How to deal with a teething puppy?

[Messianic_Monk]

Title says all. I try to get him to bite his toys but it doesn't work. He'll bite for a period of time but he's more interested in buying everything I don't want him to bite. The wires... my bed sheets... the rugs... myself... my mom etc. And for whatever reason he especially nips my mom 🤷 should I just let it slide until he reaches adulthood or is there something I should do now?

[AmandaYVR]

Baby animals explore and discover the world partly by mouthing everything. It doesn't necessarily indicate that they'll grow up to be a biter. Though it's good to at least try to set some boundaries, so that they don't grow up to think that they own everything in the house.

• You can have ample chew toys around, and every time they chew something of yours, replace it with their toys. They can't all be soft. Some should be hard, different textures, to give them variety to satisfy them.
• There is a spray you can buy in pet stores. I remember it being called "bitter apple" and they don't like the taste of it. You can spray it on wooden chair legs, things like that. Maybe you can google home remedies from household kitchen products.
• Dogs are extremely observant, and they look at their human's face to read signals. Use it. And loudly say, "Owww!" and then quickly pull your hand or body part back. It's loud and shocking. They'll eventually learn the key sounds of your language.

But mostly it's going to be about just letting them go through the teething process. Don't let them run amok, but most (not all) grow out of it.

What breed of dog is it?

[Razp_Sorbet]

You have to be consistent. Don't just let him chew on the things you don't want him to chew on because you can't be bothered dealing with it. If you see him biting something he shouldn't then replace it with a chew toy, praise him for using the chew toys. Have a variety to chew toys on rotation (don't just have 10 different ones out at one time he will get bored of them) so he gets all the different feelings. There's ones you can even put treats in which will help with the positive reinforcement. Don't be afraid to use treats either, to praise the good behavior. Give him edible chews for something different. Do not under any circumstances let him chew on old socks, shoes, slippers etc. That's just asking for him to grab your stuff to chew in the future. All chewable items must be dog specific.

[Redstang88]

Maybe try some different toys or whatever disposable items you can find that he will chew. But yeah there’s only so much you can do until they grow out of it

[TheSpaceGnome]

There are toys specifically designed for teething. Maybe try those?

[Kori1236]

Puppies explore with their mouths. What kind of puppy is it? Herding breed? Shelter special? I used frozen rags when my boy was a pup it helped loosen the teeth and he didn’t bleed everywhere. But you can only do that if your dog doesn’t eat everything. You could stuff a kong toy and freeze; it keeps the mind occupied and helps teething. Play tug with a rope toy but be careful you don’t want to rip the toy from puppy’s mount and pull teeth that aren’t ready.

[TrueConfection]

When my dog was a puppy, I would soak a washcloth and roll it up tight. Then, put it in the freezer. I'd give her the frozen rag to chew on and she LOVED it! It felt good, scratchy, and cold on her gums. She didn't chew anything else.