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FOURTH CRITICAL PERIOD
(Eighth through twelfth week)
| BASIC NEEDS |
Human socialization, mother
substitute, training. |
| DO |
Avoid frightening or painful new
experiences. |
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REASON |
Studies have shown that prior to
eight weeks of age a pup will continue to approach a person, even though that
person frightened or hurt him the previous day. Upon reaching the eighth week
and being frightened, he will remember and will be afraid of the person and try
to avoid contact with them. The eighth week is a period of fear for the puppy,
and you should avoid trips to the vet for vaccines (although this is usually the
week most pups are taken for their first trip), exposing the pup to new
situations that may be frightening. As you can see, this rules out one of the
most common practices of transferring the pup to a new home during this time --
unless the new owners have been thoroughly "grilled" and will avoid any
unpleasant experiences for the pup. This is also the time many breeds have their
ears cropped -- again it should be done prior to the eighth week, or closer to
the tenth week of life. Studies have also shown that once a puppy passes this
stage in his life, his devotion to humans is to great (if he has been properly
socialized) that even though they may reject him and attempt to frighten him, he
will still approach and creep submissively to their
feet! |
| DO |
Remove form littermates and mother
influence, or rotate. |
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REASON |
Leaving the pup with the mother can
become very confusing, and actually be damaging to his emotional development.
During this period she will begin actively rejecting the pup, which can be quite
a blow to his newly gained confidence. Leaving the pup with the mother can also
cause him to remain dependent on her, which again, will be damaging to his
emotional development. Since she is rejecting him, he will not find the security
he needs.
Anytime following the eighth week is an
ideal time to place the pup in his new home (provided the new owners are willing
to follow through with the remainder of the critical periods). He will naturally
become attached to the person who becomes his substitute mother.
His instinct to follow (the beginning
of the pack instinct) comes into being early in this period and he will
naturally look up to his human pack leader.
It is important to separate or
rotate the pups from or with littermates to keep them from becoming bullies or
cowards. The pup must remain with the litter long enough to develop a
competitive attitude, but leaving him too long will have the opposite effect,
and injure his emotional growth. If removed from the litter and mother and
raised with other dogs in the family, for some reason, he is not affected in the
same way. So don't be afraid to place in homes that already have a
dog. |
| DO |
Provide love and
attention. |
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REASON |
The pup's ability to form a strong
bond of affection and devotion is greater during this period than at any other
time in his life. That doesn't mean he must be fussed over constantly or
"coddled". But to help achieve this bond to humans, he needs good care, and
individual times of play and petting. |
| DO |
Provide supervised play with
children. |
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REASON |
A dog does not see all humans as one
species of animal, a child is totally different from an adult, and a young adult
is completely different from an elderly person. Children and adults, as well as
other animals in the family or neighbourhood should not be allowed to scare or
hurt the puppy, (accidentally or on purpose), so they must be watched carefully.
If you do not have children, then "borrow" them from the neighbourhood.
Introduce one child, and then gradually add several children. Do not allow the
puppy to pull or chew on the child. Have the child offer him a toy, or if
necessary correct the puppy gently. |
| DO |
Provide supervised socialization with
as many different types of people as possible. |
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REASON |
His introduction to people during
this period will determine his later sociability and emotional outlook towards
humans. His fondness (or fear) of people will permanently affect how he accepts
training and directions. If he is properly socialized, it is possible to even
overcome the inherited breed characteristics of independence, aggressiveness,
and aloofness. The importance of closely supervising all contact with people
during this time cannot be emphasized strongly enough. You must make sure
nothing occurs to cause negative conditioning. |
| DO |
Expose to the big, wide world after
the eighth week. |
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|
REASON |
The pup should gradually be
introduced to the "outside" world. He should be taken in the yard, taken for
walks, taken for short automobile rides, and introduced to strange new objects.
Even the common household garbage can may be a frightening experience, unless
you've been properly introduced! He should see and smell everything within his
reach. He should learn that bicycles are not to be feared, nor washing machine
noises, or automobile sounds and motion. Or doorbells and telephones and a
hundred other new and exciting and funny things that make up his strange new
world. |
| DO |
Begin gentle but firm
discipline. |
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REASON |
During this period he is capable of
accepting and understanding discipline. By discipline, we mean learning that
all-important word "NO" command. |
| DO |
Complete your
housebreaking. |
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REASON |
During this period he is capable of
going through the night without having an accident, and he can progress from
paper training to outdoor training. It should be done only in a positive manner.
His desire to be clean in his bed area, as well as his desire to please, will
make housebreaking a snap at this time. |
| DO |
Begin his simple obedience training:
response to sit, stand, down, come. |
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REASON |
His developing pack instinct will
keep his total attention on you, the leader, at this time and make training so
simple you will vow to begin training every additional pup you acquire at this
tender age! Even more important, what he learns during this time will remain
with him for life, and become a basic part of his complete personality and his
acceptance of training throughout his life. His house breaking should be
completed during this period. Progressing from the short line on the collar to
an actual training lead. |
| DO |
Be positive and
constructive. |
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REASON |
Again, what he is learning during
this period will shape his entire attitude towards training and life in general.
