teething puppy

[gwenfrewi]

my pup is almost 4 months old and Ive noticed she has gone off her food, she is gnawing on her toys a lot also. Ive just noticed today that one of her baby teeth is loose. Is it normal for them to go off their food whilst going through this teething stage. Ive tried softening her food with warm water and also mixing it with tuna which she loves. Shes only been eating just over 1 meal a day and I worry that she isnt getting enough

[meltoadhall]

my pup is nearly 5 months and he went right off his food. it was almost like a baby, all he wanted to do was cuddle and sleep, he even felt warm to the touch. i eventually put it down to teething because after a few days he was fine again.

[lankeela]

Try giving a milky meal such as rice pudding. Softening the food will make no difference, as you say she is chewing on her toys. Make sure she has enough things lke bones and pigs ears to chew on, it is the action of chewing that loosens the teeth and gets them out quicker. The gums are sore and she will mouth or chew anything to get rid of the soreness.

One meal a day is not enough for a four month old puppy. Try splitting the meal up or leave down dry food for her to eat when she wants.

[drgnrdr]

I tell people in my classes to use rope type toys I prefer the white, plain nylon rope(if your dog wants to shred the string, cut them off and use just the knot and middle rope part), and get a couple of these, soak them in water and freeze them, let them chew on that, the rope will help get the puppy teeth out and the cold will help numb it a bit, kind of like a dog teething ring, Also ice is good too. Mine went off her food also, I gave her canned for a short time while this went on, and I put it in her Kong toy with puppy kibble and froze the kong also, she enjoyed chewing on the kong toy and getting at her food that way. I got a high energy gel type paste in a tube also that I mixed with her food, she ate it when that was on her food. Also I tried low sodium/low fat chicken broth (at the local grocery store) and heated it up and added to her food..I got past the 3 months (this was how long it took for HER) this went on, and she is now fine, hang in there...~/:\~

[gwenfrewi]

good advise from everyone especially drgndgr (have I got that right?!) she is really good about not chewing our furniture as she has always got loads of toys to chew and she especially likes the rope type ones and the kong so I will try freezing them and see how she goes. as for the food, I was worried about changing her food just to coax her to eat incase it spoilt her for eating properly in the future but I cant see her go hungry either, its not easy being a new mum is it?? thanks again for your advise.

[drgnrdr]

Yes my name is drgnrdr (dragon rider with the vowels missing). You don't have to change food just see if they have canned food, then put kibble and canned food in the kong use the canned to stuff the end of the Kong and freeze it. My GSD missed a few meals by her choice but she didn't suffer to bad for it, vet said ( make sure they are aware of it)she was fine, healthy and all, so try to weather the storm okay? ~/:\~