Puppies, Learning & Emotions

Puppy brain
A puppy’s brain increases 5 times birth weight in first 8 weeks, then doubles to adult size by one year of age.

Learning to smell and feel
First two weeks is sensitive period in dogs. Although blind and deaf, puppies learn through their abilty to smell ad feel. They begin to understand odors, softness, handling. During this period, handling the pup for 3 minutes a day creates a put that is less stressed by unexpected events throughout life. It also helps to stimulate pups with cool hands, to change temperature, touch, and stroke quality.

Critical learning periods in a puppy’s life, socialization, tail wagging, food
The first socialization period begins when the eyes open between the 2nd and 3rd week of life or 13-20 days of age. During this period the pup should be in contact with dogs and humans. If it is a herding dog, it should be in contact with the flock.

After 3 weeks of age, pups learn tail wagging while signaling littermates.

Pups learn willingness to approach strange food at 5-7 weeks, and should be offered a variety of textures, tastes, and smells. This openness to food decreases at 9 weeks of age.

Biting
Pups learn bite inhibition from mother and siblings, and transfer this knowledge to humans. This is one reason single puppies and abandoned puppies are more inclined to bite than pups raised with littermates and with a conscientious, calm dam.

Hand-reared pups
Dogs that are hand-reared from birth don’t wag their tails much, and don’t understand that dominance is expressed by a tail in air, and submission is expressed by tail carried down.

Maternal hormones
The mother’s hormones of mother influence the developing puppy. For example, fearful and anxious mothers are more likely to produce fearful pups. Aggressive mothers are more likely to produce aggressive pups.