When Do Golden Retrievers Lose Their Baby Teeth? Illustrated Puppy Teething Timeline

When you get a puppy, there are a couple of things you go through such as making sure they take all of their shots, finding the right diet for them, a regular check-up with their vet, and finally going through the teething process, and this last one can be exhausting for the both of you.

What can make it easier is knowing when you can expect them to start losing their babyteeth and knowing what to do.

So, when do golden retrievers lose their baby teeth? Golden Retrievers will lose their baby teeth around four to six months of age, 42 adult teeth will replace their baby teeth, and this teething process is painful for puppies so they will start chewing and nipping on everything they could to relieve this pain.

So, that’s the when. As you would expect, it is much more complicated than that, and every dog owner really needs to gain an understanding of what the puppy teething timeline is like and what they will need to do to help their precious puppies go through this stage as peacefully as possible.

We are going to cover all of this, all you need to do is just keep reading….

When Do Golden Retrievers Lose Their Baby Teeth?

golden retriever puppy chewing on a stick to illustrate when do golden retrievers lose their puppy teeth

Golden retrievers have the same teething process as humans but with a different timeline. Golden Retrievers first grow a set of primary teeth (baby teeth) that are sharp and pointy then they lose them and grow the 42 permanent teeth that are their adult teeth.

Golden Retrievers begin teething when they are around 3 weeks of age, but dogs don’t have any baby molars.

They lose their baby teeth when they are around four to six months and you may find their primary teeth on the floor or they may swallow them while they are eating but it’s harmless, so you don’t have to worry.

Some bleeding may occur when their baby teeth fall or they are still falling out, and you may notice some mild red staining on their chew toy.

When Do Golden Retrievers Grow their adult teeth?

Golden will usually grow all of their adult teeth (permanent teeth) when they are 6 months old, they will keep chewing through everything and it’s the healthy thing for them but instead of letting them chew on your furniture and pillows, get them some chew toys to help them out.

By the way, you should also take a look at my guide on cleaning golden retriever teeth at home. It’s a specifically-made, step-by-step guide on cleaning your dog’s teeth while saving you precious time (and money), so make sure to check it out.

A Timeline for Golden Retrievers Puppies Teething

Age	Event
Birth – 2 Weeks	No teeth at all because they are getting their food by suckling
2 to 4 weeks	Their teeth will begin to emerge, first are their incisors (in the middle at the front of both lower and upper jaws)
3 to 5 weeks	The teeth next to their incisors (the fangs) will appear.
4 to 6 weeks	Their deciduous premolars will show (they are in the back of the mouth)
5 to 8 weeks	Their last molars will appear by the end of the sixth week or around eight weeks of age
12 to 28 weeks	Around three months your puppy incisors will start to fall and will be replaced by adult teeth and the last pair of permanent incisors will be replaced around five months (twenty weeks). Finally, their adult canines will start to appear at four to six months (sixteen to twenty-four weeks). Their four pairs of adult premolars will come out at the same time. Also, there are no puppy molar teeth but the adult molars will start to erupt around seven months (twenty-eight weeks).

I also made is as infographic so you can more easily save it and share it:

Golden Retriever puppy teething timeline infograph — Golden Retriever Puppy Teething Timeline Infographic

How to know your puppy is teething?

Here are some symptoms to help you know if your puppy is teething:

A lot of whining
Chewing on everything
Red gums
They will eat slowly
Visible teeth lost
Swollen gums
Frequent drooling
Their gums may bleed

If your dog is biting and chewing on everything but there are no other symptoms showing then you have to take them to the vet or a professional behaviorist because they may be suffering from a behavioral problem.

Do Golden Retriever Puppies Swallow their baby teeth?

Yes, golden retriever puppies have a tendency to chew and swallow their baby teeth while eating, it’s totally harmless and you don’t have to worry about it. It usually ends by the time they end teething which is around 5 months of age when they grow their adult teeth fully.

How to stop your puppy’s destructive chewing while teething?

