To answer this question you need to look
at the history of the domesticated dog also known as
Canis lupus familiaris.
It is a natural instinct instilled in the
behavior of puppies that carried through with the domestication of the
species. In the wild it was crucial for the survival of mom and
babies to huddle while mom searched for food. The new born
babies huddle for warmth, slept slowing their metabolism and remained
quiet to draw less attention from prey animals looking for a easy
meal.
As the babies get older and they can
better regulate their own body temperatures they become more active.
However, the instinct of sleeping while mom is away remains until the
babies are nearly weaned from nursing which is 5 to 6 weeks of age.
At this point the amount of time spent sleeping starts to shift to
learning and exploring, finding food and water, and interaction with
litter mates. This interaction with litter mates teaches a
multitude of life long socialization and behavior skills such as
bite inhibition (in other words that biting hurts and is really
inappropriate), they also learn to share food, toys and other
common items. During this time they are also learning to
socialize with humans, learn what sounds are normal and what sounds
they need to be more alert on.
This period of time is crucial to the development of the mental
wellbeing of the puppy and is very important during weeks 5 to 8 of
the process. This is the main reason puppies should not be
removed from the litter and placed in homes before 8 weeks of age.
With that said a responsible breeder with experience should be able to
determine when a individual puppy is ready to thrive in a new home
away from siblings and for some puppies this can take longer then 8 weeks.
Once a puppy matures and is no longer
dependant on mom and siblings. They take the
skills they have learned and apply them to new surroundings, making
new friends (dogs, cats and other animals in their new homes), and
begin to adjust to their new environment. It is very
important for a new puppy especially 8 to16 weeks old to slowly extend
the amount of active time awake verses rest periods. As a human
you can not go from sitting behind a desk to running a marathon over
night your body can not take on this amount of change and will
collapse..... same applies to puppies. With puppies this
excitement of new space to explore can cloud their best judgment and this
is where we need to step in and let them know its time to rest.
Usually its best starting out at 15 to 20 minute play sessions then
rest periods of a hour or more. You can start off a rest period
by holding and bonding with your puppy in your lap, sort of a wind
down period before a nap. When your puppy first wakes and
potties .....they are full of energy and ready to play....this is
really not the best time to try to pet and hold the puppy because the energy
level is to high and they will most likely fight to get loose and
play. You can still bond with your puppy by interacting in their
play time. Teaching them their name and offering a small treat
reward when they come to you. This is early association training
that coming when called is a good thing and is rewarding. Common
mistakes during this time is chasing a puppy down and reprimanding a
puppy for not coming when called this also is association training
that creates a bad behavior. The puppy learns that hearing his
name means something bad might be following it so run and hide.
No matter how angry you are when you finally get your puppy in your
hands praise and reward this re-enforces coming when called is a good
thing.
It is also very important to maintain
nutrition and hydration of a puppy. Make sure the puppy has
water available at all times as well as offering food every
2 to 4 hours if you are uncomfortable with leaving food available all
the time. Free Feeding is the term given to leaving food
available all the time and in most cases its a learned behavior to eat
when they are hungry because they know its there when they feel the
need to eat. Some puppies/dogs when fed on a schedule can
develop a gorging behavior resulting from a fear of not knowing when
the next meal might arrive. So they eat it all very fast whether
they are that hungry or not and can also cause the development of food
guarding and guarding of other items in the house.
To sum it all up the first 6 months of
your puppies life is most important and is the beginning mold for the
lifetime you spend with your best friend. This time period is
the foundation for the building of your relationship and how the dog
responds to you as their leader. Keep in mind when getting your
new puppy ... you will get back what time and energy you put in at the
beginning.... Time not spent in the first 6 months is one of the
leading causes of dogs ending up in shelters. |