Canine puppies go through a teething period where their permanent teeth pushes out their baby teeth, similar to human babies. The total time for this teething period to pass is dependent on the canine breed. For the Doberman, the average time is approximately 2 months. The teething period begins when the puppy is around 16 weeks / 4 months old.
This guide to Doberman puppy teething gives you an insight on: what to look for, what to expect, how to handle a teething Doberman puppy and a timeline of the teething period.
Our Atlas began teething at 16 weeks, 4 months old.
Day 1
Atlas lost his top incisors on March 3rd. On March 4th, his permanent teeth began emerging in their place. On March 5th, Atlas lost 2 middle lower incisors.
Day 3
On March 6th, Atlas lost his lower inner outer incisors.
Day 5
On March 8th, Atlas lost his last two lower outer incisors.
Day 9
On March 12th, Atlas lost his outer two upper incisors. I was able to salvage one of them. The rest, he either swallowed or got lost in his chew toy.
Day 12
On March 15th, Atlas lost his lower out-most incisor
Day 13
On March 16th, Atlas’ permanent lower incisors have emerged. His upper outer-most right incisor emerged along with the rest of his upper incisors. His outer-left most incisor spot is still vacant.
Day 15
On March 18th, Atlas’ lower first molars began to erupt through the gum. At this time, I noticed Atlas started to chew more voraciously. His behavior also appears to be edgy, meaning he would whimper at the slightest sudden movement – he has never showed this behavior before. He would also tend to fold his ears down more often. This is not to say that his ears has flopped. When I snapped my finger, his ears will stand erect. However, I do notice that the tip of his ears were beginning to slightly curl outward – a common issue for cropped Dobies.
Day 19
On March 22nd, both Atlas’ upper and lower sets of adult incisors completely emerged.
Day 22
On March 25th, both upper first molars began to emerge through Atlas’ gum. His lower first molars are nearly fully emerged by then.
Day 24
On March 27th, Atlas’ second lower set of molars started to erupt through his gum. Tip of the iceberg, so to speak. Also notice Atlas’ right lower puppy pre-molar, it has been ground down pretty badly.
Day 25
On March 28th, Atlas’ lower first molars are fully emerged. His upper molars are about ΒΌ emerged. Atlas also showed sign of loss of appetite and I am suspecting that eating causes him to feel pain while his molars are emerging. He skipped breakfast on Day 25 but ate dinner.
Day 26
On March 29th, Atlas continue to lose his morning appetite but wolfed down his dinner.
Day 27 ~ Month 1 of Teething
On March 30th, Atlas’ morning appetite returned, albeit slowly. He would finish his morning meal in 2-3 minutes. Today, it took him 5 minutes.
During the teething phase, your Doberman puppy will rely on you to help it alleviate the discomfort of teething. What worked for us was stocking up a bunch of chew toys, bully sticks and beef trachea. Believe me, your puppy will go through them at twice the rate of normal use. In addition, I got Atlas on a 12-box Kong Box subscription.
Day 32
On April 1st, Atlas’ upper last sets of puppy pre-molars began to be bleed along the gum line, signifying the adult pre-molars are erupting soon.
Day 44
On April 16th, I found Atlas’ lower-left last pre-molar on his crate bed as I was taking him out for a walk. At the same time, his upper last pre-molars are emerging. Since puppy teeth usually fall off in pairs, I am expecting his lower-right last puppy pre-molar to fall off soon.
The same night around 6:30 PM while I was playing fetch with Atlas, his upper-left canine fell off.
Atlas’ upper-right puppy canine should pop shortly after as well.
Day 45
The rest of Atlas’ upper and lower sets of puppy pre-molars were replaced by emerging adult teeth. At the same time, his upper canines can be seen emerging and pushing their puppy teeth counterparts out of their locations.
Day 47
On April 19th, Atlas lost the last remaining puppy pre-molar located on his lower left jaw. Again, he lost it while we were playing fetch and I was able to salvage it for keepsake.
At the same time, his lower canines are emerging rapidly and pushing his puppy canines out of their sockets. I won’t be surprised to see them missing in a day or two.
Lets not forget about the upper canines. In just two days, what were once white nubs on Atlas’ gum line became visible adult canines.
The Entire Doberman Teething Process
Atlas, a European Doberman, dropped all of his puppy teeth in exactly 50 days, just a little shy of two complete months. Just because he lost all of his puppy teeth doesn’t mean the teething phase is over! In fact, it just started. His permanent teeth will continue to grow for another 5-6 months along side with Atlas’ growth. They will continue to expand and fill his jawline as his jawline grows with Atlas.
About Pre-Molars
When Atlas lost his first three set of molars, they all appear to drop at the same time or very close to the same time. All of them, both top and bottom sets – six teeth total. The canines also drop around the same time as the pre-molars, within the same week. When Atlas dropped these puppy pre-molars, they were also the bloodiest – leaving bloody stains on anything he got his jaws on.
Loss of Appetite
From my observation, Atlas lost his appetite when his molars and last set of pre-molars were emerging. He did not lose his appetite while his first three sets of pre-molars were emerging. When he lost his appetite, most likely from the pain of using his emerging teeth, he skipped breakfast (we feed Atlas kibbles in the morning) but he wolf down his dinner with no hesitation (we feed Atlas a raw canine diet for dinner).
If you are feeding kibbles to your Doberman puppy during this phase of its teething, I suggest temporarily switching to a canned alternative of the same recipe. If you are already feeding your Doberman puppy a canine raw diet, continue feeding it for both breakfast and dinner.
Order of Teeth Loss
From my observation on Atlas, this is the order in which he dropped his teeth:
- Top incisors
- Lower incisors
- Top molars
- Lower molars
- Top pre-molars
- Lower pre-molars
- Top canines
- Lower canines
The first set of teeth to go were his top incisor and the last set of teeth to go were his lower canines.