Sticks1977 Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 Our five month-old chocolate labrador 'Fraser' has cut a fair few teeth and his adult teeth at the front between the fangs are all through and he has two large teeth a the back on the bottom and top of his jaw/gums that have come through. The other teeth are on their way and over the weekend his gums were bleeding as some of them have cut through the gums and are starting to come through. Is this painful for him with his teeth coming up? Is there anything any of you would suggest to give him to help the teething process? At the moment we are feeding him Hill's Science Diet Puppy - Large Breed Dry Food and PAL Pedigree Wet Food that you can buy in the supermarket for puppies (usually Chicken & Rice, Chicken and Turkey, Chicken). During the day he will get some Bone Biscuits, PAL Puppy Trainers (Liver?), and a Smoked Lamb Bone from who-ever is last out the door on the way to work. He also has PLENTY of toys at his disposal, the main toys that seem to be useful for his teeth are a Nylabone (navy blue in colour, has small ripples on it), Squeak toy (in the shape of a bone with small soccer balls on each end - he loves it!), and a teething ring made of very hard plastic with some small plastic keys on it. If there is anything we have missed to assist him in the teething stage, let me know... just don't want the poor bugger to suffer when his teeth are coming through. Regards, Shaun (sticks1977) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poodle wrangler Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 How about raw brisket bones- good to chew on and he can eat the lot. Have to deduct it from his daily food intake. Do you like to feed the wet food? I'd probably give it a miss. Most canned foods are higher in sugar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan of Arc Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 I have included our basic diet which we find is good for thier teeth also, the chewing is part of teething just like with humans and so any chewing will help. This is our basic diet for our girls who are now 7 months. Breakfast - 1/2 cup biscuit and a small chicken frame Lunch - no longer receiving a lunch meal ( we both work and no one to feed them at home and they are old enough for two meals a day now) Dinner - 1 cup of biscuits, a handful of mince (sometimes chicken, lamb or beef - or kangaroo when we have it), a piece of lamb flap and then at least once a week we use egg or sardines. This all varies slightly depending on a few variables but they are in very good condition, not over weight and their coats are shining and healthy. I agree with the chicken necks being a bit dangerous for some dogs or pups, one of our girls is a swallower so she would never get necks, her litter sister is a methodical chewer and would chew the smallest dog biscuit for ever. She gets necks sometimes. Give him something that will take longer to eat eg chicken frames, lamb shanks etc, kongs are good but be aware that quite a few male Labs have enourmous jaw strength and will chew away at the actual Kong. We no longer use them because our yellow boy eats them. All our dogs are trained to sit when we approach with their bowls, and wait until we place the bowls on the ground. They are not allowed to eat unti we release them to do so - you can lengthen the wait time by using the 'leave it' command and then perhaps something like a finger click accompanied by 'eat' or 'have your tea'. WE also use the 'gentle' command when giving them anything by hand, to ensure that they only 'lip' hand held food - nothing like loosing a fingernail or more to a food orientated Lab (lol). Lots of walks but not too far just yet, he's a bit young for long walks, always praise and if you are able to find a puppy preschool or the local obedience club - in amongst all these other things he will need socialising. Excercise and social skills are essential for Labs in order to curb thier natural enthusiasm for life. Good luck with your boy he is gorgeous and keep the photos and the progress reports coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sticks1977 Posted November 7, 2007 Author Share Posted November 7, 2007 Thanks for your long reply mercedes, just a few things I wanted to reply about... Give him something that will take longer to eat eg chicken frames, lamb shanks etc, kongs are good but be aware that quite a few male Labs have enourmous jaw strength and will chew away at the actual Kong. We no longer use them because our yellow boy eats them. I have given him lamb shanks in the past he seems to LOVE the meat on them but I am a little worried over the two bones that are in there - they seem to get pretty small after a while. He has a Kong but has never taken any interest in it... I have thought about the other Kong products out in the market but considering the price of 'em - meh... All our dogs are trained to sit when we approach with their bowls, and wait until we place the bowls on the ground. They are not allowed to eat unti we release them to do so - you can lengthen the wait time by using the 'leave it' command and then perhaps something like a finger click accompanied by 'eat' or 'have your tea'. We are already doing this with Fraser, we taught him from an early age to wait for his dinner - they suggested at training to pick a certain word before feeding him ANYTHING - to help with food refusal. We picked the word "tucker" and these days he is very good and will not eat his dinner until he hears the word. Can try and trick him sometimes with 'sucker', 'rucker' etc. and he won't budge. The longer we keep him though the more drool and dribble he produces as he has the stare down with his meal. Lots of walks but not too far just yet, he's a bit young for long walks, always praise and if you are able to find a puppy preschool or the local obedience club - in amongst all these other things he will need socialising. Excercise and social skills are essential for Labs in order to curb thier natural enthusiasm for life. I am taking him for roughly a 20-25 minute walk at the moment around the residential areas around home. He is told to sit every time we come to a road or street to cross. He is getting to a stage where I am not having to tell him which is great for me. We have him in training at ADT in Berwick and he has been enjoying that, plenty of socialisation and learning what and what not to do - and to have plenty of fun along the way. I also take him down to an off-leash area near my partners work place, shame we don't have one in our local council!! Thanks again for the reply - it seems like a real nice community and forum here! ;) sticks1977 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jillybean Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 Have you tried freezing things? The cold can be soothing for their sore gums. I fill a Kong with a mixture of peanut butter and natural yoghurt and freeze it, my pup loves it. I also fill small containers with water and chopped up fruit and freeze that. When you tip it out of the container it's like a big ice cube and she spends ages chasing it around! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan of Arc Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 Oh yes freezing stuff is a bonus, make some watery meat soup and freeze it in an old ice cream container. Tip out on the grass etc adn its one big ice block for the day. Meat adn rice in the Kong are good also Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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