The 5 Critical Periods - #3

The first 18 months are the most critical for your puppy. The lessons learned during this year and a half will help set the temperament, disposition and behavior of your puppy for years to come. Here is the third age-level period and some helpful tips regarding development.

5th Through 7th Week

Basic Needs: Canine socialization with litter; socialization with human society.

Mental Capacity: Capable of responding to voices; ability to recognize people.

Trainability: Developing.

Special Notes: Awareness of difference between human and canine societies.

This is the busiest period for breeders. The puppies are super active, climbing out of and under every pen set up to contain them. They chew on things - and people - and need lots of oversight or they will get into trouble, often finding their way to some corner of the yard or under a bed. Just a short time ago, they would follow you around. Now they run away in every direction possible. They love to play, run, jump on each other, wrestle, play with toys. Playtime outside becomes more frequent and longer. The rhythm of sleep, rush outside to potty, eat, and playtime is more and more up to us breeders to initiate and maintain, so it is almost a full time job.

We gradually introduce solid food (still soft by dog standards) as their main meal. Yet still anytime momma dog comes around, they are ready to eat from her. The puppies are so active, momma sometimes just stands letting them latch on from below in order to feed. Then she hops out. Fast food!! Haha. Around week 7 momma weens them off of her for good.

Sleeping becomes complicated. They are so aware of their surroundings any noise during sleep wakes them up... they are ready for playtime!! So, for night time we sometimes create an alternate sleep location in another room where it can stay dark without much stimulation to awaken them (plus, we humans need to get some sleep too!).

In our home during this time, the puppies get tons of interaction with each other and our family. Plus, we invite friends, neighbors and others to come play with the pups, bathe them, help feed them, and lull them to sleep after a good bout of play. All with tight supervision and proper vetting (making sure they haven't been around random dogs lately, etc), of course. We want lots of quality interaction with our pups, so they are socialized both to love and respect humans. This is also when we begin teaching them to not bite humans.

In addition, our Furrever Families have opportunities to come and visit with the puppies, and typically around week 6 we invite them to meet their puppy and name him/her. Momma dog starts withdrawing from her pups between weeks 7 and 8 -- whew, I bet she's exhausted! And at that time, 8 weeks is typical, our pups go home with their Forever Families.

A quick word about the 8 week mark... much is made about this going home milestone. This is the standard time for breeders to release their pups to new owners. It is not a hard and fast rule, but is a helpful guide. Some breeders want their pups gone as soon as possible. And I've met a few breeders who send their pups home at week 6 (a bit too early in my opinion).

The most important thing is for the pups to be with the mom and their litter mates long enough to have the dog-socialization necessary for them to be well-rounded dogs later. Why 8 weeks then? Somewhere around 8 weeks is when the mom withdraws from her pups. She disengages almost completely and will often run away from her pups. It is actually quite comical to watch mom try to escape the hoard of puppies chasing after her. In our experience with our moms this intentional disengagement happens around the 7 week mark.

The Five Critical Periods Chart.pdf

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