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When Do Great Danes Stop Teething: All You Need to Know

The teething process can be a grueling time for both your Great Dane and yourself!

This article will answer FAQs on teething habits as well as important tips that should help your Dane substantially.

great-dane-teething

When Do Great Danes Stop Teething?

Great Danes stop teething when their full set of 42 adult teeth have fully come through. This is usually around the 8-month mark, but some Great Danes may finish slightly sooner or even a little later.

8 months is the usual time for most, but this can vary. If your Great Dane still doesn’t have his full set of adult teeth in at this point it’s advised to have a check-up with your veterinarian.

In some cases, veterinarians will need to assist the remaining teeth.

When Do Great Danes Start Teething?

Technically, Great Danes start teething at around 3 weeks old as this is when their baby teeth (deciduous teeth) starting coming through. Teething habits and sensations start at this point. By 6 weeks, all baby teeth should be through.

However, this isn’t considered the main event, oh no. At around 3-4 months of age, they start losing their baby teeth to make way for their set of 42 adult teeth. This is when substantial teething sensations and pains start happening.

It’s also worth knowing that teething pains come in waves. There isn’t a set “amount” of teething on a daily basis.

Some days your Dane will seem just fine, and on others, he’ll experience a severe teething advancement which can cause a lot of irritation in one go.

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Great Dane Puppy Teething Timeline

Let’s run through a complete timeline breaking down the major stages of Great Dane teething.

2-4 weeks: Great Dane’s baby teeth start pushing through.
5-6 weeks: Full set of baby teeth should be through.
3 months: Baby teeth start falling out to make way for adult teeth.
4-5 months: Adult premolars and canines start pushing through.
6 months: Adult molars start coming through.
7 months: Most adult teeth will be in place but still pushing through.
8 months: The majority of Great Danes will have their full set of 42 teeth by now.

As I mentioned earlier, it’s important to know that teething comes in sporadic waves of intensity.

Some days it will seem like the chewing and irritation is calming down, but then on others, it’s back in full force! So be ready for that.

How Do Great Dane Puppies Deal With Teething?

Teething causes a lot of new sensations that your puppy would have never felt before. “Sensations” can be anything from mild tingling to severe pain, irritation, and inflammation.

Your puppy will likely go through all of it and as a result, you can expect the following to happen.

Expected changes when your Great Dane puppy is teething:

Chewing and biting habits will increase dramatically
Mood swings and bad behavior may increase
Slight bleeding in saliva (but it shouldn’t be a lot)
Extra saliva and drooling in general
Short attention span & not willing to listen as much

Why Great Danes Chew So Much When Teething

Chewing habits throughout teething drives owners crazy! I’ve had to deal with it many times with all different kinds of breeds, and Great Danes are a handful, to say the least! But here’s why chewing actually plays a very important role.

Chewing relieves his tingling gums and encourages extra blood flow to the area. Increased blood flow helps the overall teething process and so too does the pressure that’s applied when constantly chewing on varying textures.

Chewing is such an important aid to the overall teething process, that it shouldn’t be prevented.

Chewing the correct items, like suitable toys, instead of your chair legs and slippers, is the goal. And I’ll explain how you can do that further below.

Top Tips To Help Your Great Dane When Teething

Let’s run through some of the best tips known to help teething puppies. As you will soon find out, there’s a common theme with a lot of these tips!

1. Frozen Bananas or Carrots

Pop a large carrot or banana (peeled) in the freezer for an hour or two, then let your Great Dane puppy reap the benefits.

This acts not only as a healthy chew treat/toy, but the ice-cold temperature will provide prolonged pain relief and soothe his inflamed gums. This is a classic that’s been used with puppies for decades. Just be sure to only use large carrots to avoid choking hazards.

2. Frozen KONG Toy With Treat Peanut Butter

KONG toys are still one of the best toys for a teething puppy. Grab yourself a classic puppy KONG toy, stuff it with xylitol-free peanut butter, and pop it in the freezer for an hour or two.

Not only will your Great Dane be completely fixated on the thawing peanut butter. But the rubbery chewy texture of the KOND will promote healthy blood flow to the gums. The ice-cold temperatures will yet again act as further pain relief.

This one is a true winner! But be sure to only do this 2-3 times per week, as peanut butter has a lot of calories.

Aside from this specific toy. Aim to have a range of durable tough rubber toys. Rubber toys provide likely the best texture for your puppy to bite down on throughout their teething period.

3. Ice Cube Treats

Realized the common theme yet? Ice cube treats are super easy to make and you can keep them interesting. You can either freeze a piece of kibble inside an ice cube, use meat stock to make ice cubes, or even infuse peanut butter into the ice cubes.

