When does the teething phase start?

[Qzee]

I have a 4mth old sheltie named Sabrina and she still has her puppy teeth. She is not interested in chew toys at all. She likes to play with the rope with my other dog (tug games) and sometimes she will try to unbraid it. She will chew on a log outside, but I think she is just copying my labs behavior with the log. I bought so many chew toys to give her but she has no interest in them. I am guessing she will like them more once her adult teeth come in. When is the typical age for adult teeth to come in with a Sheltie?
My other dog is a 2yo Labrador and they are aggressive chewers and can do major damage to a house if left alone. I gave the lab a new chew toy every week and would hide the older toys for a few weeks and then give them back. I kept her in school (tired mind makes a tired puppy), walked her 2xs a day and lots of outside play. I believe it helped save my house from destruction. She only damaged one spot of my baseboard molding - very minor. I don't know what to expect from my Sheltie.... HELP

 

[Emmasmom]

Welcome - my Emma was not a chewer, until recently at age 5 when I began giving her bones to chew for the teeth.

If I can recall, she starting losing her baby teeth around five months or so. I have a collection of them. She lost her teeth over a few weeks. I can't remember exactly how long or what age she was but I know it was about this age.

 

[Ann]

Hi and Welcome! Teething can start in Shelties at 3 months and they will generally lose and grow teeth until 6 to 8 months. That doesn't mean they're done teething though! Puppies will chew until they're about 2 years old.

Some puppies just aren't interested in chew toys. One will like soft toys, another will like rawhide. Some will prefer chews like bully sticks or Himalayan chews. Some of mine are rawhide chewers and others couldn't care less. It seems to be an individual thing. I'd suggest offering your puppy a variety of chews and eventually one will spark her interest.

If you buy rawhide chews, stay away from those made in China. They're like doggie junk food...mine love them, but they're made with questionable ingredients. Stick with USA-made if possible. I get the US-made rawhide chips. They seem to last a long time and puppies like them. They're big enough that a puppy can't swallow them, too....something else to keep an eye on!

 

[tesslynn]

two pups two different reactions

Kaleigh my 1st pup in 2014...didn't really ever become a die hard chewer...she started teething around 4 mths...she liked stuff in her mouth to try but wasn't a destroying type. She liked frozen tied socks (dipped them in broth) to gnaw on as adult came in. She liked lambs ears, and twisty type chewy sticks. She just doesn't seem that interested now with adult teeth. Savannah 2nd pup in 2014, came home chewing, and attacked anything and everything. That 1sk week she was going after tree trunks, fence posts, anything, I was convinced she was part beaver, not puppy. She stepped up the chewing process steadily, and only finished serious chewing at 8 mths. She has tapered off some with adult teeth though not much. She gnawed on the corners of stuff, mouldings, rugs, she has never waned interest in chewies, hoofs, chew rings or toys. Anything she can leave a tooth imprint on, she does, she chewed the binding of a quilt and blanket-not hers, mine, ugh! Outside she enjoys bigger sticks, limbs that are low lying, any type of garden edging, sometimes smaller rocks, and mulches. I have to say she likes to supplement her diet with insects, various woody type plants, snails (I think it is the crunk factor) and other gross stuff. She experiences her world through taste and chewing. I doubt she will ever STOP chewing something. I have to watch her constantly because stuff I would NEVER think of as edible or chew worthy, finds it's way into her mouth. She like wasps, and bumble bees now that they are out and I fear she will get one soon and get stung. Bottom line, each one has their preference, and you just got to be ready when chewing starts and hope that it doesn't involve stuff you would rather not be chewed. Kaleigh didn't like the bitter apple spray, but Savannah seems to think it enhances stuff UGH!!!

 

[Shelby's mom]

Shelby started teething around 4mos. And she was a big chewer for many years. I too thought she was a beaver. Her preference is any type of wood. Such as the arm of a chair, baseboard, moulding, walls, a curio cabinet to name a few. When we go camping she is always picking pieces of wood off the pile to chew on.

I remember when my in-laws did some remodeling and there was a small piece of baseboard that my father in law did not have secured to the wall. No one even knew it, but some how Shelby sure as heck found it and was happily walking around with it in her mouth. She does not miss a thing.