Before I let you know how to stop your puppy’s destructive chewing while teething, you should know that you should only stop them if their chewing is indeed destructive and not stop them chewing in general because they should chew on things while teething because it’s better for them and for their digestion, of course.

Here is how to stop your puppy’s destructive chewing while teething:

Teach them what is off-limits
Supervise them
Keep them active
Give them plenty of chew toys
Try the washcloth method
Don’t chase your pup
Make them bond with their chew toy
Try the rewarding method

I know this is not very helpful, so let’s break it down one by one and see what it means and how you can do it.

Teach them what is off-limits

When your pup is teething, they will chew on anything they find even remotely interesting to release the pain, so you will need to let them know what they can or cannot chew on if you don’t want to end up with chewed clothes, furniture, and shoes.

You can keep everything that you don’t want in their mouth out of reach for them such as shoes, eyeglasses, books, trash, clothes, remote control, toilet paper, or anything that is valuable to you.

Don’t confuse them with toys that look like house items, also, don’t offer them an old sock that you don’t need anymore to play with because now all of your socks will be toys for them to chew on.

Supervise them

When you first get your puppy and they are going through all of the teething processes, they need to be supervised till they learn your house rules and if you are too busy to watch them, you can ask someone to keep them on a leash until you come back.

However, if you are going to keep them on a leash, you need to make sure that they have access to fresh water at all times and you should also leave them some toys and treats so they don’t feel like they’re being punished.

If you already crate-trained them, you can place them in their crate instead of leaving them on the leash.

Keep them active

Golden retrievers are an energetic breed, they may show destructive behavior such as chewing if they don’t get enough exercise so you need to keep them active and burn up all their extra energy.

Here are some activities that you can do for only an hour but will work like magic.

Swimming
Hiking
Running
Play frisbee
Tug-of-war
Hide and seek
Jogging
Tug with rope

You can learn how to go hiking with your golden retriever here and how to run or jog with your golden retriever here as well.

Give them plenty of chew toys

If your dog is just teething and it’s not some destructive behavior then you need to provide them with plenty of chew toys because it’s healthy for them to chew in that time to release the pain and make the teeth grow strong and healthy,

Getting them a chew toy is also a great idea if they are aggressive chewers because it will direct their chewing at something that was made specifically to take the chewing, instead of your valuables which are no match for your dog’s teeth.

So, here are some of the best chew toys that you can get for your pup (all are Amazon links).

First of all, for the aggressive chewers

For the teething puppies

You can also check out the toys my golden retrievers love here as I think your golden will love them as well.

[su_note note_color=”#ef6e08″ text_color=”#ffffff”]Don’t leave them with all the toys, and never leave the toys just laying around. Only give them a few of the toys at a time and then take them away when you give them other toys so they don’t get bored. Also, only take the toys out for playtime, if they don’t play with them, take them away. [/su_note]

Try the washcloth method

You can try this method but only if your dog’s destructive chewing only reason is teething, not stress, anxiety, or any other physiological or psychological reason.

It’s pretty simple, you just freeze a wet washcloth and give it to them to chew on.

You freeze the washcloth because it will soothe their gums, however, you need to make sure that your puppy doesn’t chew and swallow any pieces of the washcloth itself.

Don’t chase your pup

If they stole something or just found something laying on the floor and they started to chew on it, don’t chase them because they will think that you are playing with them and this will reinforce the behavior.

So, instead of chasing them, simply call them to you and tell them to drop it and when they do, reward them with a treat and praise them.

Make them bond with a chew toy

You can use one of the chew toys that can be filled with treats to build a special bond between your dog and the toy, you can fill a kong-type toy with their kibble.

They will be so obsessed with this toy and they will be too distracted to chew on anything else.

Try the rewarding method

Whatever the item that’s in your dog’s mouth, offer them a treat as an exchange and repeat it till they learn that it’s not acceptable for them to chew on these items.

You can also add a command or cue to teach them to drop as soon they hear that command or see the cue.

If this article was useful to you and you liked it, you can share it with your friends and family, they might be experiencing the same thing with your puppy and I will certainly appreciate it.