Bleeding Gums???

[Shyla]

I know I haven't been on latley life can be crazy busy with 4 children, a puppy, and a husband :D

I have a question and I figured mabey someone her would know the answer. Today ouyr puppy, Guru, was chewing on paper (he loves to do this) and we noticed his gums werre bleeding. Is this normal? Why would his gums bleed? I figure he will probably have to go to the vet but I wanted to ask all of you wise Basenji owners :)

Thank You

[tanza]

How old is he? If over 4 months or ever just under, he is starting to lose the puppy teeth, and the perms are coming in…. bloody gums are not uncommon. Chewing stimulates gums and teeth and if he is losing some baby teeth or they are getting loose, that is when you will see some bloody gums... they usually lose the back molers first along with the front teeth... and the needle "fangs" are the last to go. Also don't be surprised if when teething his breath starts to stink also....
Again, how old is he?... but that would be my guess as to what is going on

[firefoxkatan]

yes, bleeding is some what ok in the first few months of any dog's life
I noticed when I gave Bindi her first rope toy, it was pink for a little while
one, she hadn't chewed on anything that wasn't really soft, so it gave less then a stuffed toy and more force was put into chewing on it so some blood showed up
two, she's teething hehe

if you see more then pink, like a lot of red, then you may want to keep an eye on the chewing, it maybe be the toy or whatever cut the gums a bit, you may want to switch to a different toy, also it could be gingivitis which I think they have medications for, you'll have to ask the vet

but by the sounds of you saying 'puppy' the dog is just teething

~Kat

[Shyla]

Hes 4 months :) So our puppy is teething that would explain all the bitting and chewing problems we have been having.

Thank You so much this explains alot :D I didn't even think about that he might be loosing teeth.

[tanza]

Biting is not a sign of teething…chewing of course is.... Biting should not be tolerated.... and chewing only on appropriate items... (of course they don't read the book on what is and is not appropriate). Please be sure that you are correcting the behavior such as biting.... and only with positive reinforcement....