I don't have a Lab, but I do have a gundog in training and this forum seemed the best for this question. I have a Dutch partridge dog (related to the small munsterlander and springer spaniel) She's 15 weeks old and we have been doing gundog training with her since she was 9 weeks old with one other puppy in our class, however we are on a two week break while the instructor is on holiday. Before she left she let us know that we should keep an eye on our pups teeth should she start to lose her milk teeth. Yesterday I was playing ball with her in the house and noticed some blood on her lips and after investigating found she had one tooth very loose that came off on my finger and what appears to be 3 other adult teeth that have already come in. This morning the gums look red and sore and where there was the missing tooth from yesterday, a small white point is poking through the skin. She has been very toothy the past few days and a little bit stroppy and this explains why. She is not a very confident girl, so I don't want her to form any negative associations with retrieving, so should I stop practicing retrieving?
Hello and welcome to the forum. There are plenty of other breeds here, so don't worry about her not being a Lab I would take her lead on it. When my two were teething, they found it soothing to chew on things, so I think having things in their mouths actually helped them feel better. You may find this with your girl, or you may find it encourages some things you don't want to promote - mouthing the dummy for example, or dropping it if a tooth comes out when she picks it up. If she's bothered, I'm sure she'll let you know by her body language. Just make sure she has lots of cool things to chew on at home - frozen kongs and ice cubes are great. Some people also find their dogs like to chew on cloths that have been soaked and then frozen. Please feel free to put a post in the introductions section to let us know a little bit about you both. We'd love to see pictures of your girl, too
Hello and welcome to the forum. What an interesting breed of gundog you have! While she is teething and her gums are sore I would use some soft articles for retrieving. Some rolled up socks are ideal. I have also used paint rollers which all dogs seem to love. Looking forward to hearing more about your puppy and her progress.