Whichever one you go for, a few ice cubes will provide instant pain relief, albeit fairly temporary.

This one is more of a treat than a long-lasting chew toy, but they are easy to make and still well worth it! P.S This one can get messy so be sure to give the ice cubes on a cleanable floor!

4. Rope Toys

Rope toys are another important type of toy to have in your arsenal. Rope toys can provide a unique texture that’s more forgiving yet still strong and durable. Please don’t be tempted to play tug of war as this could put too much sideward pressure on the teeth.

Rope toys can of course be frozen too! To freeze one, run it under the tap to make it wet before popping into the freezer.

When buying rope toys, be sure to check the reviews and opt for a high-quality option. Despite being one of my favorite toys to have for my puppies, they can break very quickly if you mistakenly purchase an inferior rope toy.

5. Chew Treats

Having a range of chew treats will be very necessary throughout your puppy’s teething period. Depending on which chew treats you go for, can last either a few seconds or a good 30 minutes!

Chew treats are awesome for those times when your puppy is driving you insane and relentlessly trying to chew off your hand. Opt for a chew treat instead.

Additionally, you can opt for puppy dental chew treats which will also keep their teeth (or whatever teeth they have) clean and healthy.

Dealing With Your Great Dane’s Increased Chewing

A big issue for owners is handling the increased level of chewing and biting. Whether it’s from your Great Dane trying to bite you, your furniture, destroying their bed, or chewing your slippers, it can be extremely frustrating.

Constant redirection

The first part of this process is constant redirection. It’s important to remember that in the beginning, your puppy won’t know what he’s allowed to chew and what he isn’t. So we have to show him.

This means that whenever he tries chewing something he isn’t allowed to, you need to take his toy and swiftly redirect him to that. It’s super important to do this consistently. If he goes for your chair leg or fingers, give him a quick “No” and place a toy in front of him.

Positive reinforcement

The second part of this is to reward him for his change of focus. Whenever you redirect his focus on to his toy, wait around 5 seconds to validate the change of focus, then reward him with praise and a small treat

It’s very important to wait at least 5 seconds. Your puppy will then associate being rewarded with his toy, instead of being rewarded for chewing your slipper. Ensuring his focus remains on his toy for a short while will help with the distinction.

Does this actually work?

You’re right in thinking that this is simple, but trust me, it will take a few weeks for this to really sink in. You absolutely must remain consistent for this to work. But if you do, you’ll create a good habit that sticks way beyond teething.

Great Danes (and all dogs) learn the best through association and repetition. Your Dane must associate chewing his toy with your approval and chewing anything else with disapproval.

Puppies rely heavily on treats for communication in the early stages, so it’s with the treats that you are able to make a distinction between when he chews his toys (good) and when he chews anything else (bad).

And of course, this takes a lot of repetitiveness.

Why it’s so important to practice this method

The benefits of following this training goes a long way beyond teething. In fact, if you allow your Great Dane to get away with chewing too many items he shouldn’t this will quickly form a habit. And habits are very hard to break.

Bad chewing habits develop during the teething stage but can last for years if they are not controlled and rectified as soon as possible.

If you start redirecting his chewing from day one, you can save yourself potentially years of destructive chewing. And this could equate to hundreds if not thousands of dollars of prevented damage.

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When To Start Brushing Your Great Dane’s Teeth?

Another common question is if/when do you need to brush your Great Dane’s teeth.

The easy answer is yes, you do need to brush your Great Danes teeth. But thankfully, you only need to start once he has his 42 teeth, and teething has stopped.

You don’t need to worry about brushing his teeth much before then.

However, even though you don’t need to brush his teeth, it’s a VERY good idea to start getting him accustomed to you touching his mouth area from day one.

If he’s already gotten used to you fondling with his mouth, then brushing his teeth (when it comes around) will be easy. But if you’ve never gone near his mouth until this point, he’s going to be extremely uncomfortable and resistant to when you need to hold his mouth open.

Important note: Human toothpaste contains an artificial sweetener called Xylitol. This is a toxic ingredient for dogs. Please ONLY use a toothpaste that’s made for dogs! Recommended below.

Recommended Teething Items

Here’s a list of some of the recommended items throughout the article. All items are highly reviewed, but I do still encourage you to read the reviews for yourself as well.

KONG Puppy Toy
Nylabone Teething Toy
Puppy Teething Ring Treat
Dog Toothbrush Kit

Always check reviews and do your due diligence before choosing products.


Thank you for reading!



Disclaimer

Before making any decisions that could affect the health and/or safety of your dog, you should always consult a trained veterinarian in your local area. Even though this content may have been written/reviewed by a trained veterinarian, our advice to you is to always consult your own local veterinarian in person. Please read our full dislcaimer if you have any questions.