Great Dane gets new tooth -- at age 13 months!

Princeton is happy to be growing MORE teeth

My Great Dane Princeton is STILL teething -- and he’s more than a year old! This week I felt his gums and he literally got a new tooth!

He’s had an empty space for a “premolar” on his lower left gum for months, but I thought it meant he was born without that tooth. But no, he’s just sloooooooow to develop.

Dog references say dogs are supposed to have all their teeth by the time they’re 6 or 7 months old. No wonder Princeton still acts like a baby and chews a lot -- he really is still a baby at almost 14 months old.

OK, he’s not as young as the photo above, which was taken when he was 5 months old and his “fangs” were still coming in. But it’s a good shot of the teeth of the our boy, nicknamed “Little Sharkey” as a puppy for obvious reasons.

Dane pup is in training

Princeton running with one of his dog friends

Princeton has started a real obedience class -- much tougher (and more effective) than the “puppy kindergarten” that he did before. I don’t have much energy for blogging left after being so strict and vigilant with Princeton all the time, so don’t worry if I don’t post here very often.

Maybe this class seems so much tougher because Princeton is much bigger (29 inches at the shoulder) and stronger. Plus he now has the moody, sometimes defiant attitude of a teenager. He’s 6-1/2 months old.

Yesterday he lost what looks to be his last baby tooth while playing with his friend in this photo.

Shark attack by Dane pup

Princeton, aka “Sharkey,” loves to bite the hand that feeds him. Here he is greeting my dear friend from Texas that I hadn’t seen in years. Within minutes of her arrival, she got a shark attack from Princeton. Fortunately she is has two Danes herself, although a grown Dane is not quite the same animal as a Dane pup. I heard her tell Princeton, “You’re the first hyper Dane I’ve met.”

Too late for our friend’s visit, we FINALLY found an effective antidote for the shark attacks: mint breath spray. Our puppy kindergarten teacher recommended it, and it transformed Princeton’s behavior instantly.

The first few times we sprayed him, he had a totally shocked look as if to say, “You mean you don’t LIKE being bitten?!!” It made me realize that all our seemingly nonstop efforts to say “no,” ignore him, rattle coins, distract him, etc etc had made zero impression on him. The shark repellent that we bought is called Sweet Breath. Boy, it IS sweet to be able to pet the tamed shark with having him sink his sharp little baby teeth into me.

Top 10 ways to stop puppy biting

Princeton gets a mischievous, sharkey look in his eyes right before he bites

For a new version of this article, click this link: https://qspirit.net/stop-puppy-biting-top-ways/

Our biggest challenge with our Great Dane pup Princeton is that he lunges and bites when he wants to play.

He just wants to play and is too young to know better, but it HURTS! He’s also ripping holes in our pants and sleeves with his sharp little puppy teeth. And he’s getting bigger every day! Trying to escape his jaws or block him just seems like a game to him.

Here are some tactics that we’ve tried and the results:

1. Distract him with a toy. (Doesn’t work. A human target is much more interesting.)

2. Shake a jar full of coins to distract him. (Doesn’t work. This gets him more excited and makes him bark at me between bites.)

3.Gently hold his little mouth shut and say “No bite.” (Works sometimes. But this also resulted in me getting the worst bite on my wrist. His “little” mouth is already as big as the mouths of many full-grown dogs.)

4. Carry a cane to block (not hit) him and assert your authority. (Surprisingly effective. He’s more respectful as soon as I pick up the cane. But he still thinks it’s a fun game when I try to block him.)

5. Ignore him. (Doesn’t work. Ouch! He just keeps biting my skin or tearing my clothes.)

6. Remain calm. (Ha! Stay calm while a shark draws blood biting and circling you? Easier said than done!)

7. Yelp like a puppy to let him know that it hurts. (Satisfying to me, but doesn’t stop him at all.)

8. Spray mint mouthwash into his mouth when he opens it to bite. I carried a pocket-size mouthwash spray with me at all times for weeks. (This worked, but he gradually got used to the flavor.)

9. Nip it in the bud as soon as he starts to act up by removing sources of excitement, such as food or the cat. (Works sometimes.)

