|
Puppy Care
CANINE DEVELOPMENT AND
SOCIALIZATION
Early Socialization to People, Animals, and Environments
Puppies are wonderful! They stir our instinct to nurture, cuddle and
care for a cute little bundle of squirming, living, responsive animal.
Puppies will grow into adult dogs very quickly- and dogs are not
little children in furry coats. If we really love our puppy, we want
to do everything we can to help our family and the puppy understand
each other and work for mutual joy of companionship together.
We will help you to understand your puppy’s natural behavior and some
of its needs which are very different from those of people. We also
will try to teach you how to manage your puppy’s behavior in ways that
will please both family and the adult dog for a lifetime of
togetherness and enjoyment.
The early development pattern of puppies
From birth to about two weeks of age, puppies are pretty helpless with
nearly all effort devoted to eating and sleeping. Their eyes and ears
are not yet open and body temperature is maintained by the warmth of
their mother, siblings and environment. This is often called the
neonatal period.
The period from 14 to 21 days seems to be a transition period when
pups begin to develop their motor skills as well as develop their
vision and hearing. By about three weeks, pups can respond with a
startled reaction to a noise and many are able to drink milk. Their
first teeth are just beginning to push through the gums and in several
weeks they can begin to eat solid food.
Studies on many species of animals have shown that learning may occur
in special ways very early in life during what some have called
sensitive periods for learning. Some have compared the brain to a
sponge that takes in and retains information quickly and easily in the
first few hours to the first few weeks of life.
In puppies, it appears that the most sensitive periods for early
learning occurs from 3 to 13 weeks of age. Since each puppy is
different, we often consider the sensitive period for early learning
in puppies to range from birth to 16 weeks of age. Studies indicate
that this is the best time for puppies to absorb information and learn
from new experiences. It appears that that these sensitive or critical
weeks are an optimum time for a puppy to become comfortable with
exposure to all sizes and appearances of people, to other dogs and to
many other sounds, sights and situations that may be encountered in
later life without being fearful.
For more information on Puppy Care, including such topics as:
socialization, house training, crate training, biting, commands, and
grooming, click here to download a complete
manual. (PDF)
|
|
