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Chapter 2 - Your Puppy’s First Weeks of Life

Most people will acquire a puppy some time after it is eight weeks old. For you to understand your puppy properly, it is important that you understand what goes on during those first eight weeks. How has it developed? What have been the most important moments so far? What factors do you need to bear in mind as you take over ownership of a puppy?

THE EARLY HOURS – BIRTH AND BEYOND

The first few moments of a dog’s life are traumatic. The newborn puppy emerges from the warm, safe, dark environment that is the womb into a world filled with new smells and sensations.

Fortunately its mother will be there to reassure and care for it. She will be fixated on its welfare for the crucial first two to three weeks to come.

Because it can’t hear or see, the newborn puppy has very little concept of what is happening during the first ten days. It does not yet have any concept of its self or its siblings. It can do little more than sleep, drag itself on to its mother’s teat when it feels the need for food and whine when it is feeling cold, hungry or in pain.

The mother’s role is all-encompassing during this phase. As well as feeding her pups, she also stimulates them to defecate and urinate then eats their faeces and licks up the urine so as to keep the den clean and free from germs. Not only is she the sole source of food but she is also the only means of keeping warm. A newborn pup can’t generate or retain heat so contact with its mother is vital for its survival. This is why the mother hardly strays more than a couple of feet from her newborns during this phase of their young lives.

Yet even at this point, the first signs of personality and status are emerging within the litter. The mother’s teats are arranged in pairs along the length of her belly, with the best supply of milk available from the middle teats. Already the litter will have begun jostling for access to these prime feeding stations. Some will have forced themselves on to the best teats, while others will have been forced to feed off the less available outer and forward teats. Some may even have been pushed away from the teats altogether and it’s possible they might die.

TEN DAYS TO THREE WEEKS OLD

The first major turning point in a dog’s development comes at about ten days. Around this time the eyes begin to open, ungluing themselves from the inside to the out over a period of three to four days. They then learn to focus. At the same time their hearing is beginning to come into operation as well.

With these senses functioning, puppies become aware of the environment around them. Although they spend a huge proportion of their time sleeping they are also noticing – to their surprise – that they are not alone: they have siblings. They learn to recognise their mum by look and by sound as well as by smell. They start sniffing the perimeter of the whelping box as if signalling their readiness to explore the wider world. They will begin getting up on their legs, trying to find their balance and co-ordination and make their first tentative steps. There is a lot of investigation of what they are capable of – and what others are capable of. The puppies will begin climbing over each other, trying to gain height advantage over their siblings. There is a lot of sparring and blatting at this point. There are practical lessons to learn too. At this time, for instance, they learn to lap water from a bowl.

All this activity comes in short bursts, however. Within a maximum of five minutes they will be asleep again.

THREE TO EIGHT WEEKS

By the three-week point in puppies’ development, with their eyes, ears and nose all now functioning, they are reacting more to sight, smell and sound. They start to bark and make more sounds. They start to wag their tails. They start scratching themselves and shaking their heads. And they start play fighting with their siblings. This is an extension of the interaction that’s been going on already, as they bite each other and try to climb up to give themselves a height advantage. They are developing answers to some key questions. Where do I fit into this pack? What am I capable of doing physically? But they are also asking the question, what – and who – is outside the immediate confines of the whelping box. They are ready to claim a little independence for themselves.

In the wild, it is now that the pack really comes into its own. While the pups were being suckled by their mother, the alpha female, the excitement has been building in the rest of the pack. The other wolves – both male and female – have been producing prolactin, which makes them ‘broody’ too. Now, as the mother invites the father and the rest of the extended family to join her, they start to perform their role as surrogate parents.

Wolves from all parts of the pack hierarchy will do their bit to educate, assimilate and act as mentors for the new pup. This is how the pup gains the important information it will need in order to be a properly functioning – and happy – adult member of the pack. They will set boundaries – gently dragging the pups back when they wander too far from the den. In short, they are teaching them the rules and the language of the pack.

A domestic dog is living in a very different social organisation – but it is still vital that the dog begins to get the information it will need to function within that organisation. And it is vital that that knowledge is imparted now, when its most important imprinting is happening. It is up to us, as humans, to perform the same role as the pack that would be its teachers in the wild.

HANDLING PUPPIES

It is around three weeks old that breeders should start handling puppies, getting them used to the sight, smells and sounds of humans. This is vitally important for the rest of the puppy’s development so from the outset the aim is for the puppy to associate human contact with warmth, comfort and above all safety. While a little stress is good for the dog’s development – making it ask ‘What happens now?’ – too much stress has to be avoided at all costs.

