But are the two related?

Does teething cause diarrhea?

Teething doesn’t directly cause diarrhea, but the behaviour of our dogs while teething can cause diarrhea to occur.

So how can we prevent diarrhea, and how can we help our puppies through the gruesome teething phase?

Let’s take a look, as there are important factors to consider:

Why does teething coincide with diarrhea?

Face it, your puppy will go through a lot of ups and downs in their first year of life. Teething is inevitable. Diarrhea is to be expected. Our limits will be tested – guaranteed!

If your dog has the occasional bout of diarrhea or runny poo then don’t worry too much. Most puppies get the runs at some stage.

Usually, and unfortunately, on our prized handwoven Egyptian knock-off rug.

Persistent or excessive diarrhea is something you should be more concerned about, so more on this later.

Before we consider why diarrhea is more likely during the teething phase, let’s consider a few reasons why our puppies get diarrhea:

• Your puppy’s digestive system is developing and adapting to new foods.
• Your puppy’s immune system is developing, which makes them more prone to bouts of illness, and bouts of illness cause diarrhea.
• The food we feed them, quite often, isn’t ideal for them – do you know if the brand of puppy kibble you’re feeding is ideal for your pup as basically a meat-eating animal?
• Puppies are still learning what’s food, and what isn’t. This means they consume stuff they shouldn’t.
• Some medications and vaccines can cause vomiting and diarrhea.

With the main causes of diarrhea in puppies out of the way, lets take a look at how teething can cause diarrhea.

How can teething cause diarrhea?

Teething doesn’t directly cause diarrhea, but the changes in behaviour of our puppies can make diarrhea more likely.

The problem we face with teething puppies is their ability to hunt down, chew, and digest things they shouldn’t eat.

This can be food they’re not used to, household objects, stuff in the garden, or even from licking floors cleaned with chemicals.

Granted, this is a problem with puppies in general, but much more prevalent when they’re teething. It’s during this phase – the most challenging phase in puppyhood – when your dog will ingest anything they can chomp on.

Chair legs. Slippers. Threads of carpet. Your toenails. What else?

None of these are easy for your puppy to digest, and can easily trigger diarrhea. It’s not just diarrhea, as ingesting inappropriate items can cause discomfort, illness, or sometimes an emergency trip to the vets.

Thankfully there are easy solutions to help your puppy (and yourself) through both the teething phase and puppy phase in general.

We’ll get to those solutions shortly, but first lets address when we should take diarrhea more seriously.

Why should we be concerned about our puppies having diarrhea?

Although you shouldn’t be too concerned if your puppy has the occasional bout of diarrhea, if it’s happening excessively or continuously then treat this as a much more concerning issue.

In my experience, the food we feed our puppies can be the #1 cause of diarrhea.

This could be the result of a dietary sensitivity. Often misrepresented as “allergy” or “intolerance”, the simple fact is if you feed your puppy a kibble made of inappropriate or poor quality ingredients – wheat, cereal grains or cereal by-products, colours, preservatives to name a few – then the result isn’t an allergy, it’s a result of feeding your dog stuff they shouldn’t be eating anyway.

Have you read the ingredients of your puppy food?

What are they?

(Post them in the comments if you want my thoughts)

Some dogs, such as Pugs, Boxers, Staffies, Labs, Retrievers, and Dachshunds, seem to be more affected by dietary sensitivities, although any breed can be affected.

Prolonged or excessive diarrhea can be a sign of an underlying or developing illness.

This means you should take your puppy to your vets and have them assessed. Your vet may recommend an expensive brand of dog food, likely made of cereal grains as well, but you should definitely seek their advice.

Always consider the quality and appropriateness of the puppy food you were feeding first, when the issue occurred, as this will give you the best insight into addressing future diet-related problems with your pup.

With all the above out of the way, let’s take a look at easy solutions to help your puppy through the teething phase, and addressing issues with diarrhea…

What you should do when your puppy is teething with diarrhea?

These two problems should be tackled as separate issues, as technically they are even through they’re related.

