# Tug/puppy bite work while teething??



## Liz&Anna (Oct 29, 2013)

Is it safe to play with tugs while your pup is losing teeth? All of Anna's tiny front teeth are new adult teeth a few of the molars are new, the k9' are still puppy. While we do OB I use tugs sometimes with her heel and they are becoming spotted with blood, we just finished up some work I also noticed blood on the tennis ball. Then Anna seemed to be chewing something from the floor I told her to "bring it" and I was pretty surprised when she dropped a bloody tooth at my feet. 

8( 

Is it ok to keep training? is this safe?




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## gaia_bear (May 24, 2012)

My trainer stopped all tug training when Cuervo was teething, I know some people don't have any issues but it wasn't something I wanted to take a gamble on.


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## Chip Blasiole (May 3, 2013)

Get rid of the tennis ball. It will damage your dog's teeth and can get stuck in her throat and kill her. You can switch to a rubber ball on a string. I prefer a tug by far. Wait until your pup's teeth are fully in. How do you present the tug and what do you do after the dog bites?


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## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

You don't want to tug during teething. Any other time is safe/fair game!


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## Xena9012 (Oct 12, 2013)

I did a bit of tug when she was teething and I would find spots of blood on the toys too. If you want to use tug to teach her heel I agree with the below comment. Get a toy that is safe for teething puppies and tie it to some string.


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## Liz&Anna (Oct 29, 2013)

Chip Blasiole said:


> Get rid of the tennis ball. It will damage your dog's teeth and can get stuck in her throat and kill her. You can switch to a rubber ball on a string. I prefer a tug by far. Wait until your pup's teeth are fully in. How do you present the tug and what do you do after the dog bites?


Her tug is long with 2 loops on each side (for a person to hold) I will place it under my arm during heel to keep her head up, we take a few steps- I mark the correct behavior, and ill pull it out I'm EXTREMELY CAREFUL of where she bites the toy....because a few times she has missed and gotten me...hahah and that SUCKS (although I realize it was an accident so I don't react at all even though ill be bleeding lol) she pops up and grabs the middle (her tug is soft it's a puppy tug) and she pulls a bit sometimes ill let go and tell her to bring it (which she will run back to me) and sometimes I say "out" and trade her for some food.

Also her ball is a rubber chuck it, sorry I guess I should have said that, the regular tennis balls she chews to bits and takes the fur off, I plan on getting one on string but they seem to be pretty hard and since she still had puppy teeth I haven't gotten one yet 


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## Liz&Anna (Oct 29, 2013)

Buut I obviously don't want to be yanking her teeth out. is it ok to hold off on toys for a month or so until all puppy teeth are gone? Would that mess stuff up? 


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## mycobraracr (Dec 4, 2011)

For me it all depends on the dog. Some dogs we work through teething and some we wait. Waiting will not hurt anything. It might even make the puppy come back stronger since it didn't get to do it for a while. If you do decide to keep playing, just be careful. I use very little back pressure when pups are teething and usually just do "misses" until it gets it then immediate release so there is little stress on the teeth. There are some puppies out there that don't care they are teething and still go 100% while teething. So really all I can say, is use your best judgment.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Not doing tugging/bite-work during teething has more to do with keeping the tugging/bite-work association for the puppy positive than about safety for the teeth. The baby teeth are coming out anyways, the adult shouldn't be damaged by puppy tugging. 

Some pups have very tender, sore mouth during teething, and they may associate pain with bite-work. You want to always keep the association positive - but as mentioned by others, some dogs just don't care.


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## Liz&Anna (Oct 29, 2013)

Thank you all, it's always good to hear it from people who have been through it before  ill try and be super gentle and maybe not do it often for a little while 


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