Small Dog Carriers News-
Giving Puppy Head Start
Psychological
Health Begins With The Owner
By: Bob DeFranco
Animal Behavior Consultant and Master Trainer
Amy's parents bought their puppy, from
a local pet shop, gave it many toys, lots of love &
took it to the veterinarian for all of its shots. Why was
Amy shocked when she tried to take a rawhide bone from their
now nine month old puppy and was bitten. "I thought
he loved me. Why did he hurt me?"...
Most canine behavior researchers and
behavior therapists agree that the first few months of a
puppy's life are important for the development of as dog's
temperament. From 3 to 8 weeks of age are the best times
for dogs to learn to interact with other dogs, from week
5 to 12 to learn to interact with people and from week 10
to 20 to examine novel environments. These periods were
once called socialization or critical periods, but are now
more appropriately referred to as sensitive periods. Part
of a puppy's response to stimuli will vary with genetic
makeup, however, exposure during sensitive periods is critical.
In many cases, veterinarians are at odds
with animal behaviorists. A conservative veterinarian who
is mainly concerned with a dog's physical well being will
advise a new puppy owner not to take the dog outdoors until
it has had all of its vaccinations. Since many inexperienced
breeders vaccinate late, this may not be until a dog is
5 months old or more, a time near the end of or after the
sensitive period. An animal behaviorist will point out that
most dogs die before their time because of behavior problems
which includes euthanasia and abandonment. It makes more
sense to take your young puppy everywhere, soliciting interaction
with adults of all races, both male and female, children
and other animals known to be healthy while avoiding urine,
feces, and interaction with strange dogs. In fact, many
veterinarians agree that exposure to mild disease helps
the immune system to better develop.
The earlier a young dog can learn about
the environment in which it lives (without inducing fear)
the better. Dogs who are deprived of these experiences,
are at risk of developing abnormal or inappropriate behavior
responses to them. Studies have indicated that puppies who
have been isolated from their normal future environment
from 3 days to 20 weeks of age are disturbed for life and
have impaired learning abilities.
Early separation of puppies from their
mother can be detrimental to the physical and behavioral
development of the pups. This is why a prospective dog owner
should never accept a pup from a breeder or pet shop before
eight weeks of age. This can be tricky in the case of pet
shops since you may not know when the pups were removed
from mom and the litter mates. Pet shops like to get pups
when they are as young as possible since they have a longer
"shelf life", i.e. they have more time to sell
them before they grow too old to be saleable.
Seeking out a good puppy kindergarten
class or puppy program at a qualified dog training school
and learning about how you can influence the proper psychological
development of your young dog is the key to raising and
keeping a happy and psychological healthy adult dog for
many years.
If you have any other questions, please
feel free to drop Bob a note or call him at: +1.718.651.3840