Teething is inevitable, but there are numerous ways you can help your puppy through it. This should include giving them safe things to chew on, with my recommendations being raw meaty bones or 100% dried meat-based chews (such as jerky or bully sticks). There are other great (and cheap) options too, such as coffee wood, frozen carrots, or frozen cubes of bone broth – you can find great teething solutions here.

Tackling diarrhea when your puppy is teething should start at preventing them eating anything they shouldn’t.

This includes poor quality puppy food.

The suggestions above for teething are a great start, but you should make sure your puppy (1) doesn’t have access to anything else, and (2) you keep an eye on them as much as you possibly can.

If your puppy has a crate, this can be a very good way to keep them safe while you’re sleeping.

You must pay close attention to what you’re feeding your puppy.

We assume all pet food is safe and healthy, but if you read the reviews you’ll find this is rarely the case.

In America there are barely any regulations, and we don’t have nutritional standards like they do in the US with the AAFCO standard. The problem with this is pet food companies can often say what they like, sell what they like, and as a pet owner you won’t have any course of action if any pet food makes your dog sick.

That sounds bleak, but you should keep that in mind.

The last issue I was aware of which caused mass-sickness and diarrhea in American dogs occurred this very month, from mould in many batches of a popular and somewhat reputable brand of American pet food.

It’s not just manufacturing issues or “bad batches”. Most dog foods are marketed as meat-based, because dog’s are meat-eaters, right, but in reality these dog foods are mostly cereal grains or cereal by-products (filler if you will), and not as nutritious as you may think. This inappropriateness is often the cause of digestive upset.

Hopefully, with any luck, the information above about teething and diarrhea has helped?

Final thoughts and a checklist for when your teething puppy has diarrhea

If you skipped most of the above because of TLDR, then here’s a quick recap of what you can do when your puppy is teething, or worse – teething with diarrhea:

• Give your puppy appropriate items to chew – simple teething solutions here.
• Prevent your puppy having access to anything else, including cat food, household items, or anything in the garden. Vigilance is key.
• Consider the dog food you’re feeding – is it really as healthy as you think? Is it the cause of diarrhea?
• Speak with your veterinarian if you are concerned about illness or digestive issues, especially if your puppy has excessive or persistent diarrhea.

Better yet, when they’re frozen!

I offered a whole host of simple teething solutions here, which you should definitely read for the health and wellbeing of your pup, but frozen carrots are one of those magical, cheap, and simple solutions.

Here’s why:

Natural & safe

When so many teething toys are cheaply made and hazardous, and many dog treats contain additives and preservatives, frozen carrots are natural and safe. Even organic carrots are cheaper than most dog treats!

Cold, frozen carrots relieve tooth and gum pain

The cold temperature of frozen carrots will help numb your puppy’s gums, which is the root cause of teething pain.

That means chewing on a frozen carrot is not only satisfying and fun, it will be a soothing experience for your puppy. It will ease the irritation caused by emerging teeth.

Promotes healthy teeth and gums

In our world of corporations telling us their products are healthy and worth the money, we miss one major aspect of keeping our dogs healthy – maintenance of teeth and gums.

No matter what the packets say, kibble won’t do much for your dog’s teeth (do you brush your own teeth with processed food?). Wet mush is worse, and will leave plaque and tartar to attack at leisure.

What that means for your dog is early periodontal disease and nasty bacteria going through your dog’s body attacking their organs.

That’s a serious health concern which most dog owners never consider.

The act of gnawing on a frozen carrot helps promote good dental health. Chewing on the firm texture of a carrot will assist in removing plaque and tartar, contributing to the overall wellbeing of your puppy’s teeth and gums.

“Assist” is the key word though, and I highly recommend you address healthy teeth and gums with raw meaty bones or tough meaty chews – more info and suggestions can be found on the puppy teething guide as well as the treat recommendations page.

Carrots are rich in nutrients

I consider dogs carnivores, and you should too. Although some non-animal foods are fine for a dog as a facultative or scavenging carnivore, it’s much easier for us to choose a healthy diet for our dogs if we view them as essentially a meat eater.

