If you are lucky enough to get a Great Dane as a puppy you are in a unique situation of watching them teeth from week-old puppies to year old.
Yes, it takes that long to get their adult teeth.
But do not fear, with knowledge of the teething process and what to do you can make sure your Dane is as comfortable as possible, your precious shoes and couch legs are protected and you can brush your dog’s teeth without much resistance.
How Does It Start?
0 – 3 weeks
Your great Dane is born without teeth so they can suckle from their mother’s teat.
But by two to three weeks their baby teeth (also called deciduous teeth) will start to come out.
3 – 6 weeks
It is a quick process for the milk teeth to come out, a set of 28, so they can start chewing their food.
Note they can only chew soft food during this period as a replacement for their mother’s milk.
But these teeth are just temporary, no sooner do they arrive than they have to make way for adult teeth.
3-4 months
Within this period the first set of milk teeth will start to fall out as they hit their growth spurt.
Their body and jawline are growing to adult size and extra room is needed for the full-size adult teeth.
4-8 months
The teething process is more intense than the milk teething process: 42 teeth are being formed as 28 teeth are falling out at the same time.
Your Dane will go through cycles of discomfort and unease as pain can increase and subside at different intervals.
And this will get them acting strange and looking for anyway to relieve themselves.
Unfortunately, this is where bad habits may be born but it is also a great time to develop good lifelong habits.
What Happens During Teething?
- Your puppy may feel anything from tingling to severe pain and inflammation of gums when teething.
- When this happens, they would want to ease the discomfort by chewing and biting more, have mood swings and short attention spans because of the changing intensity of the pain.
- They may bleed in their mouth and it can show in their saliva which they will produce in excess.
- Teeth might fall out anywhere, you could find it in their food or water bowl, in their chew toy, or even on the ground walking around.
How To Soothe For Your Teething Dane?
Your Dane might be in discomfort for most of this period and there are things you can do to make it better for them.
1. Frozen Ice Cube Treats
Ice relieves the irritation they feel so you can freeze kibbles, meat stock, or peanut butter in ice cubes for frozen ice cube treats.
The cold relieves the pain and at the center, they have a treat waiting for them so they will learn to love it.
2. Rope Toys
High-quality rope toys can provide hours of chewable fun for dogs.
And frozen rope toys offer cooling relief while providing a fun chewable experience.
To freeze a rope toy just run water over it to get it wet and then put it in a freezer.
3. Chew Treats
There are chew treats that can give your dog up to thirty minutes of chew time so they can be distracted with chewing something and also get the relief that comes with it.
And it is a treat as well.
4. Frozen Bananas and Carrots
From what we have seen so far, cold + chewing is the best relief for a dog but what is better than a healthy chewable frozen treat?
Freeze a decent-sized banana or carrot that is big enough not to be a choking hazard.
Then give it to your pup to enjoy the cool relief and chew on it for a good amount of time.
Preventing Destruction
Chewing is one of the main events during this period and it can be annoying if you cannot get a handle on it.
They chew because it will give them relief but it also helps increase blood flow to the gums which helps the teething process.
And this need to chew can lead to them chewing anything they can get their teeth on:
- Chair or table legs
- Rugs
- Your favorite shoe
- Or your hand
Here are a couple of ways to minimize the destruction of your property:
1. Redirection
Redirect their attention every time they want to start gnawing on something they should not.
This can be with a chewable treat or a chew toy, any of the things we listed above.
It will take a little training and conditioning to get your puppy to understand that furnishing and shoes are not suitable alternatives.
If you allow this you may be encouraging your dog to grow up being allowed to chew on whatever he pleases.
2. Positive reinforcement
If he chews on something he is not supposed to, it is important not to be get negative or punish your puppy.
He may not understand why he is being punished and he will still have the urge to chew.
It is best to reinforce positive behavior like when he goes for his chew toy instead, you praise him or reward him with a treat.
Your puppy will now associate chewing on his chew toy with a positive outcome and it will drive him from chewing on anything else.
Starting Brushing
As the teeth are coming out it is not safe to brush so do not attempt it.
But you must get your pup used to you getting close to its mouth as that is its personal space.
Use your hand to hold its mouth as you do a visual check on its teeth growth.
Do this often enough and brushing its teeth, later on, would be easier.
If you wait too late your dog might react badly to you approaching its mouth and brushing will definitely be difficult.
You can start brushing your pup’s teeth after the eighth-month mark or when teething is over.
Remember to use dog-friendly toothpaste as regular toothpaste may have xylitol which they are deathly allergic to.