This article is taken from a thesis I wrote to complete the Puppy Development, Care and Coaching Accredited Diploma from Canine Principles. The thesis asked for a plan to produce a perfect puppy, following the process from the beginning through to the age of six months. The thesis has been adapted into a series of three articles previously, but I have been asked to put them together as one resource.
There is a saying in some places that a puppy is a blank canvas and so anyone that gets their dog as a puppy will have a very simple job to produce a happy, sociable dog that they can take into any situation without worry. The truth is rather more complicated, but with care and attention to details from the very beginning of the process, the chances of the dog growing up to enjoy a happy life are greatly increased.
Before Birth
The very first question that requires an answer is the question of the reason for breeding. There are very good ethical breeders, who carefully select the parent animals and ensure excellent conditions throughout the pregnancy and whelping period. They are breeding to produce quality healthy examples of their particular breed and, if there are areas in the breed that can be improved upon, to move the breed in that direction. These breeders will be sure that they have homes lined up for the puppies that they produce, and many good breeders have waiting lists for the quality puppies that they produce. An excellent breeder will also maintain their responsibility for the puppies that they produce, and a common agreement is that they will have the puppy back if the new home does not work out for some reason. Sadly, there are also unscrupulous breeders who are breeding purely to make money, who will breed from any available animals, regardless of their suitability, and keep them in unsuitable conditions, spending as little money as possible on them, and not caring what happens at all once they sold them. It does not require much effort to see which set of breeders are more likely to produce puppies who have a greater chance of a happy, healthy life, or why the question of the breeder’s motivation to be breeding dogs is important.
Selecting a particular breed requires careful consideration. Although individuality means that every dog is unique and should be considered as an individual, the process of artificial selection humans have practiced in breeding dogs throughout the period of domestication has results in breed types. A breed or type of dog will typically have certain tendencies and characteristics, such as working breeds usually having high levels of energy and stamina. When considering breeds, whether as a pet to introduce into your home or to breed to join other families, these breed factors must be taken into account and the ability to fulfil these needs must be in place.
To produce puppies that have the very best chance of being perfect, we must consider their origins – their parents.
Any puppy gets their genetic inheritance, their genome, from the previous generations – their parents and grandparents going back over the generations. Each parent contributes half of the genetic material required to create life. Because of the way in which reproductive cells reproduce via the process of meiosis, which involves a two stage splitting process in which the genetic material is distributed randomly, every puppy produced is a unique individual. Because the entirety of the genome comes from the parent animals, they should be selected with great care to ensure they are mentally and physically healthy and not carrying any genetic flaws that they could pass on to their progeny. Good breeders will have potential breeding animals tested for genetically heritable illnesses and diseases, ensuring that any animals that can pass these issues on will not be used for breeding. It is true that even this will not guarantee puppies will not develop genetic issues, as some characteristics are determined by multiple genes. A healthy animal that is not showing a particular characteristic can still pass genetic material on to their progeny and, if that genetic material is also received from the another seemingly healthy parent, their puppies can receive enough to then develop the condition.
The conditions in which the parent animals were born and raised can have an effect on the puppies. While the genome, the gene set that makes up that particular animal, is set at the moment of conception and cannot change, the expression of those genes can change, due to epigenetics. The prefix ‘epi’ comes from the Greek, meaning over or above, meaning that epigenetics is the information layered on top of the genetic DNA sequence. Through epigenetics genes can be effectively switched on or off by the epigenome, a cluster of chemicals that can change the way in which genes behave. The epigenome can learn from its environment and apply epigenetic marks to cells, highlighting them as important and so that they can be switched on or off as required, changing how the genes are expressed. Although study of the subject is at an early stage, the idea of epigenetic inheritance posits that the parent dogs can pass epigenetic markers down to their offspring. The concept of epigenetic inheritance can be viewed as similar to the nature vs nurture argument, which will be discussed a little later.
Once the best possible examples have been selected to breed and bred together, we can begin to begin to make the outcome for the puppies conceived as favourable as we possibly can.