Everything related to training should be done in a positive manner. During
training sessions forget that word "NO". He will be praised for correct
behaviour and will receive "nothing" for incorrect behaviour. We merely replace
him gently in position, and praise when he responds. The word "NO" can be
employed in training when the pup is attempting to
bite. |
| DO |
Work individually out of sight and
hearing of mother and littermates, in a distraction free area. |
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REASON |
By working separately you are still
stressing that he is an individual and helping to build his confidence even
more. In addition you are also helping him understand he can be a co-worker with
you. He must be away from his littermates and mother and in an area that is free
of distractions so that his attention is focused only on you. He can be trained
with distractions, but the results will be much more spectacular if distractions
are not available. |
| DO |
Begin teaching him to
fetch. |
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REASON |
If you are planning to enter this pup
in obedience competition now is the time to begin retrieving! Actually the fetch
test is used by "Guide Dogs For The Blind" to determine how willing a pup is
going to be to work for man. They consider this test extremely important and
have found that pups that do not fetch willingly never become reliable guide
dogs. |
| DO NOT |
Restrain. |
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REASON |
The only restraints used should be
the crate or other necessary fencing to keep the puppy in his kennel or bed
area. The puppy should not be tied outside of left tied anywhere during this
time. |
| DO NOT |
Isolate from
humans. |
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REASON |
Test proved that a puppy who is
isolated from humans during this period remain maladjusted for life. They also
proved to be incapable of becoming companions to humans as well as incapable of
training.
Your daily training sessions will provide ample contact with humans
-- but this can create what is known as single-person socialization -- a dog
that accepts one person, but is terrified or aggressive to other people. For
this reason, again the importance of introducing him to other people is
stressed. |
NEW ACTIONS AND REACTIONS
Extreme competition now begins in
the litter, creating bullies and timid, cowardly pups. The pup can now learn by
association chain. Show him what to do, and he will learn to do it. The natural
pack instinct develops and he will willingly follow a human leader if the
opportunity is provided. He is learning at an accelerated pace. Because
environmental influences create such a big impression on him, this is the best
time for man to step in and mould the puppy into exactly the kind of dog he
wants. He will never again be as "pliable" as he is during this period. His body
sensitivity is increasing rapidly, and it is important to avoid physical
punishment or accidental painful events.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
As you can see this is another
extremely critical period in moulding your puppy. From my personal experience, I
would never purchase a puppy over seven weeks of age, unless I knew the breeder
was strictly adhering to the training and socialization in the various periods.
However, I would never sell a pup of my own breeding until they were at least 11
to 12 weeks of age. I know that most people are not willing to put in the time
to cover all the "Do and Do Nots", and I would want to make sure that this pup
had the best possible start in life to counterbalance the many new, strange, and
frightening, as well as negative influences he is bound to encounter in the
course of his life.
Although most of the studies stress
puppies should be placed in new homes at the end of the seventy week of life,
(because this is when the permanent bonds of affection begin), you can keep the
pup without detrimental effects if you are willing to devote the time and energy
necessary.
The pups should be watched closely
during this period for signs of domination. If one pup continuously dominates
another pup, then it is time to begin your rotation of pups. In a few litters,
no one pup is ever totally dominant -- meaning there are times when he is the
guy on top and other times when the pup he was just dominating is now dominating
him. With these litters it is not necessary to provide separate housing. But if
a dominant pattern is developing then you must set up enough pens or crates (or
whatever you are using) to accommodate the pups in pairs.
Let's assume that you have six pups in
your litter. Today you might pair puppy A and B in one pen, puppies C and D in
another, and puppies E and F in a third pen. Tomorrow you would rotate these
pups, placing puppies A and F together, B/D, and C/E. The next day you would
again rotate, placing A and E, and so on. In this way a dominant pup is never
left with the one he is dominating more than a day. Likewise, a submissive pup
to pup "A" may be dominant to pup "D" and so on.
It is very rare for one pup to be
dominate over every other pup in the litter, just as it is rare for one pup to
be the underdog and be submissive to the entire litter. This way each pup gets
his opportunity to be the dominate one, and he also learns he is not the "king
of the mountain" as there are times when he must submit to another
pup.
In addition to rotating to
counterbalance the pup's place in the world, you must hold daily training
sessions and individual attention, and it must be done out of sight and hearing
of the rest of the litter or the mother. In this way the pup can successfully be
kept for longer periods before placing him in his new home, and still emerge a
confident, sociable pup, with positive attitude towards training.
All pups tend to "mirror" their human
families. If the family is noisy and active then chances are the pup is going to
be nosy and slightly hyper. Conversely if the pup is raised in a quiet calm
atmosphere, he is probably going to be the same type of dog.
It is important when placing your pups
in a new home that the owners understand if they want a pup that is a gentle and
loving as an adult, then they must treat it gently and lovingly.
If the pup is always greeted, when the
owners return home, with excited cries of "Hello puppy! What a good puppy, blah,
blah, blah" the pup is going to be overly excited each time his family returns
which leads to jumping and running wildly through the house.
While the pup should certainly be
greeted, it should be done quietly with gentleness and loving attention. The pup
should be placed into a sit prior to being petted which will end forever the
problem of jumping up, and will teach the pup sitting quietly earns the welcome
reward of petting and praise.
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