To pick up a puppy, follow these steps:

1. Crouch down to ground level.

2. Place your hands underneath the puppy and scoop it up gently but confidently.

3. Remaining in the crouched position, raise it up off the ground to eye level.

4. Reward the puppy by placing it in your arms, stroking it gently and making calm, reassuring noises.

If this is done correctly, the puppy will make the association that you are a safe zone. When it feels unsafe in the future and begins to ask questions about where it should go, you will already have provided one potential answer.

This is why you should never pick up a puppy by the scruff of its neck, as some people advocate. This habit is based on a misconception by humans who have seen dogs picking up their young with their teeth. They miss two important points: firstly, the dog clamps its teeth on the pup’s back area, not on the neck; and secondly, it only does so because it doesn’t have hands to do the job. If it did, it wouldn’t be using its teeth. We do have hands and we should use them. By picking the puppy up by the scruff of its neck, you are inflicting pain on it. This creates a totally negative association, which will be a barrier to you bonding with the dog in the days and weeks to come.

Carers who don’t interact with their puppies during this crucial phase of their development are losing valuable time. Indeed, there is strong scientific evidence that a puppy’s instinct to investigate and socialise is at its peak during this early five-week period, after which it begins to fall away. Dogs who haven’t been exposed to humans and their environment by the age of 14 weeks find it problematical to do so in later life.

Go through this picking-up process twice a day from the age of three weeks onwards. As the puppy gets to trust you more you can extend and develop this interaction. This will allow you to pave the way for its interaction with other humans, vets in particular.

1. Place the puppy on a raised surface, like a table. Make sure it is covered and stable, as sudden movement will frighten them.

2. Begin a little bit of grooming, running a very soft brush through its coat.

3. Begin placing your fingers in its mouth, so as to open the jaw and inspect the mouth.

4. Begin holding its head so as to inspect its ears.

5. Teach the puppy to roll on its side in a submissive position. This will achieve two things: preparing the dog for future visits to the vet and also underlining the dominance it has already begun to associate with you.

6. Get the puppy used to you touching its feet. A lot of dogs don’t like having their feet touched, so it’s a huge benefit to get over this hurdle early on. This is best done when the puppy is tired so it is easier to work with.

TEACHING RECOGNITION OF ITS NAME

The most important thing you want to instil in your dog during this first eight weeks is the belief that there is nothing threatening in a human voice. When you or anyone else speaks, you want the dog to associate the sound with all things warm and positive. It is too soon to start teaching it specific commands, such as ‘sit’ or ‘come’, but the puppy will soon have to learn some discipline and self-control. For now it is important that it delights in your company and that it makes a positive association with your voice.

There is one important thing you can do at the moment, and that is to get the puppy to recognise its own name. In doing this you are laying in place some important groundwork for when you get down to training it properly.

The first thing you need to do is choose a name. Once the puppy’s name has been chosen it’s a good idea to use it from the very first time you are picking it up and showing it affection at around three weeks of age. It will be possible to change the dog’s name when it moves home, but if it is destined for another home and you know the likely owner, it is helpful if they choose the name you start working with from an early stage.

The next thing to do is start addressing the puppy within its litter, using that name. At this point the dog doesn’t see itself as an individual so much as a litter member, so it is possible it may not respond immediately. But if it does, your goal is to get it to stop, look at you and – for the first time – ask ‘Are you talking to me?’

There are a few key points to remember when doing this.

• Eye contact is crucial. When you call one of the puppies they may all look at you but you must only look at the individual you are addressing.

• Make sure your eyes are soft and inviting; don’t glare or look anxious.

• When you call the name, do so in a happy way; the tone should be soft, as should the body language.

• If the dog comes to you on its own, praise it warmly, repeating the name.

• If the whole litter comes, make a point of only praising the one dog; you are also trying to teach the pups that it is not their name, and this will help reinforce that message.

The beauty of this is that it is something you can build on. When you are teaching the dog to make a positive association with something during weaning or toilet training, for instance, repeating the name warmly as you reward it will help.

All this should have a drip effect on the dog. It should soon recognise the distinctive sound of its own name, providing you – and its future owners – with a foundation on which to work.

WEANING

Between three and five weeks of age, the puppy is ready to be weaned off its mother’s milk.

