Raising Pets Is VERY Different To Breeding Puppies

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Raising Pets is VERY Different to Breeding Puppies
Posted on December 27, 2010 by pawsitivedawgs| Leave a comment

Original posting: Friday, October 3, 2008
The vast majority of dogs in the western world will fulfil a most important role, that of family pet and companion. As important as this job is, it is also incredibly difficult.
Pet dogs are expected to be able to cope with more craziness and chaos than any other dog – and pet dogs are rarely granted leniency for slip ups, regardless of how minor.

Whether the dog is to have other additions to his resume, such as hunting dog, guard dog, competition dog etc., first and foremost he must be a companion animal and that means being capable of living in the human world. The only way to make this possible and stress free for dog and owner is to socialise, socialise, socialise.

The root of socialisation is the person who is responsible for the puppy coming into the world. So in this post we are going back a little further – right to the beginning.
Why breeders?

The breeder’s responsibilities, when it comes to socialisation, start even before the puppies are born. These responsibilities include:

* making the decision to breed – it is hard work, not terribly profitable (if done right), a huge responsibility, possibly contributing to an already over-populated Irish re-homing system
* the genetic combination of the sire (father) and dam (mother) – these will have direct effects on the health and future well being of the puppies – genetics is complicated and unless fully understood you may be playing with fire
* caring for the dam throughout her pregnancy – this will also have a direct effect on the health and future well being of the puppies
* handling the puppies from day one
* gradually increasing the amount of interaction the puppy has with the outside world - and supervising that interaction to ensure that the puppies have suitable experiences in their early lives
* advising new and prospective owners – about puppy care, breed issues and matching pets and people
* thoroughly assessing new owners and placing puppies in suitable new homes
* offering guidance, support and advice for the rest of that puppy’s life – it doesn’t end when they leave for their new life

What can breeders do to socialise puppies?

First they must fully commit to fulfill each of the above responsibilities ( and more).

Secondly, they must have a complete socialisation plan to work through during their time with the puppies. Ideally the dam and any other dogs in contact with the litter are well socialised pets too, if not this may not be the best environment in which to bring more puppies.

Thirdly, they must develop the best rearing environment that will help to have puppies prepared for the pet life by the time they are ready to go to their new homes.

The dam should be introduced to her whelping box, which will be her nest, early on in her pregnancy. Anything that the dam is expected to have with her after the puppies are born should be introduced well before the birth. She should be allowed to sleep and spend time in her whelping box with her favourite bedding and toys.

Setting up a long term confinement area, such as is used for house training puppies, will mean that she can spend plenty of time there and she will be comfortable with this set up after the puppies are born.
This area should include the whelping box, bedding, water bowl, food and food bowl, toileting area and toys that the dam enjoys. You can use a low level pen for confinement so that the dam can escape the pressures of her puppies but the babies are kept safe.

By providing a toileting area of turf and grass at the opposite end of the confinement area, you will easily toilet train the puppies – this will greatly help in homing the puppies and make clean up easy.

Bowls can be raised so that the dam can reach but the puppies can’t get into them.
Care should be taken when giving toys to puppies – an adult dog may like to cuddle or fetch a toy but a litter of puppies will enjoy destroying them and may choke on small parts.
Socialisation Plan for Breeders

The first two weeks:
Puppies are born with poor motor skills and are functionally blind and deaf. They are unable to eliminate without external stimulation from their mother and cannot regulate their own body temperature.

Puppies at this stage need to spend all of their time with their canine family but the dam should get the opportunity to ‘escape’ from her litter when she wants to.

Studies suggest that puppies that are exposed to mild stress at this stage are better able to cope with stress later on in life.
Creating super puppies – early neurological stimulation - YouTube clip

On the first two days of life, the primary care giver should pick up each puppy, weigh and check them.
Then its time to get lots of different people types (various men, various women, various children) handling the puppies daily – always under the supervision of the primary care giver.
It is a good idea that the primary care giver is the only one to remove and replace puppies in the nest and then hand them to others – this will depend on the tolerance level of the dam; it is essential that she is not distressed.
During this stage puppies have good sense of smell and one day old puppies will begin to imprint on human scent. Puppies exposed to human handling from their first day are likely to be happier around people once more aware of their surroundings.

Mild stressors that can be used include weighing each puppy on a cold surface and holding the puppy gently on each side for 10 seconds. These should be applied daily by various categories of people along with plenty of gentle handling, pass the puppy and cuddles.

Week three:

This is a busy time for young puppies!

Their sensory and motor skills develop greatly as they begin to place their legs underneath their body and by the end of the third week they can wobble and walk.

They are able to eliminate on their own, begin to lap and chew, their first teeth emerge and they begin to wag their tails and demonstrate many doggie communication behaviours.
During this stage puppies should be taken from their sleeping areas after a snooze and brought to their toileting area at the opposite end of their confinement area.
As if house training an older puppy, bring the puppies to the toileting area after snoozing, feeding, drinking etc. and after they eliminate allow them to play with you, toys, each other or feed them as weaning begins.
Check out these 5 week old Basenji puppies showing off their excellent toileting habits!

As their hearing improves they should be introduced to a variety of mild sounds.
Use sound CDs that have recordings of different sounds such as household noises, children noises, traffic sounds, thunder etc. These should be played at low levels while the puppies feed or play. If any puppy shows the slightest bit of discomfort the volume should be decreased until all puppies are no longer distracted by it. As they become more comfortable the volume can be increased but care should be taken not to move too fast and distress the puppies.
New items can be introduced to the nest such as different (safe) toys, different bedding types, other doggie furniture etc. The puppies should be allowed to investigate these items which should be rotated and left with the puppies for varying time spans.