Once the puppies have been conceived, we need to start considering the effect their environment has on them while they are developing, physically and psychologically. During the period of pregnancy, the puppies’ environment is the inside of their mother’s body. For this reason, it is very important to make sure that the mother dog is well cared for, fed appropriately and is not stressed. A pregnant dog that is stressed will have stress hormones in their blood. If this situation carries on for a period of time, there is a chance that some of these stress hormones can cross the placenta and affect the puppies. This can mean that the puppies are born prepared to live in a stressful world, with bodies that are anticipating stress, and can become stressed much faster than an unaffected dog. Any illness in the mother dog can cause stress, and also potentially affect the nutrition available to the growing pups, interfering with their normal growth and development. For these reasons, and for ethical concerns, it is vital that the mother dog is treated with kindness, and receives excellent levels of physical care and nutrition, and the mother should be under the care of a veterinary surgeon, following any advice given regarding treatment or supplementation as required.
Once the parent dogs have been bred together and the mother is pregnant, the development of the foetuses begins and the appropriate care of the mother should begin. The canine gestation period can vary between 58 and 65 days, with the average sitting at around 63 days, or 9 weeks. The timeline of foetal development and changes to the mother can be seen in the table below, together with some important points for different stages:
Week 1:
Fertilisation occurs. The mother should be fed as per her non-pregnancy routine, and may show some behaviour changes after fertilisation, possibly displaying a shorter temper or seeking more affection. She may suffer from morning sickness (can also occur in weeks 2 and 5).
Week 2:
During this week the embryos move to the uterus.
Week 3:
Embryo implantation takes place in the uterus. System development begins with the nervous system. The heart starts to beat at 22 days gestation. From this point onwards, the embryo can be affected by developmental interference from external factors.
Week 4:
The mother’s mammary glands start to develop. The puppies’ spinal columns develop, along with their eyes, and their faces start to become apparent. During this week the organs start to develop. This is a very vulnerable time for the embryos as it is when they are highly susceptible to defects. Towards the end of this week, it becomes possible to feel the puppies by abdominal palpation, and the uterine fluid will appear. The mother should be restricted from doing too much strenuous activity, and daily dietary supplementation with Omega 3 oil or a similar supplement is recommended.
Week 5:
At this point the swelling of the mother’s stomach becomes noticeable and the waist tuck in front of the hips disappears as the puppy-filled uterus fills the abdomen. This is when the mother starts to require more food, and her ration for the day should be split to provide an extra meal. During this week more features start to develop including the whiskers, toes and claws. At the end of week 5, the limbs start to grow. The foetuses now look like tiny dogs.
The nervous system finishes forming and the reproductive system now begins to form. The skeleton develops further, with the bones becoming harder and joints being formed. The process of organogenesis finishes, meaning that the foetuses are resistant to external interference in their development. The eyes, open to this point, now close.
Week 6:
During this week, the amount of food given to the mother should be increased, and she should be given access to the area where she will whelp the puppies so that she can get used to it and comfortable in it. Her abdomen continues enlarging and her nipples get larger also. The foetus’ skin pigmentation develops and by this point the heartbeats can be heard via stethoscope.
Week 7:
In week 7, the mother will begin to look pregnant, and the hair on her abdomen sheds. By using scans or x-rays the number of puppies carried may be able to be counted. The foetuses are continuing to grow. The mother should not be permitted to jump or engage in rough play sessions.
Week 8:
During this week, the mother’s milk develops, and may be seen leaking from the nipples. When she is resting, the movement of the puppies may be visible in her abdomen. By day 56, the puppies can be born safely.
Week 9:
At day 55, one week before the average day of birth, the fur begins to grow on the foetuses as they continue to grow and develop. The mother may display nesting behaviour, and can become distressed – pacing, panting and looking uncomfortable.
At the end of this time the puppies are born, The first stage of the process has been completed and a healthy litter of puppies are nestled in the whelping area with their mother. Next comes the start of learning about the world they have been born into.
Socialisation
Socialisation is a vital part of preparing a puppy for a long and happy life through adolescence and beyond to an adult dog. Socialisation is the process of introducing a puppy to the things that he will encounter in his life, in a safe and positive way, so that the puppy learns to have a positive outlook on life. The aim of socialisation is habituation – the puppy becomes used to new things in his environment and never has a chance to become sensitised to them or scared of them, and accepts them as a matter of fact part of his environment. A puppy that has been well socialised will grow up to be a resilient dog through their adult life, able to recover quickly if they encounter a tough situation, and with a positive outlook meaning that they expect good things to happen. A good breeder will start the socialisation period very soon after the puppies are born, including gentle handling and introducing the sights, sounds, and smells of everyday life in a human family home.