In the wild, this is the point at which the alpha female will relinquish her duties as the sole provider of sustenance and take a back seat to the rest of the pack. A mother of domestic puppies behaves in this same instinctive way, standing up to feed rather than lying down, thereby allowing herself to move away if she feels she has finished or if she is being hurt by the puppy’s pin-sharp baby teeth or claws.

It will take the puppy around three weeks to make the transition off its mother’s teat. During that time it may still suckle and feed, but as the demands of her puppies slowly decrease, the female’s milk will dry up so owners will notice that feeding times shorten in length. During the early stages of weaning the puppy’s diet may be divided 50–50 between its mother’s milk and other food, but by the end of the sixth week a puppy should be eating independently of its mother.

Many people begin weaning with a cereal, such as porridge mixed with milk. Some opt for tinned puppy food. Others go for kibbles of ‘complete food’ made up of carefully selected ingredients that constitute an ideal diet. Many people opt for raw meat.

The puppy will by now have a full complement of teeth coming through, but their jaws are still too weak for it to crunch anything and its throat is still too narrow to swallow food of any size. It is vital that whatever food you choose to introduce, it is of the right consistency. Porridge with milk should be as smooth as possible, while kibbles should be soaked in cold water overnight then mixed in a food processor for better consistency. Tinned food must also be softened so that it is palatable for the puppy. If you go for the raw-meat option, make sure it is minced well.

Follow these instructions for the first feed.

1. Pick up the puppy gently, speaking to it softly. Don’t make any sudden movements.

2. Pinch together your thumb and third and fourth fingers. Scoop the food onto your fingers, then put it under the puppy’s nose for a moment or two so it can smell it.

3. How quickly it accepts the food depends on personality. Some will only need to smell it and they will be digging in, while others will be cautious and unsure. If they are enthusiastic, be careful they don’t bite. If they are reluctant, be patient.

4. When the puppy has eaten, stroke it softly with one finger and give it some gentle words of praise.

This is the first time the puppy will have associated you with the providing of food. It is vital that you make it a good association by taking things slowly and doing all you can to make it as pleasant an experience as possible. Time spent getting this right can make the difference between a relationship that works and one that doesn’t. Don’t rush it.

TOILETTING

Until now, as we have seen, the mother both stimulates defecation and cleans up afterwards. This is no longer the case. By the start of the third week, the puppy will have begun to make its first moves away from the whelping box. Generally the front of the box is removed around this time, allowing them to move a few feet away from their sleeping area towards the boundary of the den.

They will begin to defecate and urinate on their own. This new independence coincides with the mother’s gradual removal of herself from the scene.

A puppy of three to four weeks will urinate 12 or more times a day and will open its bowels five to six times a day.

At first the puppy will probably do its toiletting around the den. Dogs are by nature clean creatures so the puppy will try to put as much distance as it can between its sleeping and feeding area and its toilet area. You must ensure you have something in place for puppies to go to the toilet on. There are plenty of alternatives: newspapers or absorbent padding or perhaps wood shavings (make sure they are dust-free).

The puppy isn’t going to get to this area every time, of course, so during this phase it is vital you keep the bedding area immaculately clean. You can buy absorbent bedding that takes wetness through to the bottom. A lining of newspaper between this and the floor will provide another layer to take up moisture. This should be changed as often as need be, perhaps even two or three times a day during the early stage of toilet training.

Dogs prefer to do their toiletting in a natural environment so it is good for both you and your dog if you progress the training to a garden or outdoor area as soon as possible. You should start doing this at about four weeks of age. They should have got the hang of walking by then.

• Accompany the dog to the toilet first thing in the morning, after meals and when it wakes from a sleep.

• Stay with it in the garden or outdoor area. When you see it squatting, give it a food reward and use a word such as ‘empty’ or ‘clean dog’.

There are going to be occasions when it catches you out, so be careful to line the dog’s route from the sleeping area to the garden with whatever it is you are using to absorb the mess. The ideal thing would be a flap leading straight from the den to the garden.

If the puppy has accidents away from the toilet area, the important thing is not to chastise it. Clear it up without a word. The key to toilet training is making it a good association, so anything negative at this stage is unhelpful. With a positive association being built all the time, it won’t take the puppy long to make the connection between wanting to go to the toilet and going outside.

* * * * * * *

By eight weeks of age, the puppy will be ready to move on to a new home without its mother and siblings. The better the care it has received in these early weeks, the more easily it will cope with the trauma of the change of environment. In the next chapter, you’ll find advice for new owners on choosing a puppy at this stage.