Other furry members of the household can be introduced to the litter at this stage – this might include other dogs, pet cats or rabbits.
Care should be taken to take cues from the dam; if she displays discomfort at the approach of other animals wait until she goes for her walk and take the puppies for meet and greet a little bit away from the nest.

Each puppy should be picked up and held for progressively longer periods beside and within the nest. The introduction of various categories of people should continue for the remainder of the dog’s life.
Different people should spend some time with the litter playing and talking to them and observing their behaviour to make sure they are developing on schedule. The immediate human family should make a real effort to bond with the new additions.

3 weeks to 3 months: the most important socialisation period
During this stage we really have to step up our game as this is when impressionable puppies are easiest to socialise.

During this stage the puppy has developed the ability to see and hear and can distinguish between the familiar and unfamiliar. Because they form primary attachments to their litter mates and mother they learn important canine social behaviour through interactions with them.
Handling and ‘sounds’ exposure should continue throughout this socialisation period.

At three weeks of age begin to take pairs of puppies to new floor surfaces beginning with two minutes per day and slowly building the time that they spend separated from the rest of the litter. Make sure to rotate the pairs and take different combinations of puppies each time.
The puppies should be allowed to explore, walk and play on different surfaces such as carpet, lino, concrete, matting, tile, grass etc.

Clip of 3 week old Basenji puppies outside for the first time
At first this separation should occur within sight or ear shot of the nest but as the puppies go through the procedure they should be gradually moved away until out of sight of the nest. Individual attention, separation in pairs and handling should continue away from the nest too.

From the age of 4 weeks alternating pairs of puppies should be taken on short car rides , on some one’s lap and in a travel crate.
Between 3 and 5 weeks grooming should begin. Puppies usually do not require much grooming but they should be checked over, brushed with a soft brush and have their nails clipped or handled daily.
Have a look at this great clip of a 3 week old Basenji puppy having his nails clipped.

Puppies should be introduced to wearing a small collar from 4 weeks and allowed to drag a light house line during their separations from the rest of the litter.
The collars should not be left on the puppy for too long and it is good idea to remove them when they go back to the litter as they are likely to chew them off eachother or pull at them.
From 4 to 5 weeks puppies should be introduced to outside areas. Socialisation and training exercises should be carried out in all of these new places. They can also be brought to see wildlife and livestock in someone’s arms and in a crate.

Alone training and crate training should begin between 4 and 5 weeks. Bring one puppy at a time to a small crate and give him a chew or stuffed Kong toy inside. Gradually increase the time the puppy spends alone in the crate. If the puppy becomes distressed have it spend a little less time and slowly build up again. Gradually increase the distance between yourself and the crate while the puppy is happily distracted.
From 5 weeks basic training can begin using simple lure reward methods.
Have a look at this lovely clip of a 3 week old Basenji puppy beginning lure-reward training.

Between the ages of 5 and 8 weeks intensive but gentle socialisation should continue by practicing socialisation and training exercises in a variety of places and situations with a variety of people.
By 8 weeks most puppies are off to their new homes. New owners should be filled in on all of the socialisation plan details so that they can continue to develop their new puppy’s healthy beginnings.

New experiences MUST be introduced slowly and it is a good idea that prospective owners come visit the litter from the time the puppies are 3 or 4 weeks of age to start handling and making friends with their potential companion.
New owners must be helped to understand the work that has already been carried out and how essential it is that this work should continue.

If you as the breeder have been doing the right thing so far you will be homing a toilet trained puppy that copes well with other people and animals and one that happily carries out simple training tasks – how great is that?! Surely that is a pretty unique and strong selling point to advertise and one that very few breeders take advantage of.
Continuing Socialisation – breeders must educate new owners
Just because the puppies have gone to their new homes does not mean that your job is over! Breeders must spend time educating new owners so that careful socialisation may continue.

New owners should continue to implement house training protocols and keep up the basic training exercises.
Once the puppy is removed from his litter his socialisation with other dogs is greatly reduced or eliminated altogether. Enroll in a puppy socialisation class as soon as possible so that his canine education may continue.
Give your new puppy a couple of weeks to settle in in their new home and begin attending the puppy class when he is about 10 weeks old – this will also give the new owner the opportunity to have your puppy’s first set of vaccinations.

In the first week in their new homes puppies should go through more toilet training, intensive bite inhibition training and appropriate chewing training.
Within the puppy’s first month home socialisation should continue along with plenty of resource guarding prevention, several puppy parties and the continuation of socialisation exercises already put in place.

From 16 weeks of age puppies begin to develop their adult teeth. This means that chewing and puppy biting will get worse as the puppy tries to comfort his painful gums.
Maintenance of chewing and bite inhibition training is essential at this stage particularly because his jaws will become more and more powerful as he grows.
Between 12 and 16 weeks puppies will begin to test the boundaries a little more as they gradually move into adolescence.

Teenagers are often more aggressive and there will be an increase in ‘undesired’ behaviour as the puppy matures. A solid foundation in socialisation and training will make this developmental stage a breeze (well not quite, but definitely easier!).
Enrollment in a teenagers class is a good idea so that owners can continue to manage and cope with their adolescents’ changing behaviour.
Prospective owners should only select puppies from breeders who value socialisation and implement training programs that will result in well socialised happy puppies.
Behavioural health should be valued as highly as physiological health when it comes to picking a puppy and in all other situations too.

Get socialising!