Puppy teething stages: a month-by-month guide
Knowing which stage your puppy's mouth is in turns random-seeming chewing into something predictable, and points to what actually helps.
If you've been counting the days until the mouthing stops, you're not the only one. Puppy teething stages follow a fairly predictable timeline, and once you know where your puppy sits on it, the sharp-toothed chaos of the last few weeks starts to make sense. Most of what looks like stubbornness, or a badly behaved puppy, is really just a mouth working through two full sets of teeth in under seven months.
I've coached new puppy parents through this stretch for twelve years, and I'm living it again right now with Finch, my six-month-old Goldendoodle, who is just finishing up his own last few molars. Here is the timeline I actually use with clients, plus what helps at each stage and what is mostly noise.
The short answer
Puppy teething stages run in two waves: baby teeth erupt between about 2 and 8 weeks, and permanent teeth push those out between roughly 12 weeks and 7 months, with the heaviest chewing urge landing around 3 to 6 months. A safe, varied chew rotation, like the Nurtino bamboo puppy play gym, matters most during that middle stretch.
What's actually happening in your puppy's mouth
Every puppy is born with a full set of tiny, needle-sharp deciduous teeth still under the gumline, and by the time you bring a puppy home around 8 weeks old, most of those 28 baby teeth have already erupted. Baby teeth are sharp for a reason: they are built to nurse and to signal a littermate when a bite lands too hard, which is where a lot of early bite inhibition gets learned before a puppy ever meets you (AKC: teething period for puppies). Starting around 12 weeks, those baby teeth begin loosening and falling out one by one to make room for 42 permanent adult teeth, and that root-level pressure is what drives the intense, almost frantic chewing most owners remember clearly (VCA Animal Hospitals: teething in puppies). Finding a stray baby tooth on the rug, usually a tiny white sliver near a favorite chew spot, is normal and rarely needs a vet visit unless it is still happening well past 7 months.
The puppy teething timeline, stage by stage
Puppy teething stages aren't identical from dog to dog. Small breeds often finish a few weeks earlier than large ones, but the sequence holds steady enough to plan around. Here's the version I walk clients through.
| Age | What's happening | What it looks like at home |
|---|---|---|
| 2 to 4 weeks | First baby incisors erupt | Usually before you have the puppy; rarely seen by new owners |
| 6 to 8 weeks | All 28 baby teeth are in | Sharp, needle-like nips during play, especially hands and ankles |
| 8 to 12 weeks | A relatively quiet stretch | Mouthing continues but gums are not actively changing yet |
| 3 to 6 months | Baby teeth fall out, adult teeth push through | Peak chewing, sore gums, missing teeth on the floor, a louder witching hour |
| 6 to 7 months | All 42 adult teeth are set | Chewing eases into a habit rather than a biological urge |
3 to 6 months: the stage that wears owners out
This four-month stretch is where most first-time chewing mistakes happen, mostly because it's exhausting and it's easy to reach for whatever toy is closest instead of something built for the job. Sore gums want counter-pressure, and limp rubber or thin plastic toys that flex without pushing back do little for a puppy at this stage. It's also the window where budget PVC toys tend to fail: the plastic can crack into sharp-edged pieces under the kind of grinding bite a teething puppy uses, and a cracked edge is genuinely unsafe in a puppy's mouth.
Material choice stops being a minor detail once a puppy reaches this stage.
Solid bamboo doesn't splinter into shards the way brittle PVC can, and there's no coating that wears down and ends up swallowed after weeks of steady gnawing. If a toy or play station is going into a puppy's mouth every day for four months straight, what it's made of matters more than how it looks on a shelf.
Bamboo vs PVC during peak chewing
Side by side, the difference comes down to how each material fails under pressure, not how it looks new in the box. PVC toys are cheap to mold and look bright on a store shelf, but under a determined teething bite they tend to crack rather than flex, and a cracked edge can cut a gum or, worse, get swallowed. Bamboo bends and wears down gradually instead of shattering, and that's a real difference during the exact months when a puppy is chewing hardest.
This is the whole design idea behind the Nurtino bamboo puppy play gym: a natural bamboo frame instead of a plastic one, built specifically for the stretch of months when a puppy's mouth is working overtime.
Build a toy rotation that matches the job
One toy, however sturdy, won't carry a puppy through four months of peak teething on its own. A small rotation works better: each toy has an actual job, so a puppy has the right option for what their mouth needs that hour instead of grabbing whatever's on the floor. That's the logic behind the seven toys that ship with the play gym, from a dedicated teething ring for sore gums to a rope tug for jaw strength.
I rotate two or three of the seven at a time with Finch rather than dumping the whole set out at once. The teething ring comes out first thing in the morning when his gums seem the most tender, the snuffle ball gets pulled out before dinner to slow him down, and a toy that disappears for a few days feels new again once it resurfaces, which is most of the trick to keeping a teething puppy interested.
