Around 12-16 weeks (3-4 months) your puppy’s adult teeth will emerge and replace milk teeth. Teething comes with lots of discomfort, so puppies relieve it by chewing on things. And unless provided lots of different chew toys and teething chews, they will end up chewing and biting on everything: furniture, shoes, socks, wooden sticks, and even your arms and legs.
Get your puppy lots of different types of chew toys, find the ones they prefer and make sure you provide plenty of them. Every time they bite on the wrong thing, redirect their attention and offer the proper chew. You can also utilize baby gates, expandable play pens and other things to limit their access to furniture or garden plants.
Synthetic bones (Benebone, Nylabone)
Benebone and Nylabone are two brands known for durable dog chew toys that look like bones but are not edible so puppies can enjoy chewing on them for weeks. Make sure you order a “puppy” version since they are usually a bit softer than the regular ones.
For some pet parents synthetic bones can be hit or miss. Some pups don’t care about them but many other dogs will absolutely go to town on them. In my experience, you have to try different and various sizes, before finding the one that your pup will love. Go with funky shapes, most dogs prefer them to simple bone-looking ones. Also if in doubt, size up!
Benebone Fishbone seems to be a dog’s favorite, so try that one first. They come in different sizes and for smaller dogs they have a puppy pack. Another favorite is a Benebone Wishbone (they have a puppy version too).
Nylabone also has a Nylabone Puppy Chew Bundle, which has various teething synthetic toys, including the ones that you can freeze in the freezer to help with teething pain.
Rubber toys
If synthetic bones are too hard for your puppy, they might prefer softer rubbery textures. Toys that are made from squeezable latex are more gentle on the gums during the painful teething time.
Brands like Kong, West Paw, JW, Outward Hound have a great choice of high-quality, long-lasting rubber / latex toys.
Here are a few options to start with:
- Kong Classic Puppy or Binkie
- West Paw Zogoflex
- Kong Ring
- JW Pet Hol-ee Bottle
- Kong Squeezz series
- Kong Teething Stick
Tip: if you need to encourage your dog to chew and engage with a rubber toy, smear it with a bit of peanut butter.
Multiple-textured chew toys
Chew toys that use multiple materials (think latex, plastic, and rope or fabric in one toy) are so much more fun for a young puppy to engage with.
PetStages has several “Chew Starter Packs” for young puppies (or smaller breeds). Check out some of those:
One of the lifehacks to make your pup engage with chewing is to soak a rope part in bone broth. You can even freeze it to help relieve gum pain.
Large stuffed toys
Think of large multi-texture toys with lots of sensory satisfaction: different textures and fabrics, crinkle, squeaks, rope and plastic parts. The more the better!
Experiment with sizes, I often see pet parents only buying similar-sized small toys, but your puppy might be just not into that. I noticed that puppies love to play and chew on larger stuffed toys.
Few recommendations:
Safe alternatives to wooden sticks
Puppies loooove sticks and branches, but that can be quite unsafe.
Safer alternatives are either synthetic “fake” wooden sticks like Petstages Dogwood or certain types of wood (I.e. Coffee wood) that don’t chip as easily and can be safer.
Frozen kongs and popsicles
Puppy Kongs is probably the #1 toy every pet parent should get. Frozen filled-inkongs are not only longer lasting chew that can be prepared well in advance and stored in the freezer, but they can also help relieve teething pain. (Puppy kongs (pink and blue) are made of slightly softer rubber, but if you have a larger land-shark baby, you can try regular or extreme kong.)
Great alternative to Kong is West Paw Tux, you can feel it with peanut butter or broth and freeze it.
Another alternative is to make homemade dog-friendly popsicles by freezing puppy bone broth in ice cubes or making dog-friendly popsicles using silicone molds.
Longlasting chews: bully sticks and teething rings
Edible chews such as bully sticks, puppy teething rings, and braided chews can be good, long-lasting chews that can satisfy your puppy during the teething stage. Bully sticks can be pricey, but they are worth it since all dogs love them. They are a great way to keep your puppy’s teeth away from you 😉
My favorite brands for bully chews are the ones by Red Barn, experiment with different brands, and find the ones that will be long-lasting for your dog (some are not super long-lasting and some are not).
Dental chews
Digestible chew treats like puppy dental chews can also help during teething stages. Some brands have specific puppy sizes; otherwise, buy a size appropriate to your puppy size. Those treats are usually long-lasting.
One of my favorites is Red Barn Chew-A-Bulls Horned Toad (comes in 2 sizes). Other popular brands that can be bought almost in any pet store are Greenies and Whimzees
Carrots and boxes
A few cheap ways to keep your puppy’s teeth busy are to give them a large carrot or an empty cardboard box and let them chew, play with, and destroy it.
For safety reasons, supervise your puppy so you can ensure it does not swallow large pieces of carton (a tiny amount is safe if it is plastic-free brown cardboard).
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