There are a number of important periods within the overall socialisation period that must be taken into account when planning to raise a puppy. Missing these socialisation periods increasing the risks of the puppy growing up to be fearful and worried by new things in their environment and socially impaired or To give the best chance of the puppy growing up to have the perfect life, the mother will ideally spend her gestation period and the time between the birth and weaning living in a family home, with all of the typical sights and sounds of life in a family. The process of socialisation, the act of educating puppies about the world and to be comfortable in it can begin before they are even born, along with the rest of their development.
Nature gives the puppy their genetic material, which goes some way towards deciding their personality, although the discussion on how much comes from the nature side of the equation has been running for a long time. Nurture also has a part to play in shaping personality, and how the mother is cared for and the puppies are raised and handled from the time they are born will play a large part in deciding their attitude to and experience of their lives.
Socialisation is a vital part of preparing a puppy for a long and happy life through adolescence and beyond to an adult dog. Socialisation is the process of introducing a puppy to the things that he will encounter in his life, in a safe and positive way, so that the puppy learns to have a positive outlook on life. The aim of socialisation is habituation – the puppy becomes used to new things in his environment and never has a chance to become sensitised to them or scared of them, and accepts them as a matter of fact part of his environment. A puppy that has been well socialised will grow up to be a resilient dog through their adult life, able to recover quickly if they encounter a tough situation, and with a positive outlook meaning that they expect good things to happen. A good breeder will start the socialisation period very soon after the puppies are born, including gentle handling and introducing the sights, sounds, and smells of everyday life in a human family home.
There are a number of important periods within the overall socialisation period that must be taken into account when planning to raise a puppy. Missing these socialisation periods increasing the risks of the puppy growing up to be fearful and worried by new things in their environment and socially impaired or incompetent, either around other dogs, people or both. The critical learning period, the time in which puppies learn these vital lessons quickly extends through to approximately 14 weeks of age, although dogs continue to learn from their environment throughout their lives.
Primary socialisation is the period during which the puppy learns social skills with other dogs, learns how to be a dog. It occurs between days 22 and 49 after birth, when the puppy is with his mother and littermates. The puppy learns how to communicate and use appropriate body language, and learns about bite inhibition, as his mother and littermates will end play or possibly rebuke a puppy that bites too hard. This includes social learning, learning by watching his littermates and mother and copying what they do. Social learning is a common way in which animals that live in social groups learn, including humans, and social learning will continue through the dog’s life.
Secondary socialisation is the period in which the puppy will learn social skills with humans. It is typically thought of as being between 7 and 14 weeks of age, starting around the time that puppies leave the litter to go to their new homes. This is the period which most people think of as the ‘socialisation period’ when talking about puppies. A puppy that is carefully socialised with as many different kinds of people, things, and environmental factors in a positive, gentle way by the time they reach 14 weeks has the best chance of being a happy, optimistic dog in their adult lives. A complicating factor with secondary socialisation in the outside world is that this period is when the puppy’s essential vaccinations are often given, along with the advice to keep puppies inside and away from areas where other dogs many have been. This can be tackled by carrying the puppy when out where dogs of unknown vaccination status have been, and setting up ‘playdates’ with vaccinated dogs that have excellent social skills. Puppies can see, hear, smell, and experience the world whole being carried, so socialisation can carry on while being aware of the need to keep them safe.
The list below shows a week-by-week breakdown of suggested socialisation activities from before birth to the end of the critical learning period at 14 weeks. As the new activities are included, the activities from previous weeks should be repeated. This means the range of things the puppy experiences and is exposed to grows and is reinforced by repetition, and his resilience grows as he develops an optimistic attitude to life and new things.
Before birth:
- Keep mother healthy, happy and relaxed.
- Play a desensitisation CD of noises that the puppy will encounter in their life.
Weeks 1-2:
- Early stimulation has been seen to kick-start the working of the neurological system and encourage development and early learning. At this age, puppies can sense movement, temperature changes, pressure changes, tastes and smells. Exposure to changes in these has been shown to result in more confident adult dogs.