10. As soon as he starts biting, give him a “time-out” by putting him in his crate or other isolated space. (This really works!!! When I tried this, Princeton spent most of the first day alone in time-out, but the next day he started biting us a lot less!)

What really worked:  Watch “The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan” to learn how to be a calm, assertive pack leader. This turned out to be the key to solving our dog's mouthiness!

The new book “Chewing, Tugging, Nipping and Biting: Detailed Step-by-Step Training for Puppies” and Dogs” by Faye Dunningham looks helpful too.

Another idea: Poke your finger in his cheek so he bites his own mouth and he knows how it feels. (Haven’t tried this yet. He already has sores that won’t heal from biting his own lips.)

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Update on May 17, 2009 --
Princeton is one year old now, and several people have asked me if he ever stopped biting. Yes, it’s about 95 percent gone. He still occasionally gets mouthy when he’s excited, but even then he doesn’t bite down hard. It never hurts, but it can scare foolish strangers who sometimes TRY to get him excited at the dog park.

We have a new technique for disciplining him when he gets mouthy, and it seems to be working well. We stand our ground and quietly face him with both hands open, sending him “calm, assertive energy” (based on the ideas of the “Dog Whisperer”).

The most important thing is not giving up before he surrenders. Just keep standing there until the dog lies down and looks away in surrender. It’s really about mental power, not physical strength. At first it took 10 minutes as Princeton barked in protest and lunged to mouth our arms. Now he gives up much more quickly -- although he’s still testing us. It’s really surprising how well this works. The best part is that I don’t feel stressed out, injured or exhausted by the process. In fact, we all end up feeling better and calmer.

I must have seen the Dog Whisperer do this technique on TV more than 100 times before I understood it and got it to work. I’m not sure how well this would have worked on Princeton when he still had his baby teeth -- because it was impossible for me to remain calm when those needle-sharp teeth sank into my flesh. But it works great now.

This has been my most popular post ever, and I still get emails and comments about it. For all you new puppy owners out there, don't give up. Even the pups who are most like sharks will someday grow up, learn to stop biting and become love bugs.


Update in Dec 2016: Princeton doesn't get mouthy with people anymore, but he did chew up another dog bed! Now that he is 8 years old, he is getting stiff and needs a firmer bed. We just bought him the Big Barker 7" Pillow Top Orthopedic Dog Bed for Large and Extra Large Breed Dogs (Sleek Edition).

I wish I bought it for him when he was younger because the foam has a 10-year guarantee. They even have a bigger "giant size" Big Barker Orthopedic Dog Bed -- with a headrest.

Princeton opens wide to bite

Check out Princeton's sharp little baby teeth in profile

Sharkey Dane pup bites his own lips

Princeton inherited his lips from his grandpa Xander Moloseum, (courtesy of Great Plans Danes and Shabrea Great Danes)

Our puppy Princeton has gotten sores from biting his classic Dane lips. Great Danes have handsome overhanging upper lips that hang down to make their muzzle look square.

Princeton’s grandsire, the Polish champion Xander Moloseum, has truly amazing lips as you can see in his photo. It looks like our puppy has inherited these impressive lips.

Princeton had cuts on both sides of his upper lips when he came to us. At first we thought his littermates bit him, but at his first check-up, the vet figured out that Princeton bites his own lips! We're treating the sores with ointments and trying to keep them clean, but they still haven't healed. Even if he isn't biting at his lip, it gets irritated when he chews things, which is whenever he is awake.

The vet says that this problem solves itself when the adult teeth come in because they're not so sharp -- or he said we might want to pull his puppy teeth! (Seems too drastic -- we don't want to!)

The breeder and her circle of expert were all dumbfounded. They figured it must be Princeton’s Euro lips. And I couldn’t find any info on the Internet about this problem -- zero! -- so it must be rare. The breeder’s vet said tooth removal would be an absolute last resort, and it will all change as he gets older, outgrows the teething stage, and his lips grow.

Princeton’s breeder added, “He must be a aggressive chewer when he chews.”

Ha! We laughed at that comment. That’s an understatement! Trying to get him to stop chewing is like trying to get him to stop breathing. He loves to bite so much that we started calling him Sharkey.

Request to readers: Let me know if you have any good ideas about how to handle the lip issue!