penetrates his tender gums the dirt is removed before they get infected.
WHAT you do.
Early on, get your puppy used to your hands and to touching his gums. This will help greatly later, as your dog will allow you to brush his teeth.
If you brush your dog’s teeth, use soft bristles and either just warm water or a tooth paste formulate for dogs. Do not use human paste which must be rinsed and spat and… to my knowledge, no matter how smart, dogs don’t do that:)
I guess… this is all for today!
If you have a dog ( or two, or three…) enjoy! If you don’t, consider getting a companion animal.
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