That said, we already know carrots are a nutritious vegetable for us, and our puppies can benefit too.

Carrots contain essential vitamins and minerals. They’re also a good source of beta-carotene which converts into vitamin A, crucial for maintaining healthy skin, vision, and a strong immune system.

As a bonus, carrots are low in calories, and very likely a much healthier treat than most of the “dog treats” you’ll find in the supermarkets.

Carrots are super cheap

When you compare the price of carrots to commercial teething toys, they’re a much more cost effective solution.

Raw meaty bones are also surprisingly cheap in comparison to teething toys and commercial dog treats, yet are more natural and arguably far better for dental health and wellbeing.

Who said feeding our dogs was expensive?

Carrots are easy to get hold of, easy to freeze (assuming your freezer isn’t rammed with BARF), and it’s so easy to whip out a frozen carrot twice a day when your puppy is manically trying to chew everything in sight.

Carrots are fun!

Puppies are naturally curious and playful. Chewing on a frozen carrot not only serves a practical purpose but also gives them a way to entertainment themselves.

Giving your puppy appropriate things to chew on helps relieve boredom and anxiety as well, which makes frozen carrots a win win in preventing destructive behaviour.

By now I’m sure you’re convinced you should give your puppy frozen carrots for teething, but there is a flaw.

Only 50% of the dogs I’ve had the pleasure of living with have like carrots, so it’s definitely hit or miss. One dog will happily crunch on a tasty carrot, the other dog will look at me as if I’m offering her a durian fruit.

That said, what have you got to lose? Carrots are so cheap – much cheaper than what your teething puppy may otherwise destroy – and if you find carrots aren’t their thing, boil them for your dinner!

That’s until they go through the inevitable mouthing phase, and worse, when they start teething.

This is when we’re really pushed breaking point, when you’ll find yourself sitting on the kitchen floor crying and shouting “What have I done!?” in utter frustration!

Don’t worry, you’re not the only one.

My first puppy destroyed my sofa.

My second puppy destroyed my skirting boards, brand new Ray Bans, and each and every roll of luxury soft 3 ply loo roll I dared put on the holder.

That wasn’t the entirety of the destruction either, but thankfully I found easy solutions which worked wonders in preventing destructiveness through puppy teething. These are solutions I’m sure will fix your problems as well.

So lets take a look at simple ways to help your puppy through their teething phase:

The Power of Raw Meaty Bones

Many years ago I was afraid to give any of my pet carnivores raw meaty bones.

It’s odd considering this is exactly what they survived on for millions of years in the wild, and tens of thousands of years since living with us humans. Don’t you think?

It’s only been the past handful of decades when we’ve been told our dogs shouldn’t eat raw meat and bones, because these days we have commercial processed food which makes global conglomerates like Mars, Nestle, and Colgate Palmolive billions of dollars in profit.

If you watch a dog chew on a nice juicy bone it’s easy to see how good they are to keep their teeth clean. The natural instinct of chewing or gnawing on a meaty bone is, in my opinion, the best way to naturally combat teething, and also direct your dog’s natural chewing instinct to something other than chair legs.

However, caution should always be taken when feeding a puppy raw meaty bones. You must feed appropriate non-weight-bearing bones, and take even more caution if your dog may gulp lumpy bones like knuckle bones.

The dangers with bones are internal blockages or tears, and having discussed the issues with numerous vets this can and does happen.

Most issues with bones occur from dogs eating cooked bones which are always a danger and should always be avoided. Cooked bones are brittle, sharp, and dangerous.

Know your dog. I know mine, and I have complete confidence feeding her chicken necks, frames, wings, drumsticks, or various other appropriate bones.

Some American breeders ween litters on raw meat and raw meaty bones with great success.

But, if you’re concerned about bones, or don’t want to take such a risk with your young puppy, then there are other options too – let’s take a look!

Dried Meat Alternatives to Raw Meaty Bones – The Best Treats to Chew On

Recent years have shown an influx in dried meat or animal based treats which are great for your puppy and will really help with teething and mouthing.