 

[Hanne]

Minnie started around 4 months. She did not eat the teeth so I could follow the process, she took a long time to lose the upper canine teeth (be aware of that the new does not grow crooked)

She got a big raw frozen beef bone with very little meat on. to chew in a half hour once in a while , so I froze it down again and therefore it could last a long time and was just exciting every time.

Minnie are not a destroying type, she has a big basket filled with things she can play with and there is also old dry bones, but she's good to take everything out of her cuddly toys. She like them empty.

Minnie is my first Sheltie and the first puppy who have never destroyed anything besides if I have lost paper on the floor, it's 100 pieces during for a split second.

 

[Qzee]

Great information everyone!!! I guess I should be seeing teeth coming out any day now. Hopefully I am lucky and she won't be a beaver

Maybe the small log Sabrina loves to chew on outside is doing the trick. She does like to taste everything. She tends to copy my labrador, that is a good and bad thing I have seen her trying to pull up a root of an old bush, lick dirt (not sure why, my lab doesn't do that), and put rocks in her mouth. She is 50/50 on the "drop it" command. I can't say I have notice her swallowing a rock yet. I usually tell her drop it and pick up the ball and toss it. She drops the rock and chases the ball. The tennis ball is one of her favorite toys...

She does have a fetish with the rug by the door. It is an old rug, and will be replaced once she is bigger. She likes to pull the yarn out of it. I think she likes the challenge of it.

I tried an American rawhide w/ my lab once (bully sticks are just getting so expensive) and my lab had horrible diarrhea for 2-1/2 days (it was liquid-y). I decided I would never try that again and Petco was nice enough to take the remaining 2 rawhide bones back for a full refund. I have pig ears I can give her and bully sticks also. I bought a Himalayan chew for my lab to try, but haven't had the chance to give it to her yet to see what she thinks of it. I understand that once the Himalayan gets small where they can choke on it, you put it in the microwave and it will pop like popcorn (something to that nature).

 

[BarbV]

Hi and Welcome! Teething can start in Shelties at 3 months and they will generally lose and grow teeth until 6 to 8 months. That doesn't mean they're done teething though! Puppies will chew until they're about 2 years old.

Some puppies just aren't interested in chew toys. One will like soft toys, another will like rawhide. Some will prefer chews like bully sticks or Himalayan chews. Some of mine are rawhide chewers and others couldn't care less. It seems to be an individual thing. I'd suggest offering your puppy a variety of chews and eventually one will spark her interest.

If you buy rawhide chews, stay away from those made in China. They're like doggie junk food...mine love them, but they're made with questionable ingredients. Stick with USA-made if possible. I get the US-made rawhide chips. They seem to last a long time and puppies like them. They're big enough that a puppy can't swallow them, too....something else to keep an eye on!

As Ann said.....can start at 3 months and go on for years!

Callan is now 14 months.....and he chews everything in sight! He has destroyed 75% of the toys that I got him. The other 25% just did not interest him enough to chew.

And I really do not recommend rawhide. I do sell it in my store, but it does not digest well, so I generally don't recommend it.

It used to take him 1 hour to eat a Whimzee dentl...now he can eat in about 10 minutes. And the 6 inch bull pizzles that used to keep him occupied for 2 hours, he now inhales and then pukes them up because he eats them whole. No more bull pizzles for you!

I've rediscovered Everest Cheese Sticks. These DO last and he cannot inhale them, he has to gnaw away gradually, and it does not ever break off into spikey pieces. A small chew stick will last him a week or more.

And split deer antlers for puppies. They love the marrow but still soft enough to not break teeth.

 

[Qzee]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I am lucky to not have a beaver.... Lol
Friday night I came home to 2 missing teeth and a 3rd one that was loose and came out that evening.... Lol Unfortunately i did not find any of the teeth.

I guess I am in the adult teething stage

I noticed that she has been licking dirt, no clue why. It is good topsoil to grow grass or a garden. My lab does not eat dirt, so she didn't pick it up from her older sister. I'm wondering if it has to do with loosing her teeth. It only just started so that would make sense.