Puppy Teething and Biting: How to Survive the Landshark Phase

There is a moment, usually around four months in, when you look at your puppy and realise that what you are sharing your home with is not quite a dog yet.  It is a small, determined mouth attached to a lot of enthusiasm and very little impulse control.  The landshark phase is real, it is temporary and it is survivable — I say this having navigated it across several dogs, including Pepsi, who left tooth marks on all four corners of the dining table, and Boodle, who was probably the mouthiest puppy I have ever known.

The table is still with us.  So is Pepsi, now well into her elder-dog years and apparently unbothered by the evidence.  What follows is what I have actually learned about getting through the teething phase with your furniture, your patience and your relationship with the puppy broadly intact.

What Is Actually Happening in There: A Brief Teething Timeline

Puppies generally begin teething at around three and a half to four months old, when their baby teeth start to make way for adult ones.  Most adult teeth are in place by roughly six months, though individual puppies vary and some take a little longer.  During this period, the gums can be red, swollen and genuinely uncomfortable, which explains why everything within reach suddenly becomes an irresistible chewing target.

You may find tiny baby teeth around the house, stuck in a toy or simply never found at all — puppies often swallow them without drama.  Alongside the chewing, watch for increased drooling, restlessness and a general reduction in the puppy's patience for anything that is not gnawing.  It feels like it goes on forever.  It does not.  The phase is genuinely temporary, even when that is very hard to believe at around week three.

Teething and puppy biting often arrive at roughly the same stage, but they are not quite the same thing.  Teething tends to drive gnawing and chewing, while nipping people is often social play and part of learning how to control the mouth.

Soothing Sore Gums: What Actually Helps

The most useful thing you can do is give the puppy something appropriate, cold and interesting to chew.  A variety of puppy-safe chew toys with different textures works better than one or two options because teething puppies can be surprisingly particular.  Rotate them regularly — a toy that is ignored on Monday may become deeply exciting on Thursday simply because it has been out of sight for a few days.

Chill suitable toys in the fridge, or use toys specifically designed to be frozen and follow the manufacturer's instructions.  Avoid anything that becomes rock-hard, make sure it is the right size and supervise all chewing.

One thing that worked well here — and went down extremely well with both Mouse and Jazz when they were tiny — was frozen yogurt bites.  Plain, unsweetened yogurt, checked to make sure it contained no xylitol (which is toxic to dogs), squeezed into small portions, frozen and then cut into small chunks.  Both of them were very much in favour.  Treat this as an occasional small something rather than a remedy, check the yogurt label carefully every time, and if your puppy is sensitive to dairy it may not suit them.  Worth knowing before you commit to a batch.

How to Stop Puppy Biting and Teach a Softer Mouth

The core strategy is redirection, and it works — eventually, with consistency.  The moment teeth make contact with skin or clothing, calmly move the puppy's attention onto a suitable toy.  For this to work, the toy needs to actually be within arm's reach, which means stashing chew toys in every room the puppy spends time in.  Not one or two.  Everywhere.

When the puppy continues to nip after you have redirected, the clearest response is to calmly end the game.  Step away, turn your back or step briefly behind a baby gate.  No shouting, no dramatic reaction — a big response can excite some puppies rather than settle them.  A quiet 'ouch' works for some puppies as a signal that the bite landed too hard, but calmly stopping play is the more reliable default because it is a consequence the puppy can actually learn from.

Consistency across everyone in the household matters more than getting it perfect every single time.  If one person redirects calmly and another thinks the nipping is funny and keeps the game going, the puppy receives a confusing message.  One or two setbacks will not undo progress, but a household-wide approach will move things along considerably faster.

It is also worth avoiding rough play between people and the puppy during this phase.  Play that involves hands, sleeves or trouser legs as part of the game teaches the puppy that teeth and people belong together, which is exactly what you are trying to undo.

The Furniture, the Table Legs and Pepsi: On Unsupervised Puppies

Pepsi chewed the corners off our dining table as a puppy.  The marks are still there, which in a way makes it one of the most enduring features of the room.  The honest version of how it happened: we did not crate her that particular evening, she slipped away and found the table legs, and by the time we noticed, she had made her feelings about unsupervised free time very clear.  It was our fault rather than hers.

Boodle, for her part, was probably the mouthiest puppy I have known.  Patient, gentle Boodle — who now patrols the sofa and reports neighbours putting out their bins as though it is a matter of national importance — went through a mouthy phase that required patience, consistency and, on some days, the ability to find it funny rather than cry.  She came through it.  They all do.

The practical lesson from both of them is the same: a teething puppy given unsupervised access to a room is going to find something to do with that time.  A crate used calmly, a baby gate or simply keeping the puppy in the room you are actually in is not a punishment.  It is just a sensible arrangement for a stage of puppyhood that has a clear end date.

Supervision, Children and Other Pets During the Landshark Phase

A teething puppy and small children need supervision during this phase — not because something terrible is inevitable, but because habits form quickly and a child who gets nipped and squeals will often accidentally teach the puppy that squealing is the most exciting possible response to biting.  Explaining to children that gentle handling is genuinely important, and why, is more useful than just telling them not to annoy the puppy.

Make sure children and other pets have somewhere to retreat to when puppy energy gets too much.  A place where they can simply not be jumped on or nipped at is useful for everyone.  The puppy does not need constant social interaction — a short calm rest is often what a tired, teething puppy actually needs anyway.

As with the advice above on play, avoid rough games between adults and the puppy during this phase.  The puppy is still learning what is appropriate to mouth and how much pressure is acceptable — so the fewer mixed messages, the better.

When to Ask for Help

Most puppy nipping is entirely normal and responds well to consistency and time.  If the nipping feels excessive, is escalating rather than reducing, or feels genuinely aggressive rather than puppy-mouthy, it is sensible to call in a qualified reward-based trainer or an accredited behaviour practitioner registered with a recognised body such as the Animal Behaviour and Training Council.  Getting someone experienced into the room is a practical step, not an admission of failure.

If broader behavioural concerns appear alongside the teething — unusual anxiety, destructiveness beyond what you would expect from a teething puppy, or anything that genuinely worries you — your vet is the right first call.  They can rule out any physical cause and point you towards the right support.

The landshark phase ends.  It does not feel like it will, somewhere around month four when the sofa corner is looking suspicious and your fingers have had better weeks, but it does.  Pepsi is elderly and deeply distinguished now.  The table still has the marks.  Somehow that became funny a very long time ago, and the whole thing is just part of the story of having dogs.