Pebbles’ Puppy Diary – Teething, Zoomies and Growing Up Fast!

This week has definitely felt like we’ve entered the teething stage… and wow, Pebbles has let us know about it!

At around three months old, puppies start losing their baby teeth, with their adult teeth gradually coming through over the next few months. It’s completely normal for them to suddenly want to chew everything they can find.

Pebbles has started giving the corners of the sofa and the skirting boards some very thoughtful looks… as if she’s deciding whether they’re in need of a good chew!

Thankfully, she is always supervised, so we can redirect her onto something that is more appropriate to chew instead. Rather than telling her off for chewing the wrong thing, we simply swap it for something she is allowed to chew. The aim isn’t to stop her chewing — she genuinely needs to at the moment — it’s helping her learn what is suitable for her to chew and what is out of bounds.

We’ve been making sure she has plenty of suitable things to help soothe those sore gums. Frozen flannels have been a big hit, along with natural chews such as ostrich tendon and frozen lick mats.

If we use peanut butter, we always make sure it is 100% peanuts and doesn’t contain xylitol, as this is toxic to dogs.

The hot weather has also meant changing our routine. We’ve been getting up early and heading out for a short walk around 5:45am while it’s still cooler. During the day, Pebbles comes with me to my venue and does little bits of training, then in the evening she might have another gentle walk after her dinner.

One of the highlights this week was taking Pebbles to Compton Verney before I ran my half marathon on Sunday. It was much cooler in the morning, and she had a lovely time taking in everything around her. There were lots of people, runners, and distractions, but she was fantastic. She calmly watched people going past and enjoyed plenty of attention from everyone who stopped to say hello.

On the walk over, we did come across a field that had a particularly impressive amount of sheep poo in it! Normally, this would have been a great opportunity to work on some training, but we were on our way to the start of the race and didn’t really have time to stop and practise.

So instead, my husband picked her up and carried her past the worst patch.

Sometimes management is the best option, and that’s absolutely okay!

Although I think we’re getting close to the end of being able to do that easily — Pebbles is now around 15kg and growing so quickly!

She’s also had a harness upgrade this week as she has already outgrown her first one. It’s amazing how quickly puppies change; it feels like every week she looks different.

And finally… the zoomies have arrived! She has started tearing around the garden like a little whirlwind. It’s hilarious to watch, although we do make sure she doesn’t use our older dog as part of her obstacle course — he’s not quite as impressed with her enthusiasm as we are!

Pebbles is definitely becoming more confident, more curious, and occasionally a little cheekier. But that’s all part of raising a puppy, and it’s been amazing watching her personality develop.