Willa opened the apartment door at 6:15 p.m. in Dallas. Bean, her 11-week, 14-lb pup, hit her hands with needle teeth before she had the keys on the hook. Two guests were behind her with a $12 bottle of wine. Bean mouthed a wrist, then a sleeve. Willa had been told it was teething. Adult teeth start crowding in around 12–16 weeks. She had been told not to wrestle. She still played hand games twice this week. A rope toy hung on the hook. She had not grabbed it. Bean's greeting is 20 seconds of chaos. Willa wants four paws on the floor and guests who still have skin.
Key points at a glance
- Redirect the mouth to a toy in the first 1–2 seconds. Do not offer fingers as a second toy.
- If teeth hit skin, freeze and withdraw attention for 3–5 seconds, then resume only when the mouth is off.
- Guests hold pea-sized treats for four-on-floor. No hovering hands. No wrestling.
- Teething often ramps at 12–16 weeks; 11 weeks is already in the messy window.
- A yelp is optional. A consistent timeout is not. Hand games at 6:15 p.m. undo the rest of the day.
Hands are not chew toys
Puppies greet with mouths. Bean is 14 lb of social teeth. If Willa wrestles, she pays him in play for biting skin. Keep a rope or a stuffed toy on the hook by the door. Keys down, toy out, hands busy with the toy. That is the whole greeting for week one.
When teeth land: still. Quiet. Turn a shoulder. Count 3–5 seconds. Then toy. Not a lecture. Not a shove. If he follows the hands, step through a baby gate or behind a door for those same 3–5 seconds. Come back boring.
Script the guests
Ask guests to ignore jumping and to drop a treat on the floor when all four paws land. They do not lean in with palms. They do not "let him get it out of his system." They hold 8–10 pea-sized treats and pay the floor, not the face.
Short greetings. If he cannot think, leash him 6 feet back, toy on the floor, 5 treats for four-on-floor, then a crate break with a chew. 20 seconds of chaos is a rehearsal. End it.
Teething from about 12–16 weeks makes the mouth busier, not meaner. Stock 3 legal chews. Frozen stuffed toys help. Human skin does not. If a guest is bitten and bleeding, wash, and call your own doctor. Then tighten the door script. Do not wait for 16 weeks to "grow out of it" while hands stay the toy.
| Move | Timing | Skip this |
|---|---|---|
| Toy in mouth | 1–2 seconds after the door opens | Empty hands at 6:15 p.m. |
| Freeze / withdraw | 3–5 seconds after teeth on skin | Shoving, slapping, or more wrestling |
| Four-on-floor treats | Every guest, pea-sized, on the floor | Pets while he jumps |
| Crate break | If he cannot take food | Hoping guests "tire him out" |
| Teething chews | 12–16 weeks, 3 options on rotation | Hand tug-of-war |
Willa put the rope on a hook she could hit with the door still half open. Guests dropped treats for four-on-floor. Bean still tagged a sleeve on night one. By night five the $12 wine made it to the counter with both wrists intact.
This article is general education, not a veterinary diagnosis. Contact a veterinarian or a force-free trainer if mouthing breaks skin often, if it is getting harder, or if the pup cannot greet without a frenzy.