Not only are these treats great for directing your puppy’s mouthing and teething problems to something appropriate, they are also nutritious. Your puppy is in their growth phase, which is the most important time in their life for good nutrition, so the below options are a win on multiple counts.

One piece of advice – always check the country of origin for any chew treat. American regulations can require dog treats sourced from various countries to be irradiated on import. It’s illegal to irradiate cat treats due to known health risks, but health risks for dogs haven’t been considered or thoroughly researched.

If you can, opt for dog treats made in America or New Zealand.

• Bully sticks – These are fabulous treats to chew on and last for ages. You may be put off by what they’re made from, so if you prefer blissful ignorance just go and buy some without reading about them. I’ll give you a clue – what part of a bull do you think these sticks are from?
• Deer shanks – Similar in many ways to bully sticks, deer antlers are super tough and great to chew. The best brand is Ziwi Peak, available at Pet Circle. A deer shank will set you back a few bucks, but you’ll come to realise how worth it they are in longevity.
• Deer antlers – Tough as antlers, obviously. These can be a bit brittle, but they’re so touch they can give your teething puppy something to direct their chewing on for weeks or months to come.
• Goat horns – Similar to antlers and just as tough, you’ll find a few brands of goat horn available in America.
• Rabbit ear, pigs ears, cow ears – Dried ears aren’t as tough as antlers or horns, but are still great to chew (and arguably less risky when it comes to tooth breakages).

Other Great Solutions to Prevent Teething and Mouthing Issues

If raw meaty bones or the above chews aren’t your thing, I’ll leave you with a few more solutions which may help your dog through the teething and mouthing phases. If you have other suggestions, feel free to say so in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

Soak and freeze small towels. These can be great for your puppy to chew on. The coldness will help with the tooth pain they’re feeling.

Use beef or chicken stock, or better yet – bone broth, to create an ice cube tray of flavoured ice blocks. Your puppy will love to suck or crunch on these juicy, meaty, ice cubes. They’re also nutritious!

Frozen chicken necks can be given to your pup, but under strict supervision. Puppies have been known to inhale chicken necks in their enthusiasm, and in rare cases there is a risk of the chicken necks becoming blocked in their airway.

I mention the benefits of frozen carrots here, which like frozen stock cubes are a simple, cheap, and effective treat to help your puppy through teething.

Some people have had luck with frozen bananas, which seems fine to me, and some swear by giving their pup a frozen wash cloth for teething. Although that may work, why give your puppy something they can choke on when you can give them something frozen which is healthy and nutritious like carrots or bone broth ice cubes?

What teething tips can you suggest?

How to Prevent Your Puppy Chewing Your Stuff

If you’ve ever had a child you’ll know how necessary it is to collect up anything hazardous and put it out of sight and out of reach.

The same is necessary for a puppy. Probably even more so.

Regularly walk around your house and garden and collect up anything you don’t want your puppy chewing. Is anything a potential choking hazard? Is there anything you would be devastated to lose if your puppy destroyed it?

Put all this stuff into storage for about a year.

For anyone into minimalism, you may realise you don’t need this stuff anyway. If you don’t need it in a year, you don’t need it at all!

You’ll find no matter how many precautions you take, any puppy will successfully destroy one prized item of value during the puppy phase, so be warned!

Never Blame Your Puppy for Chewing or Teething!

It is unfair to think puppies can distinguish between all the hundreds, if not thousands, of items they find in their day to day exploring and know the difference between an appropriate chew item and an inappropriate one.

Eventually, with gentle guidance from you, your puppy will start to seek out the items you have encouraged them to play with. Especially the items you fill with food that smells and tastes good.

It is never your pup’s fault!

Take responsibility for putting away items you don’t want your puppy to destroy.

Constantly scolding, punishing, or nagging your puppy will do harm in your relationship. This is where most puppy owners fail, because punishing your dog for chewing is the fastest route to having a destructive dog.

The job of training a puppy is made harder when they have learnt to avoid you, not trust you or be generally wary of your reactions.

Positive reinforcement and encouragement will always give you the most success, least frustration, and the smartest dog on the street.