Today, I will no longer count Gracie’s age in weeks. She is 4 months old exactly. Her birthday is May 8th, so today, she’s officially 4 months and growing up quite fast. At her last vet’s visit several weeks ago, she weighed five whopping pounds. Her size and weight have not changed much since that last visit, but I suspect she’s getting a little bigger every day, but not by much.
Doesn’t she look so innocent here (minus the weird red-eye. Sorry I have a bad camera)…
But Gracie is becoming quite the chewing monster recently. See her little teeth? She’s definitely teething! (sorry, I had to put my fingers in the middle to show them off to you.)
I try to discourage her from biting me, which doesn’t hurt at this point. I try to give her a toy whenever she does this, or give her a non-human object to chew on. I am sure I am not the best mother, because I do allow her to chew on blankets and my comforter — when it’s the middle of the night and she wants to play, while I want to sleep. But I’m a first-time dog owner, so I an entitled for little mistakes here and there.
But Gracie is quite a little biter. I had new pumps that I had accidently left on the ground. Not two minutes later, Gracie had discovered them and her little teeth had made dents in the heel. Yikes. I had to put those away. She has already destroyed an older pair of pumps. I am not sure what to do about her biting. She loves biting on everything — shoes, the carpet, rugs, etc.
I don’t know why. I give her plenty of toys to chew on and play with. I guess she just loves chewing. Oy.
She is also not potty trained but that’s for another post. Oh the joys of puppy-hood!
Here’s Gracie’s new haircut (another do-it-myself job, because I’m trying to save money).. and a photo of Gracie holding onto her rope tightly as she plays with her “auntie.”
Gracie has that "little terror of the neighborhood" look! Hopefully. she'll stop chewing so much when she's finished teething. My cat used to chew holes in socks and knitted afghans. It drove me crazy.
I think Gracie's new "doo" looks rather stylish…I think you will get better and better the more you cut her hair.
Gracie will chew a lot for the next 3-4 months since she is teething. To help ease some of the pain as her adult teeth push thru the gums you can give her small ice cubes to chew on or wet a small, clean towel…wring it out and put it in the freezer for a few hours. The towel will freeze and is soothing on puppy's gums and helps give her something to get that chewing urge out.
Keep an eye out for her baby teeth as they slowly start to fall out. Most times they will eat them and it will pass out from the "other" end, but sometimes you can get lucky and find them. We have about 8 of Penny's baby teeth that we keep in a tiny jewelry box. 😀
With the chewing of shoes, etc…use positive reinforcement (treats, praise) when she chews her own toys and be sure to puppy proof your home…put everything she might chew away or up high so she can't get them. We did that when Penny was still little, but it's always an ongoing project to see things from a "dog's eye" perspective to keep our house as safe as possible.