Shark Teeth and Timid Little Shark

Ecko has been losing some of her baby teeth lately and we actually found two of them in the last few days. I found an informative article that talks about canine teeth/teething/types of bites etc and you can read it HERE.

Two comments on the article:

1. Retained puppy teeth - these are not uncommon in PWDs so keep an eye on your pup's teeth in the next month or so. In my experience, it is usually the canine teeth that are retained and may need to be extracted by your vet. Before you make an appointment to have your vet look at your pups retained canines, try giving him some heavy duty chewing for a few days in a row. Raw beef knuckle bones or other similar bones will often help loosen and knock puppy teeth out. Make sure your pup is always supervised when he is chewing on a bone.
2. In one place in the article it talks about shaking your pup lightly by the scruff if he resists having his teeth looked at. Scruff shaking is never a technique I would recommend.

Ecko's confidence with strangers has fallen off a bit recently and her confidence in general is a bit lower than usual. It seems like this sometimes happens in conjunction with teething.

I took Ecko on a walk around our neighborhood after dusk the other evening and made a note to myself that I need to walk through our neighborhood more. She was out in front of me trotting along on the leash, but her tail was lower than I like (denoting lack of confidence) and she was doing lots of looking from side to side (to check for scary things).

I took her on another walk yesterday during daylight and she was much more confident - about most stuff anyway. We walked behind the school where a track meet and softball game were taking place and she seemed to take the loudspeaker, starter's pistol and other noises in stride. A lady walked past on the sidewalk, looked directly at her, reached out her hand and said "cute puppy" and all "heck" broke loose. Ecko hit the dirt, dove behind me and got as far away from that "scary" lady as possible. "Scary" lady continued on up the sidewalk and I continued on also, hopefully making this little episode almost a non-issue in Ecko's mind. We subsequently passed several people who ignored her and she got treats and "atta girls" for checking them out without panic.

I took Ecko back to work with me later in the evening and asked our admin. person to socialize her with as many new people as possible and she did fine with that. She got lots of tasty treats for every new person she met and was mugging strangers for cookies by the end of the evening.

If your pup acts worried about strangers, Sarah Wilson, nationally known dog trainer and best selling author (Good Owners, Great Dogs and My Smart Puppy) recommends:

* "If your puppy is frightened of someone, tell that person to ignore the puppy. Go stand near that person and act relaxed. Shy puppies are always more comfortable approaching rather than being approached. Chat for a few minutes and allow the puppy to investigate if he wants. If he is hanging way back, try tossing a treat his way. Remember to stay upbeat! When he takes the treat, drop one closer to you, then closer and closer. Ignore the dog. Let him get it if he feels like it. Instruct the person to squat down, sideways to the puppy. Direct eye contact will frighten the pup, so have them look at the floor. Be verbally supportive, "What a dog! Say hello!" and walk over to the person. Don't allow the person to reach for the pup. When the pup finally does approach, have the person reach under his chin and scratch his chest. Reaching over his head will spook him. If he is too frightened to come all the way over, don't press it. Be happy with the success you got and move on."