Teething, month by month
When do puppies lose their teeth and does biting change?
Families notice a baby tooth on the rug or a spot of blood on a chew toy and wonder whether the biting is about to get better or worse. The honest answer is both, in that order.
Last reviewed September 29, 2026 · by the Best Dog University Team
The timeline
Baby teeth go from about three months, and the adult set is usually complete by six or seven.
A puppy's needle-sharp baby teeth are all in by around eight weeks, which is why an eight-week puppy's nip hurts so much for its size. From roughly twelve to sixteen weeks the roots dissolve and the baby teeth loosen, usually the small front incisors first, then the canines and the back teeth. You will find the odd tiny tooth on the floor or in a toy, but many are swallowed with food and never seen.
The adult teeth push in behind and under them, and by about six to seven months most puppies have the full adult set. Large and giant breeds sometimes run a little later. If a baby tooth is still in place once the adult tooth beside it has fully arrived, mention it to your vet at the next visit, because a retained tooth is a veterinary question, not a training one.
- Baby teeth all in: around eight weeks
- Baby teeth loosening: roughly three to four months
- Adult set complete: about six to seven months
- A baby tooth that stays: ask your vet
How biting changes
It usually gets busier during teething, then play biting fades if the rules held.
While teeth are moving, many puppies chew more and mouth harder, and some get grumpy about having their mouth handled. That is the stretch when families say the biting got worse just as they thought it was ending. It is usually the teething and a puppy that is now big enough to reach more, not a change in temperament. The rules that were working still work, and they matter more now.
Once the adult teeth are in, play biting on people fades in most puppies whose families kept the rules: teeth on skin ends the game, a toy is always offered instead, and an overtired puppy goes for a nap. Chewing on objects is a separate thing. Many puppies go through another heavy chewing phase between about six months and a year, so shoes and table legs stay out of reach for a while yet.
- Teething: more chewing, harder mouthing, sore gums
- After the adult teeth: play biting fades with consistent rules
- Chewing objects often peaks again before the first birthday
- The rules matter more at five months, not less
What to do
Cold chews, a mouth that is handled gently and teeth that never win a game.
Give the puppy something good to chew at every stage of teething: a rubber toy stuffed with wet food and frozen, a knotted wet washcloth from the freezer, and a couple of chews sized so they cannot be swallowed whole. In a Houston summer, when the puppy is indoors in the air conditioning most of the day, the frozen options earn their place twice, as comfort for the gums and as quiet time on a mat.
Keep handling the mouth, gently and briefly, lifting a lip and paying with a treat, so the vet can look later without a fight. And watch the yard: teething puppies chew sticks, mulch and plants, and sago palms, common in Houston landscaping, are toxic to dogs. Keep the puppy on a leash near them, and call the ASPCA Animal Poison Control line or your vet straight away if you think one has been chewed. Fire ant mounds in the lawn are another reason a teething puppy exploring with its mouth stays on a leash in the yard for now.
Offer a frozen stuffed rubber toy during the evening peak of mouthing
Keep a knotted washcloth, wet and frozen, for the worst gum days
End any game the moment teeth touch skin, and offer the toy
Put the overtired puppy in its crate for a nap before the biting peaks
Lift a lip for two seconds a day and pay it
Keep the puppy leashed near sago palms, mulch and garden beds
Tell your vet about any baby tooth still in place beside its adult tooth
When it is not teething
A hard, stiff or guarded bite is a different problem from a teething puppy.
Teething explains more chewing and busier mouthing. It does not explain a puppy that stiffens, freezes and bites when a bowl or a chew is approached, one that bites hard when held or picked up, or one that growls with a hard stare. Those are guarding, fear or handling problems, and they need a plan of their own rather than a wait for the adult teeth.
The other trap is a puppy of seven or eight months that still bites the family in play. That puppy has usually learned that biting works to start a game or get attention, and the adult jaw makes it a real problem fast, particularly with children in the house. In Houston that often shows up in a summer puppy that spent June to September indoors with kids home from school, getting wound up every afternoon with no outlet. The fix is structure, naps and a trainer's eye, not waiting.
- Stiffening and biting over food or a chew: guarding
- Biting when held or picked up: handling or fear
- Still play biting at seven or eight months: a learned habit
- Any of these deserve a trainer, not a wait
At Best Dog University
The puppy bundle sets the mouth rules early; lessons or Gold catch the puppy that kept biting.
The Puppy Development Bundle is four private sessions for puppies under four months, $550 at the training home in Cypress or $750 in your home, and the mouthing rules, the chew plan and gentle handling are part of it from the start, before teething peaks. A puppy of four to six months still biting hard gets private lessons at $160 or $220 per session. An adolescent that mouths people at six months and beyond, often with jumping and pulling on top, fits the two-week Gold program at $2,500.
The programs
Programs for the teething puppy and the one that kept biting.
The puppy bundle before teething peaks, private lessons for the four to six month puppy, Gold for the adolescent that still mouths.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this.
Do puppies bite more when teething?
Often, yes. Sore gums and loose teeth make many puppies chew and mouth more between about three and six months, and some dislike having the mouth handled. Keep the rules the same, add cold chews, and the play biting on people usually fades once the adult teeth are in.
Is it normal to find puppy teeth or a little blood?
Finding a small tooth on the floor or a pink smear on a toy is common while baby teeth fall out. Many teeth are swallowed with food. Heavy bleeding, a puppy that stops eating, or a baby tooth that stays after the adult tooth is in are things to ask your vet about.
What can I give a teething puppy in the heat?
A rubber toy stuffed with wet food and frozen, or a wet washcloth knotted and frozen, are both good and keep a puppy busy on a mat in the air conditioning. Size every chew so it cannot be swallowed whole, and supervise anything new.
At what age should a puppy stop biting completely?
Most puppies stop biting people hard somewhere between four and six months, as the adult teeth come in and the family's rules take hold. A puppy still biting in play at seven or eight months has usually learned that it works, and it needs a trainer before the adult jaw makes it dangerous.
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