[minnere]

My puppy is around 14 weeks old now and growing like a weed. My husband and I lucked out in that we are both school teachers in the US and have had the summer off to get to know our puppy, Pacer, and welcome him into our home. So, we spend a lot of time with him and are able to recognize behavior changes pretty easily. We noticed one this morning.

Yesterday, we noticed that there was blood present on his raw hide that he loves to chew on in the morning. I took this to mean that he was beginning to teethe. Is this correct? What can I expect with teething? Will he be more tired? Is it anything like babies and can he get a fever, or not feel quite right?

This morning he seems to be exhausted. I normally play fetch with him in the mornings for at least 20 minutes but this morning he was too tired to play at all. He has some small white bumps on his chest, a few more on top of his neck and some under his chin. Could this just be a skin irritation? We took him swimming in a lake yesterday but the ones on his chest were there before that. Should I take him to the vet or just call? He also went to obedience class on Tuesday evening, I don't know if he could have picked up something there? Any help is appreciated.

 

[DixiesMom]

The small amount of blood on the raw hide is normal, and as he begins to lose his baby teeth you will see more blood. It's normal.

The small bumps may be an allergic reaction, my girl has had hives a couple of times. If this is the first time that you have noticed them and they do not go away fairly quickly(within 20 minutes) with a small dose of benedryl, I would make an appt with your cet. It might be staph, which is common in dogs but does need treatment from a vet.

As far as his lethargy, it could be that he is still worn out from his trip to the lake. If he is drinking and eating normally, that would be my guess.


Call your emergency vet clinic and ask about the correct dosage of benedryl, the person answering the phone usually knows this with having to ask the vet.

Good luck with Pacer!!

 

[Crazy Kian]

Kian used to get those little bumps too under his belly and on his chest when he was a pup. Our vet told us it could have been from the grass poking him (seeing as he was so short). She was not concerned with them and they did go away. he did develop some on his forehead too but they also went away after a wek or so.
Good luck with him, sounds like you guys are having fun with Pacer.

 

[Mischa]

Mischa also had a little bit of those bumps while she was young. She's 6 months now and I haven't seen them in so long I forgot all about them!

As for teething, isn't 14 weeks old a bit early to be teething? Maybe the rawhide scratched a gum. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

To answer your question about what to expect with teething, Mischa's still going through it right now and I can assure you her energy level is not in the least bit affected. In my experience, the only thing that's been different is I'm finding teeth all over the place and blood on her toys. I've been freezing her kongs, freezing fruits and vegetables and giving her ice cubes, etc. to help her ease through the need to chew and chew and chew some more. Oh also, the breath is awful! It's a mix of tinny blood and dead something.

 

[minnere]

Thanks all for the responses. I felt like 14 weeks was really early too but his chewing has doubled the last two days. I called the vet about the bumps but am still waiting to hear back. Thebumps don't appear to be bothering Pacer one bit right now seeing as he is dragging his bed across the room and biting as I am trying to type this. That's why we love them though!

 

[Mischa]

Lol that's just vizsla Pacer! I didn't think it was possible (silly me) but Mischa destroyed her nyla bone just last week. She chewed off a huge chunk of it and thank god I was watching so that I could pick it up and throw it out before she choked on it.

She's also gone through a million toys. I'm thinking of getting her some of those expensive Kong Extreme toys. Hopefully she won't be able to destroy those. Better to ruin toys than our furniture is though my motto!

 

[Crazy Kian]

Try these toys, they seem to last a little longer than most :
https://www.vipproducts.com/retail/files/index.php/store_pages/view/46/tuffys-why-so-tuff
I think we have only gone as high as an 8 on their scale and it seems to last about 3-4 weeks before Kian goes through this stitching.
Once he gets through the stitching it's game over. With monitored playing it can last longer... I think :-\

 

[Suzannedobermann]

Hi, I am new to HVF - I have a 9 month old Dobie boy and through the teething phases I found freezing wet cloths (old tea towels) and buying beef knuckle bones helped greatly, Murphy used to like chewing on the soft gristle on the end of the bones, and you can freeze them too!
Also, lots of cuddles & gum rubs (that was easy! )

 

[minnere]

Thanks for all of the recs. Kian I got on that web site and ordered one of those toys for him. Hopefully he enjoys it! Then again, he enjoys chewing on everything.

Little excited mom note-took him to the vet yesterday and he now weighs 22 lbs! 6lbs more than his last visit! Growing like a weed in front of our eyes.