- Handling the puppies in the mother’s presence three times a day for one minute each time, applying gentle pressure over their bodies for the stimulation as mentioned above will start getting them used to humans and make health checks easier as the puppy gets older.
Weeks 2-4:
- Begin introducing the typical sights and sounds of family household life.
- As the senses develop more – in this time the eyes and ear canals open – let the puppies explore new sights and smells but always at their own pace.
- Increase the amount of regular handling the puppies are receiving. Get them used to the basic regular health check motions such as examining the teeth, gums, eyes, ears, nose and paws.
- Let the puppies hear as wide a range of human voices as possible to get them used to a variety of people early on.
- Keep introducing new sensations to the puppies like different kinds of floor surfacing so that the puppies can learn to be confident and move around on different floor types. Give them new types of toys, let them experience different locations around the home, but let them explore at their own pace to keep the socialisation happy and positive.
Weeks 5-7:
- Introduce as many different types of people as possible to the puppy, making sure not to overwhelm them or force them to interact. Include men, women, teenagers, children, babies, people in wheelchairs, people with sticks, men with beards, people wearing hats. Do not try to force interactions as this can backfire and lead to a puppy being frightened of people.
- Introduce more household noises and objects such as vacuum cleaners, TVs etc, at closer exposure but taking care to observe the puppy’s body language and slow down if they show signs of confusion or fear.
- Give the puppy lots of novel types of stimulation and individual attention.
- Begin to get them out and about outside to start seeing and experiencing the world, although carried at this point if in areas where other dogs have been.
Week 8:
- Keep up everything from the preceding weeks to ensure that the puppy is prepared to go and start a new life away from his mother and littermates and has the best chance of settling well in his new home if he is joining another family.
Weeks 9-14:
- Keep up the work of letting the puppy safely learn about the world.
- Get him used to wearing a collar and harness, and to being on a lead. Teach him to wear a muzzle – hopefully it will not be needed or at least very rarely, but being prepared removes stress if he has to wear one at some point.
- Start to take him to more places, carrying him if the area has been frequented by unknown dogs and he has not yet had his full course of vaccinations. Introducing him to the vet clinic widens his socialisation and reduces stress when visits are needed for treatment. Many vets will book short appointments with a nurse for quick handling practice, treats and fuss to remove fear from the clinic. Another good place to take puppies for exposure can be the pet store, and similar places.
- Keep him meeting a variety of people. Take him to social places – a dog friendly pub as an example, where he can sit and see lots of people and meet some in a safe, well-monitored way.
- Introduce him to known, healthy vaccinated dogs – arrange playdates for him to interact with well-mannered dogs from all different age groups as continuing his social learning is vital.
- Get him used to car trips and being safely restrained in the car, whether in a crate or a harness attached to a seat belt.
- Teach him to be left alone for short periods – not too long at this stage, and contained somewhere safe so he cannot harm himself. This will help avoid the horrible experience for dog and guardian or separation anxiety.
- Keep up the physical handling, particularly the basic health checks. This allows any problems to be spotted as early as possible and again removes some of the stress from examinations when required. Teach him to let you brush his teeth, and groom him a little, while also teaching him to stay calm while you are doing so. Teach him how to switch off and relax at times. Rest is vital, especially in a young dog, and teaching them to relax when you need to do things makes life much more pleasant and easier for both of you.
- Take him to meet other kinds of animals – horses, cattle, sheep etc. The more he becomes used to all types of animals when he is young, the less he is likely to chase and worry livestock as an adult dog, which is important for him and the livestock involved.
- Once he has completed his initial course of vaccinations, repeat all of the social steps above but this time letting him explore places and meet people from ground level on his own four paws as the world looks a very different place from the ground than it does carried in an owner’s arms.
- During this period, and for safety particularly once the puppy finished his vaccinations, introduce him to everything that will be part of his adult life in a careful and positive manner. As he starts walking outside of the home and garden, introduce him to traffic – cars, motorbikes, lorries, cyclists, skateboards and pedestrians. Anything that they may encounter in life that you can introduce them to, do so. The more new things they have encountered without fear by the time they reach the end of the critical learning period, the more likely they are to regard anything new they meet after that time with a positive outlook, expecting it to be safe and fine. This is the mark of a resilient, optimistic dog.
