Dog Training: Understanding Puppy Growth Stages - Part 1

Dog Training

Understanding the stages of puppy development...

Let’s take a closer look at the different stages, keeping in mind that these are guide lines only because each dog will progress at his own pace.

Hi Dog Loving Friend,

How are you doing...

You may be wondering why it's important to understand your puppy?

Maybe he doesn’t listen to you at certain times?

Well, that's simple when you see his development at each stage...

Stage 1 from puppy until maturity, there are seven transitional stages:

• This stage generally lasts from two to three weeks
• During this time his eyes will open, and he’ll slowly start to respond to light
• His becomes sensative to movement and sounds around him
• He becomes more aware and mobile during this period
• He feel his feet underneath him as he crawls around in his litter box
• He’ll start to recognize his mom and other pups
• And any objects you might place in the box...

Stage 2 he is almost ready to meet the world as he learns how to be a dog during this time, so it’s essential that he stays with mom and family:

• This stage lasts from three to about four weeks
• He undergoes rapid change in his sensory development
• He becomes fully alert to his environment during this time
• He now begins to recognize you and other pups
• It’s best to avoid loud noises or sudden changes during this period
• Negative events can have a serious impact on his personality and development right now

From 3-4 weeks your puppy begins the most critical social development period of his life:

• He learns social interaction with other pups
• Learns how to play and learns bite inhibition
• He learns discipline at this point
• His mom will begin weaning the pups around this time
• She will start teaching them basic manners
• Including accepting her as the leader of the pack

This is where you can begin to introduce food to the pups starting around the fouth week of this transition gradually as mom weans them.

Continue handling the pup's daily, but don’t separate them from either mom or pups for more than about 10 minutes per day.

Puppies that are removed from the litter too early without undergoing proper development generally require more attention, they're frequently nervous, and more prone to barking and agressive behavior like biting.

They have a more difficult time evolving, understanding where they fit in, socializing and training.

The next transitional stages are fascinating, hope you can join me for the rest of this exciting story.

Dog Training...success made easy and fun!