[Dailydrool] Maliah's Teething

[rebecca lando]

I'd just like to add my 2 cents to this. Humphrey's teething was so bad we
almost thought we'd have to call in Cesar Millan, and Kit's arms were so
torn up from Humphrey's "shark attacks" that a friend was seriously
concerned he was cutting himself. We certainly did not encourage Humphrey to
chew on us. Whenever he'd launch himself at us, jaws open, we had a defense
checklist:

1. When he came at us, the first thing we'd try to do is redirect his
attention with another command. Generally, it was "HUMPHREY, SIT!" because
that was the only command he knew at 4 months. When he launched himself at
us, we'd quickly jump to our feet and hold a treat up over his head to help
him re-focus, and if he sat, he'd get the treat and a lot of praise. He
NEVER got the treat unless he sat - otherwise he might have learned that
attacking us = reward and we'd be in big trouble these days. Standing helped
because it made him look up at us and he generally had no interest in
attacking our legs/feet, just our sweet, bare arms.

2. If the standing/command/treat combo didn't work, a squirt in the face
from a bottle of water and a loud "NO BITE!" usually did the trick. Then
we'd tell him to sit, and, once he did, he'd get a treat and a toy to
redirect his teething pains to.

We found that the best teething toys were old socks, knotted up and soaked
in water or (better yet) a 1/2 water, 1/2 chicken broth mix and frozen. The
coldness numbed and soothed his gums. He also found solace in puppy kongs
filled with peanut butter and frozen. Basically anything that both felt good
and tasted good was the best - both a relief for the pain, and a distraction
from teething on us.

I saw that someone suggested giving Maliah old tennis shoes to chew on and I
respectfully but adamantly advise you NOT to do this. The synthetic rubber
soles of tennis shoes contain a lot of chemicals that could harm your puppy
if ingested. Puppy teeth are so thin and sharp that she could pierce the
rubber without making much of a visible mark, and ingest some of these
chemicals and toxins. Kong and Premiere Pet are two companies that make
fantastically rough rubber toys specifically for dogs of all ages and sizes
to chew on, which are much safer for your puppy. A lot of these toys can be
filled with food/treats and frozen to make the experience even more
enjoyable for Maliah. If you don't have a Kong and don't want to buy one,
the frozen, knotted socks will work, too.

My dad advised me to do the same thing for Humphrey that they did for me as
a baby: rub some bourbon on his gums to ease the pain *and* make him sleepy.
I admit, there were a few especially bad teething moments where we were
tempted to try it, but always ended up slugging the bourbon ourselves.

Drool to all in need,

Rebecca, Kit, Professor Bix, and Humphrey (who stopped teething when he lost
his first tooth, luckily)
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