Stones...

Hi,

My almost 5month old Northern Inuit puppy Jess is teething at the minute.

She must be in agony they are all coming through at once, these huge teeth coming in such a tiny mouth!

She loves to chew stones, mainly outside she has picked up tiny ones, chews them for abit and sometimes swallows them.
Swallowing stones helps dogs digestion so I dont mind her doing it now and then.

I try to get them out of her mouth but it is impossible to stop her getting them and forceably remove them from her mouth all the time.

I have recently moved and this evening I was in my spare room putting up some furniture and having a tidy up as it looks like a pitt in there!
I cannot go anywhere without my 'shadow' Jess so as I worked she was walking about having a nosey at all the things.
She was particulaly interested in my box of stones, big peices of Quartz and other stones I picked up from all over the country for memories.
She sat gnawing on a largish one and I didnt know what to do.

Are stones bad for teething puppies?

I keep thinking about dogs in the wild, surely gnawing stones would be something they do naturally to help them teethe... but I worry about her filing down her adult teeth too...

Any advice anyone?

Oooh I hadn't heard of stones helping a dogs digestion, I would panic of I found mine eating them.

Bradley is just 5 months so I know just what you're going through with the teething. He was ok so long as I kept him supplied with raw hide and biscuit chew sticks. I also gave him the knotty rope toys.

I wouldn't let one of mine gnaw on stones but thats because I would worry about their teeth, maybe there is some sort of mineral they get from doing it

It is amazing how quickly they get over the teething, it seems like ages ago that I was worrying about him and checking them as they were coming through.

Kye I feel for you, my dog does it too! Everytime he comes in he seems to have a pebble in his mouth. Fortunately he's quite happy to come over and go 'look what I've got mum! So I can take them off him very easily. He always has things he's meant to chew but he seems to prefer stones over bones lol!

I will be watching this thread with interest, as I currently take them off of him because same as you I worry about his teeth (although he seems to mouth them and play with them more than seriously chew them).

Hang on in there, you're not alone!

I would be very wary of a dog chewing stones as one of my Dachies long gone to the bridge was fasinated with stones and evenually it took the enamel off her teeth. I have never heard of them helping digestion either.

Thanks for the replys.

I heard several times off not only a Husky breeder but a couple of friends that dogs eat small stones to aid with thier digestion.
It helps 'grind' things down in thier bellys and comes out the other end no problem.

Lovezois, thats the fear I have about Jess chewing stones, the enamel coming off her teeth and also grinding her teeth down, she only gets one adult set, she needs to take care of them!

I know her milk teeth 'fangs' are ground down considerably from what they were, but milk teeth are alot softer and also they are only meant to be temporary...
I dont want my dog to end up with dentures... although my bruised arms woulod appreciate a 'gummy' dog. lol

Animal...

Jess is a right naughty girl, I wish she would come and give me the stones she gets.... nope she just runs off, knowing full well mummy cant chase after her as she has poorly legs!
They learn so fast...

Hi there,

Vienna was a pain when she was teething too but she chewed sticks instead of stones lol. She also chewed a bit of doorframe. I soaked a couple of old flannels in water and froze them. I gave them to her to chew on - she liked them cos they were crunchy and fun to chew but also the coldness soothed her gums a bit i think. Maybe you could try that for Jess?

I used to give the boy's a carrot or an ice cube if they seemed really annoyed with their teeth, I have a massive pebble in the garden that Inka used to like, he does'nt show any interest in it now but I leave it in the kennel run...memories...I never allowed him to swallow stones when he was small, hes partial to a beetle or 2, he brings them into me yuck !

Heya Inky,

Yep Jess loves her Ice Cubes and Carrots too!

She has taken to mumching on the ice cubes now instead of just sucking them and batting them around.

She likes to chew carrots too, and put the tiuny peices in several piles all around the room... which really clashes with my brown carpet lol

I will have to post a piccy of her eating her carrots! lol

beat you Kye...

i have found the frozen flannels the best teether .....cara is teething and keeps collecting stones but i wouldn't allow her to chew them incase she choked