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Here's a recap of the key
points to keep in mind when
the puppies turn 5 weeks old.
True fear emerges this
week, and the puppies
can go through a mild
fear imprinting period.
You may not see an
obvious fear response.
But whether the puppy
shows it or not,
he's now more sensitive
to fear than previously.
Keep introducing challenging
and startling things,
but now you should
proceed with some caution
and dial back the challenges if
the puppy seems extraordinarily
fearful.
Some examples of
appropriate exercises
are a tarp over an
exercise pen, crinkly bags,
and shiny surfaces.
You want a tiny startle
and immediate recovery.
If you're not getting an almost
immediate recovery, again,
dial back the challenges.
You should continue
to allow the puppies
to play with other appropriate
adults in the household,
but give the puppies
a low table or chair
to hide under when they're
playing with adult dogs.
Again, if a puppy shows strong
fear, dial back the challenges,
and work individually with that
puppy on the particular things
of which he's afraid, similarly
to the way that we worked
with Rocco in this section.
You should not comfort
fearful puppies
when doing these startle
recovery exercises.
You should never be
presenting something
that's truly terrifying to the
puppy, or put him in a position
where he's in severe
emotional distress.
If something by chance
truly terrifying
does happen to your
puppy, of course,
you should then
comfort the puppy.
But again, the goal
is to inoculate
the puppy against fear by
presenting very low level fear
challenges.
Here are the highlights
of the things
you should be doing
with your puppies
when they're six weeks old.
They have the highest
approach and lowest fear now,
that's why this is known
as a curiosity period,
so introduce as many
appropriate people as possible.
Remember, the puppy
social sensitivity
is high for bad experiences
as well as good experiences.
One good exposure can
imprint a love of something,
but one bad exposure can
imprint a fear of something.
So always opt for quality
versus quantity of interactions.
A puppy party is a great
way to expose your puppy
to a lot of people at once.
But invite only dog
savvy people that
can be trusted to be
gentle with the puppies.
The puppy party we showed in
this section is a lot of fun,
and if you have miniature
agility equipment,
you can throw a party like ours.
But if you don't, you can
still have a great puppy
party that will be
enriching for your puppies.
You can just have people over
to play with the puppies,
or train them on simple
behaviors, such as recall
and landing, that don't
require any extra equipment.
Whatever format you use,
make sure everyone stays over
for lunch or dinner
so the puppies become
accustomed to having
people in the house.
It's a great excuse for a party.
We like to create three
stations, either three
different pieces of equipment,
three different people,
or three different behaviors,
such as sit down or recall.
We use a timer and give each
puppy two minutes per station.
Each puppy gets
three sessions where
they rotate through all the
stations with 15 to 30 minutes
rest in between those sessions.
We throw our puppy party when
the puppies are six weeks old.
But you can have a
puppy party at any time.
However, we do recommend
that you hold off
on a puppy party when the
puppies are eight weeks old,
because eight week old puppies
are in sensitive fear period.
Puppy owners can have a puppy
party for their puppy too.
Just rotate the puppy
through the three stations
and make sure he gets
15 minutes of rest
or more in between
each full rotation
through all three stations.
Not every breed needs
to be BAER tested,
but every breed
should have breed
specific health tests done.
In the United States,
the American Kennel Club
is the largest registry
of purebred dogs.
And each AKC breed
has a parent club
dedicated to the health
and welfare of their breed.
Consult your breed's
parent club's website
for more information on what
health tests are appropriate.
Another good source is
the Orthopedic Foundation
for Animals, which
maintains a database
and recommended health
tests for various breeds.
It's important to
note that there's
no evidence that mixed
breed dogs are any less
susceptible to health issues.
If a puppy is a cross
of two purebred breeds,
all appropriate health
tests for both breeds
should be performed on both
the parents and the puppies.
Here's a recap of potty
training procedures
for puppies under 12 weeks old.
First, move the puppies to
a larger pen at about six
and a half weeks old.
This will help them keep their
living area clean and create
good habits.
For individual puppies
under 12 weeks old,
you need to foresee when your
puppy will need to go and take
him out before that.
Here are the times
when you can almost
count on your puppy needing
to use the restroom.
ten minutes after the
start of a play session,
15 minutes after eating, and
immediately upon waking up.