Sitting at around the same time as the puppy leaves the litter at between 8 and 10 weeks comes the first fear impact period. 8 to 10 weeks is usual, although the timescale can vary depending on breed and the individual dog concerned. During this time, the puppy must be supported very carefully. Their first reaction to anything new may be fear, and anything negative that happens in this period can, unless kindly and empathetically handled, lead to long term fear of a particular stimulus or group of stimuli. The body language of fear can be subtle and easily missed so careful observation and a knowledge of canine body language is needed. A puppy going through a fear reaction that is punished or forced to ‘face their fears’ in the outdated method known as flooding will have a high chance of being scared of that stimulus in the future. One scary experience can stay with a dog for life, known as single event or one trial learning.
At around 13 to 16 weeks comes the seniority classification period. This is when the puppy starts asking questions and finding his boundaries. It is the time that a dog trainer that does not understand may theorise that the puppy is trying to become dominant over the humans in the household. In fact the puppy is working out ho
w the hierarchy in the house works and how he fits in with the others around him. It is part of a puppy’s social growth and is sometimes colloquially called the ‘period of cutting teeth and apron strings’ as the puppy is simultaneously teething and testing out where his boundaries are now he’s more settled in his home.
Another potentially tricky period in a young dog’s lifetime is what is known as the play instinct period or the flight instinct period. Coming in the time between 4 and 8 months of age, this is when puppies may be referred to as showing ‘teenage’ behaviour. The young dog is growing towards independence and obedience may start to break down, particularly recall. Dogs that have not been carefully socialised up to this point can become difficult to deal with and, as their adult teeth are coming in, this is when chewing can start and become potentially very destructive if not dealt with appropriately. Patience and a large amount of appropriate chew material to redirect the young dog to chewing will help get through this stage. Chewing can also be a result of boredom, so a guardian of a puppy should make sure they have plenty of suitable varied types of enrichment to tackle boredom and allow the puppy to fulfil the natural behaviour of chewing without endangering themselves or destroying the guardian’s belongings.
Life Lessons
To give any dog the best chance possible of a long and happy life, it is important that they learn how to do certain things that will make their life in a very human world easier for both to deal with and understand. Learning these cues means that dog and guardian can co-exist contentedly together. As with most things, the breed type of the puppy should be considered as different breed types may have difficulties with certain cues, or respond differently to reward types. A terrier for instance may see a game where they can rag a favourite toy as an ultimate reward to end a session, while a less energetic breed might far prefer something tasty.
Every dog is best coached using kind and positive methods, but this is particularly true for puppies. Puppy brains learn quickly and combining this fact with the positive effects of dopamine in the reward centre of the brain, reward based coaching is the best science-based form of coaching to use. Dopamine accelerates learning, and builds the puppy’s confidence through the whole coaching process. Their interest will be on the coach and anticipating the rewards they can earn. The most common reward that highly motivates most dogs is food but for others, fuss and attention or a game with a favourite toy will work well. A range of different level of treat values should be selected for different difficulty levels of cues, always starting with the lowest value treat first as going up in value is easy, but going down in value is less so.
Before beginning coaching a puppy, it is important to have an understanding of canine communication, and what the body language a puppy displays might mean. The body language of a happy puppy is as described above. A coach needs to be aware of the signs a puppy may give to show they are becoming confused and uncomfortable, so that any coaching session can be changed or stopped if the puppy is becoming overwhelmed.
Signs of being uncomfortable can include:
- Yawning – while yawning may signify a tired puppy, it can also be a signal that they are unhappy and trying to promote calmness.
- Looking away – if a puppy looks away, particularly if they turn their head away but have their eyes positioned to keep monitoring the thing that they are worried by so displaying the whites (whale eye), it is a sign that they are uneasy.
- Licking – licking the lips is a calming signal, that the puppy uses both to calm himself and others around him. The big very visible nose lick is a sign of unease.
- Body language – a relaxed puppy’s body language will be loose and wriggly, their tail wagging and eyes bright and excited. One consideration when looking at different breeds and breed types is that they all have a different neutral position for their tail, ears etc. For example, the low slightly tucked tail position that indicates worry in most breeds is the neutral position in a whippet. Before partaking in any coaching, the coach should ensure they are familiar with the breed’s neutral position.
