Puppy Teething: The Timeline, and What to Give Them to Chew

Rory went through teething the way most Jack Russells do, which is to say he tried to eat the skirting board, two chair legs and the corner of a rug, and looked genuinely offended when I objected.

Most of what you will find written about puppy teething is a timeline and not much else. The timeline is useful, so it is below. But the question people actually have at nine in the evening, holding a puppy who is chewing the sofa, is what to give them instead. That is the rest of this.

When does puppy teething start and finish?

Roughly three to four months in, and done by six or seven.

The short version of the whole process:

• Two to four weeks. The first baby teeth come through, while they are still with the breeder.
• Six to eight weeks. A full set of 28 baby teeth. This is roughly when they come home to you.
• Twelve to sixteen weeks. The baby teeth start falling out. This is the bit people mean by teething.
• Four to six months. Adult teeth coming through in waves, incisors first, then the canines and premolars.
• Six to seven months. All 42 adult teeth in. Puppy teeth are gone.

Breeds vary, and small breeds often run a little later than large ones. If your puppy is slightly off these dates it is not usually anything to worry about, but your vet is the one to ask rather than a blog.

What age is teething worst?

Three to five months, and it is not subtle.

That is the window where the baby teeth are coming out and the adult ones are pushing through at the same time. It is also the window where most people message me, usually having discovered that a puppy who was fine last week is now chewing everything at ankle height.

It passes. That is genuinely the most useful thing I can tell you. The furniture-eating stage of a puppy is a stage, not a personality.

Will I actually find the teeth?

Sometimes, and far less often than you would expect.

Puppy teeth are tiny, hollow and very light, and most of them get swallowed while the puppy is eating or chewing. That is completely normal and they pass through without trouble. Finding one on the rug is a nice moment but it is not something to wait for.

A little blood on a chew or a toy during this stage is also normal. A lot of blood, a puppy who has gone off their food, or a mouth they will not let you near, is a call to your vet.

What should I give a teething puppy to chew?

Something they are allowed to destroy, available at all times, in more than one texture.

That last part is the bit most people miss. A puppy who has one chew gets bored of it. A puppy with three or four different things to choose from goes back to them instead of to your table leg.

What works at this age:

• Stringy and fibrous chews. Paddywack and braided tendon are the two we hand out most for puppies. They give rather than crack, so there is nothing hard to work against, and they take a while.
• Soft puffed chews. A puffed pig snout is light and crunchy and suits a small mouth.
• Light, thin chews. Rabbit ears and fish skin are small, quick and easy, which makes them good for handing over when you need two minutes.
• Something frozen. A stuffed chew straight from the freezer lasts far longer than the same thing at room temperature, which is worth knowing on a long evening.

Notice what that puppy is doing with their paws. Holding a chew down and working along it is exactly what you want to see, and it is why length matters as much as texture at this age.

Everything in our 12 weeks and over range is suitable from that age, and our treat finder will narrow it down if you would rather answer three questions than read a list.

What should I not give a teething puppy?

Anything hard, and this is the one worth getting right.

Antlers, horns, hooves and ostrich bones are all excellent chews for the right adult dog and are not for a mouth that is still changing. A puppy's adult teeth are still coming through, and something they cannot make an impression on is the wrong thing at that stage.

The test I use is my own thumbnail. Press it into the chew. If it gives slightly, a puppy can work at it. If it leaves no mark at all, leave it until they are older.

Cooked bones from your own kitchen are a no at any age. Drying is not cooking, which is why air-dried chews are fine, but a roasted bone off a Sunday dinner goes brittle and splinters.

How many chews a day is too many?

More than you would give an adult dog, but still counted.

Teething is the one stage where I would rather someone gave a few more chews than fewer, because the alternative is the puppy finding something of their own. But a chew is food, and a puppy is small, so it still comes off their daily allowance rather than going on top.

If you want the numbers for your puppy's weight, our dog treat calculator works it out in pieces rather than percentages.

Is it teething, or is it just biting?

They overlap, and people tend to blame teething for both.

Chewing things is teething. Mouthing you, your hands, your sleeves and your ankles is mostly play and learning, and it carries on past the point where the teeth have settled. A chew helps with the first one. The second one is a training question rather than a chew question.

The useful thing is that they have the same answer in the moment: redirect them onto something they are allowed to have, every single time, rather than telling them off.

When should I speak to a vet?

A few things are worth a call rather than a wait:

• An adult tooth coming through while the baby tooth is still firmly in place, particularly the canines, which is called a retained tooth and sometimes needs removing
• A puppy who has gone off their food for more than a day
• Bad breath that does not shift, or a mouth they will not let you look at
• Anything that looks swollen or sore rather than just busy

None of these are common. All of them are worth asking about rather than reading about.

The short version

Teething runs from about three to four months and is finished by six or seven. The worst of it is three to five months. Most of the teeth get swallowed and you will never see them.

Give them several different things they are allowed to destroy, keep anything hard back until they are older, use the thumbnail test if you are unsure, and remember it is a stage. The chewing does not stop when the teeth are through, it just stops being destructive, and a dog who learned early what they are allowed to chew carries that on for the rest of their life.

If you are in the thick of it and not sure what to give, email me and tell me how old they are and what they have already destroyed. I answer every message myself, and I have been there.