In addition, look for the signs
that your puppy has to go.
Any abrupt cessation in
activity, any sniffing,
or even a quick peck at
the floor with his nose,
going to the door, even
just walking by the door,
is a good indication that
your puppy needs to go out.
All else aside, a puppy
under 12 weeks old
is going to have to go
outside at least once
an hour no matter what.
You're not going to
have a lot of time
between the time your puppy
indicates he has to go
and the time he actually
does go to the bathroom,
so keep slip on shoes and
rain gear by the door.
When you can't watch
your puppy, put him
in a puppy pen,
that is an exercise
pen with a crate and
potty area attached.
Your puppy should also
sleep in his puppy pen,
withhold food for three
hours before bedtime,
withhold water for 1
hour before bedtime,
take him out just before
you put him to bed,
and make sure he
does at least pee,
and leave the crate door open.
When the puppy can go four
or five hours at night
without using the
potty area, you
can begin closing the
door to the crate,
but set an alarm to wake up
in no more than five hours
most puppies will be
reliable by five months old,
but some will still be
having occasional accidents
until a year or more old.
This is a physiological
development issue,
and there's nothing you can
do to speed up the process.
Punishment will only slow down
the house training process,
so be patient.
The only thing you really
can do is take a puppy out
more often if he's
having trouble
getting the hang of
things interactions
with puppies should be
calm and structured.
Use a toy to play
with your puppy.
Never play with a puppy
with your bare hands.
If they do bite, pick them up
and point the biting parts away
from you.
You can then keep gripping
and massaging the puppy
until he calms down,
and you can also
offer the puppy a
toy or a chew object
instead of your arm to chew on.
Motion is a big
trigger for biting.
When you're walking with
your puppy, if he bites,
stop moving.
Nine times out of 10, that will
end the biting right there.
You should always carry food and
reinforce walking next to you
without biting when
the puppy is small.
If when you stop moving
he doesn't give up,
pick him up and point
his teeth away from you.
At that point, you
can break out the food
and train him to walk next
to you without biting.
Or if you're too busy,
put the puppy away.
Puppies and children can
get in a behavioral loop
where the puppy
bites, the children
scream, which makes
the puppy bite more,
which makes the children
scream more, and so on.
Teach your children to interact
calmly with your puppy.
If the child is too
young to understand,
you have to manage the puppy
when it's around the children.
When the puppy's out with
young children, feed the puppy
and train calm behaviors while
the kids are running around.
If you don't have time to train
the puppy around the kids,
put the puppy away.
This all seems
like a lot of work.
But if you're religious about
following these instructions,
it only takes a month or two
of management and training
for the puppy to
outgrow the biting.
Here's a review of resource
guarding protocols for puppies
under 12 weeks old.
Ideally you'll repeat
these protocols
until you have a true,
conditioned, emotional
response.
But even one repetition when
the puppy's under 12 weeks old
is beneficial.
Food dish, step one, approach
while puppy's eating his food
and add something
better to the dish.
Step number two approach
while puppy's eating his food,
take away the dish,
and give him a treat.
Objects.
Give the puppy a meaty bone
and allow him 10 minutes
to become engrossed in it.
Take the bone away and exchange
immediately for a treat.
Give the puppy the
bone back again.
Repeat this with a variety
of toys and chew objects.
Locations.
Approach the puppy when he's
comfortably resting in his bed
or crate.
Sit down next to him and/or
move him off the location
and give him a treat.
Lap guarding.
Approach the puppy while he's
in his owner's lap or arms.
Pat the puppy and give
the puppy a treat.
Here's a review of good
body handling protocols.
From birth, the
breeder should be
touching ears, tails,
toes, lips, and teeth
on every puppy every day.
Squeeze the paws to
get the puppy used
to having his feet held, and
hug and restrain the puppies.
The attention you give
them will probably
be enough to reinforce
this in young puppies.
As the puppy gets
older, start giving him
treats in exchange
for body handling.
However, you should
keep the treats
hidden while you're handling
the puppy or the puppy
can get frustrated.
Only produce them when
you're ready to deliver
the food to the puppy.
The easiest way to
do this is to keep
the food hidden in your mouth.
But if that's not
possible, you can
keep the treats hidden
on a table or shelf
but you can easily reach.