- Tension – if the body begins to tense up, the puppy is worrying. They may bristle up the hair along their backs. As they grow this turns into the hackles raising. This can mean a number of emotional states such as fear, anxiety or the potential for confrontation.
- Displacement behaviours – these can signal confusion and unease. They are normal behaviours but which are being displayed at an inappropriate time. The puppy that suddenly sits down and starts scratching, or sniffing intently at a spot on the ground is showing that they are confused and unsure what they are supposed to be doing.
- Appeasement behaviours such as licking (particularly seen with other dogs where they will lick the muzzle or the ears), lots of blinking, dropping the body lower, along with the head and ears, and possibly jumping up to solicit attention.
All of the above signals indicate that the coach should back off and either stop the coaching session or switch focus to something easier so that the puppy can relax and end the coaching session on a good note, as it should always be.
There are a number of cues that a puppy should learn, for safety and handling purposes. All successful coaching helps to strengthen the bond between puppy and guardian, if it is carried out with kindness and patience. The best way to coach a new cue is to use a marker such as a clicker or a marker word to mark the exact moment the puppy is showing the behaviour wanted, and then reward. After a few repetitions, introduce the chosen cue word and keep repeating, moving the cue word earlier in the process until it precedes the behaviour. There are a number of ways to start teaching any cue – either waiting until the puppy spontaneously offers the behaviour, or by luring them into position with a tasty treat and then marking and rewarding when they have done what you are looking for. Once the behaviour is established in a quiet location, start practicing in gradually more distracting environments and in different places. Once the cue is established in the busiest of environments it is described as ‘proofed’ and considered fully established. This is the method of teaching that works for all of the cues listed below. For some puppies, especially those that might lack confidence if they get things wrong, it can be better to shape a behaviour rather than waiting for the puppy to offer it perfectly themselves. To shape a behaviour, the coach rewards every tiny step towards the final behaviour, withholding the marker after each step has been mastered to progress the behaviour.
Focus is the cornerstone of coaching puppies. If we can get the puppy to focus on us, then we can be sure that we have their attention and their interest. Coaching cannot be as successful if puppies are distracted by other things instead of focusing on the coach. Focus is a simple cue to teach by sitting on the floor and waiting for the puppy to look at you. Mark the behaviour and reward. If the puppy needs some encouragement to begin with, hold a treat in front of his nose and then move it up and over behind your head until he is looking at your face.
Sit is one of the first cues many people want their puppies to learn. It is important to note that some breeds can find sitting uncomfortable due to factors such as their thin skin and this should be taken into consideration. If they sit naturally, mark and reward the moment they sit and they will soon pick up what is wanted. To lure them into position, hold a treat at the end of his nose and move it up towards the back of his head. As he lifts his head, his rear end will drop and touch the ground. Mark the moment that happens and reward.
Down is easy to coach from a sitting position. Again, the puppy might lay down when they want to and you can mark and reward that moment or lure the puppy downwards with a treat and then again mark and reward.
Stay can be coached by starting with a puppy in a position they are not likely to move from and reward them for not moving. Once the position is established, take a step away from the puppy and reward them again for not moving. Careful observation is necessary as the distance should not be made so great the puppy moves out of position as if it happens once, it will happen again. Some people prefer to term the cue as wait, and others will coach both with slightly different behaviours for each cue.
Release cues can negate the need for a wait cue as the puppy learns from the beginning to wait to be released from the behaviour to do something else. Once he has demonstrated the required behaviour, a moment later give the cue for release and then reward. A good reward for the release cue is a play session as it differentiates from other rewards and moves the puppy along to do something else. As the release becomes established, the length of time the puppy stays in the first position is increased.
Recall is absolutely vital and every dog should be coached from a very early age to come when they are called. A sound recall is a safety device and can allow the dog to be called back from the end of a path nearing a road, or another dog that does not wish to greet and play, or from livestock that might be worried by a loose dog. Recall is easy to teach in a young puppy by having someone help by holding the puppy, showing them you have a treat and taking a few steps away and then calling him. When he comes to take the treat, gently take hold of his harness or collar if he is wearing one so that he cannot learn to grab the treat and run away as he grows. Recall is a behaviour that can wobble at certain points as the puppy grows and starts testing boundaries, but higher value rewards can help to minimise the effects of those times.