Teething is also a bite inhibition lesson
The same months that make a puppy's mouth sore are also the best window for teaching bite inhibition: the skill of controlling how hard a dog's jaw closes even when they're excited or in pain. A yelp and a brief pause when teeth land on skin, followed by redirecting to an appropriate chew, teaches the same lesson littermates started teaching before you brought the puppy home (AKC: how to stop puppy biting). Skip this step because a puppy is teething and you're just being patient, and it gets much harder to teach an 80-pound adult dog the same lesson later. The AVSAB's puppy socialization position statement treats these early months as the prime window for this kind of learning (AVSAB: puppy socialization position statement).
Not all mouthing is teething
Two things can look identical from across the room. Teething chewing is driven by sore gums and tends to target cold or firm-pressure objects; boredom chewing can happen at any age and mostly targets whatever's convenient. A tired, understimulated puppy chewing on a table leg at 6pm is often the witching hour asking for a job rather than a sign of teething, and more mental stimulation is usually the real fix, alongside a colder chew toy (AKC: mental stimulation for dogs). In practice the two drivers overlap constantly during peak teething months, which is why a toy rotation built around jobs, more than raw chew resistance, tends to calm both problems at once.
Signs it's more than teething
Most of what a teething puppy does at home is normal, but a few signs are worth a call to the vet rather than waiting it out: gums that are actively bleeding rather than lightly pink, a baby tooth still sitting next to a fully grown adult tooth past 8 months old (a retained deciduous tooth that usually needs to be pulled), a puppy refusing food because chewing clearly hurts, or teething that hasn't settled down at all by 7 months. None of those are emergencies most of the time, but they're worth a quick vet check rather than assuming things will sort themselves out.
If your puppy is somewhere in the 3 to 6 month stretch right now, a toy built for that exact stage does more than another trip down the pet store aisle. The Nurtino bamboo puppy play gym pairs seven job-specific toys with a bamboo frame that holds up to a real teething bite, plus a free 30-day training plan.
Frequently asked questions
What are the stages of puppy teething?
Puppy teething moves through two waves. Baby teeth erupt between about 2 and 8 weeks, giving your puppy a full set of 28 needle sharp deciduous teeth by roughly 8 weeks old. Those teeth then loosen and fall out starting around 12 weeks as 42 permanent adult teeth push through underneath, a process that usually wraps up by 6 to 7 months. The middle stretch, roughly 3 to 6 months, is when chewing is most intense.
How long does puppy teething last?
Teething runs from around 2 weeks old, before most owners even bring a puppy home, through about 6 to 7 months, when the last adult molars finish coming in. The heaviest chewing usually falls between 3 and 6 months while baby teeth are actively being replaced by permanent ones. Small breeds often finish a little earlier than large breeds, but the overall window rarely stretches much past 7 months.
What age do puppies stop teething?
Most puppies have their full set of 42 permanent teeth in place by 6 to 7 months old, which is generally considered the end of teething. If a baby tooth is still visible sitting alongside a fully grown adult tooth past 8 months, that is called a retained deciduous tooth and it usually needs a vet to remove it before it crowds the adult tooth out of alignment.
How can I tell if my puppy is teething versus just chewing out of boredom?
Teething chewing tends to be intense, focused on cold or firm pressure objects, and shows up alongside drooling, slightly swollen gums, or a stray baby tooth on the floor, usually between 3 and 6 months old. Boredom chewing can happen at any age, targets whatever is convenient rather than something cold or firm, and often comes with other understimulated behaviors like zoomies or barking at nothing. In practice the two overlap constantly during peak teething, which is why a rotating toy set built for the stage helps with both.
What is safe for a teething puppy to chew?
Look for chews with a little give, ones that flex slightly under pressure rather than staying completely rigid, since anything too hard can crack a puppy's soft, developing teeth. Solid bamboo, natural rubber, and rope toys are common safe choices; thin PVC plastic and ice cubes are common unsafe ones, since PVC can splinter and ice is hard enough to fracture a tooth. Always size the toy to your puppy and supervise chewing, especially with anything that could be swallowed in pieces.
Sources & references
- AKC: Teething Period for Puppies (baby and adult tooth timeline).
- VCA Animal Hospitals: Teething in Puppies (why teething drives intense chewing).
- AKC: How to Stop Puppy Biting (bite inhibition during the mouthing stage).
- AVSAB: Puppy Socialization Position Statement (the early window for behavior learning).
- AKC: Mental Stimulation for Dogs (boredom-driven chewing and enrichment).
Key takeaways
- Puppy teething stages run in two waves: baby teeth in by about 8 weeks, all 42 adult teeth set by 6 to 7 months.
- The 3 to 6 month stretch is the heaviest chewing period and the one most worth planning a toy rotation around.
- Material matters more than price during peak teething: solid bamboo resists cracking better than thin PVC under a grinding bite.
- A toy rotation with a specific job for each toy beats one all-purpose chew for keeping a teething puppy settled.
- Bleeding gums, a retained baby tooth past 8 months, or refusing food are reasons to call the vet instead of waiting it out.
This article shares general puppy teething guidance from a certified trainer's experience and the veterinary sources cited above; it is not a substitute for a veterinary exam if you are worried about your own puppy's teeth or gums.