Do Puppies Lose Their Teeth & When Does It Happen?

Yes! Puppies lose their baby teeth and grow new adult teeth – just like humans!

When Do Puppies Lose Their Baby Teeth?

Puppies first develop their baby teeth (also referred to as deciduous teeth or milk teeth) at around 3 weeks, and by 6 to 8 weeks your puppy will have his full set of milk teeth.

However, pups don’t have their baby teeth for very long. After just a month, your puppy’s milk teeth will begin to fall out, making way for adult dog teeth.

This means your puppy will likely begin to lose his puppy teeth at around 3 to 4 months old, although it can vary between breeds. Not coincidentally, this is roughly the same time frame in which puppies can begin eating puppy food, rather than milk.

This is around the time when most owners will have finally taken their puppy home. As your pup’s baby teeth fall out and adult teeth begin to emerge, you’ll want to make sure you’re providing your puppy with teething toys and relief.

Your pup should have a full set of adult teeth at around 6 to 9 months of age. Once your dog’s adult teeth have grown in and he is safely out of the crazy teething phase, you can begin considering more heavy duty chew toys.

Learn the basics about puppy teeth in this video from Pet Health Network (skip to 20 seconds to get right to the good stuff)!

Why Do Puppies Teethe?

Just like human babies, puppies too will have their first set of baby teeth grow in when they are young. The process of having those new teeth poke and grow through your gums is quite irritating — even painful.

Puppies will be desperate to chew anything and everything that alleviates teething pain. Luckily, there are plenty of toys designed for puppy teething that will serve much better than your favorite shoes!

What Happens When Puppies Teethe?

Your poor pup won’t enjoy that sensation of new teeth coming in too much — in fact, he’ll do anything to alleviate it, including chewing on your favorite furniture.

When puppies first begin to teethe, you may notice drops of blood on their toys, or even little baby teeth that have fallen out! Don’t worry — it’s normal and nothing to worry about.

There was one occasion a while back, where I was dog sitting a young puppy and playing tug of war with her. As we were playing, one of her teeth popped right out! I didn’t know anything about dog teething and so was quite a bit panicked (especially when she began to bleed a little), but the owner assured me that she was in the process of growing in her big dog teeth!

It’s best to avoid being too rough with your pup’s mouth during this period. Games like tug of war should be avoided, since it could potentially affect the growth of new teeth.

You’ll also notice that your puppy will get quite mouthy while teething – even more than usual! This is when you’ll want to make sure you’re providing your pup with plenty of pup-appropriate chew toys while teaching him that nipping isn’t OK (even if his little teeth are bugging him).

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Have you had experience with your dog losing puppy teeth? Ever seen a tooth or two pop loose unexpectedly? Lose any particularly precious possessions in the name of canine chompin’?

Share your story in the comments!