Leave is useful for stopping a dog from picking up or eating something that would not be good for him, for instance roadkill or animal faeces when out on a walk, or if something harmful to the dog is dropped on the kitchen floor while cooking for instance. The behaviour can be taught by putting a treat down on the floor just beyond the puppy’s reach, then showing the puppy another treat from the hand. The moment his gaze moves away from the treat in front of him and to the one in the hand, mark the behaviour and give him the hand treat. The treat sitting on the floor tempting him is there as the final reward at the end of training, which only lasts a few seconds to begin with.
Drop is a very useful cue. It can be used to get a dog to let go of something that might harm them, or to enable you to swap something they have that you do not want them to have for something more suitable. To coach this cue, when they have a toy or similar, show them that you are holding a higher value reward. As soon as they drop whatever they are holding to come and get the higher value item, mark the behaviour and reward with the item you are holding. This is also a great way to avoid resource guarding issues developing.
Mark or Touch can be great for confidence building, or for redirecting the puppy away from trying to nibble a hand to get a treat. Hold out a hand near the puppy with a treat in the palm. Close your hand around it and wait for them to investigate to try and get the treat. Many puppies will paw or nibble at the hand. Patient waiting will let the puppy settle down and at some point they will touch the hand with their nose. If the puppy seems unsure, a dab of peanut butter or something else nice can encourage them. When this happens, mark the behaviour and open the hand so the puppy can take the treat. The length of time the mark is held can be extended, which can be useful if the dog needs to be still for a while, for a health check for example.
Shake or Paw can be great for showing the puppy an alternative behaviour to jumping up for attention. It is coached in the same way as the Mark or Touch behaviour but the mark comes when the paw is lifted or touches the hand.
Paws on the floor is another great choice to counter jumping up, and is best taught before the puppy learns to jump up at all. The puppy is given the mark and reward when all 4 of his paws are on the floor and any jumping up is completely ignored to avoid any form of reinforcing the undesirable behaviour.
Wearing a muzzle without feeling stressed by it is something that all dogs will ideally learn. For many dogs, the first time they might encounter a muzzle is when they are hurt or stressed at the veterinary clinic. Showing them before that happens that a muzzle is not a scary thing to wear removes a large element of potential stress from the situation. Wearing a muzzle can be introduced using the same mark and reward method as for the cues mentioned above.
Loose leash walking is one of the biggest issues that affects many dog/ relationships. Starting to coach this from the very beginning, as soon as the puppy is accustomed to wearing their walking equipment, means that they do not learn to pull as they grow. For loose leash walking coaching, tiny treats are used and, if the puppy pulls the leash taut, stop and ignore them. When they take a step back towards the handler and the leash goes slack they are rewarded and the walk continues. This can also be extended into teaching heelwork as, in the beginning, every step at heel is reinforced and the gap is not left long enough between rewards for the puppy to wander out of position.
Getting this learning in as early as possible without overwhelming or confusing the puppy will help towards making the transition through adolescence easier for the young dog and everyone around them. Adolescence can be a very trying time, similar to the teenage stage in humans, as hormones start to surge in the beginning of sexual behaviours. Although some dogs will fly through this point in their lives with no issues, most will see some behaviour changes and can appear challenging.
There is a second fear impact period, although it is not seen in all dogs, and for some it is brief. It is seemingly linked to the onset of adolescence and so varies as to start and end time depending on breed type and the speed at which they mature. It occurs between the ages of 5 and 18 months, so towards the end of the period of the dog’s life that this thesis covers. Those raising a puppy should be aware of its potential to occur as adolescence is a difficult time to coach a puppy through, and any behaviour changes that may become apparent could be linked to this fear impact period.
While no amount of planning can guarantee a ‘perfect puppy’ due to the nature of individuality and things that may happen out of our control, careful parent selection, kind and ethical care of the mother and puppies, and positive reinforcement based coaching of essential life lessons can give a puppy as good a chance as possible of being a happy, healthy dog throughout their entire life.
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