Mariah Puppy Journey – Little Sponges
On Wednesday, the pups will be 6 weeks old. I hear over and over about people bringing pups home at this age. Right now, these little guys are little sponges learning so much from each other and the other dogs. It’s hard for me to imagine them missing that by leaving the litter.
At the same time, they are hooligans! They are posturing each other, growling and showing their teeth, screaming, and biting each other with what appears to humans as ruthless aggression. In fact, this is a normal part of development. They roll and dominate with fierceness. It can be easy to see why some breeders want them gone during this stage.
When I hear people say that dogs do not dominate each other or have a social hierarchy, I wonder if they have ever seen puppies interact at this age. This how they learn what is fair and what is gentle. It is interesting to me that not one of them is consistently dominant over all the others. They seem to share this behavior, learning from each other what is okay and what is not and how gentle to be. Pups that are not given this opportunity can be very mouthy with their human families causing so many bites on their hands and arms.
I can influence that behavior. I don’t allow any mouthing from them. I don’t let them chew my fingers. At this age, I take my hands away or get up and walk away when they start that. When they are gentle I lavish them with soft, slow pets and belly rubs.
They are incredibly responsive to my voice. I have been diligent about petting them only when they come and sit or down next to the exercise pen when I am beside the pen. I describe my command to them to identify what they are doing. If one sits, then I say, “sit” and pet just that one. If one lies down, I say, “down” and pet that one. Within a minute they are all calm and sweet giving me charming licks and rolling over to show me their tummies for lovies. Then, I say, “Oh what good boys you are!” Now, when they begin their hooligan madness, if I only say in a soft voice, “Boys..” they stop and listen and will come to the side of the exercise pen. How lovely is that??! While “sit” and “down” are not yet firm commands, they are starting to listen to my voice and trying to figure out what it is I want them to do.
With my last litter, Brinx and Baewulf at this age knew all their basic obedience. But, there were only 3 puppies in that litter. With five puppies, there is so much to do every day to keep them clean and exposing them to new adventures to help round them out and desensitize them to scary things like the vacuum, or the hair dryer. I surely don’t want them to grow up being afraid of loud noises or thunderstorms. I have also been tuning into TV programs with storms so they hear those noises.
We have had a struggle with finding the right kibble for them to eat without getting sick. So, until their tummies have settled I have not been doing any food training. Now that is over and the food training will start this week! I am so excited!
Raising a litter is hard work and requires the breeder’s attention all the time. For me, it is critical that I know the personalities of each puppy so they will go to the home most suited for everyone.
