Period
|
Age
|
Puppy Development
|
What your need to do
|
New Born
|
0 to 14 days
|
sleeping, crawling. Suckling
Eyes opening at 10-14 days
|
|
Transitional
|
14 to 21 days
|
Senses start to operate. First
teeth push through Daily gentle handling by the breeder.
|
Start to get prepared with the
New Puppy Checklist
|
Socialisation Period
|
3 to 5 weeks
|
Plays with litter mates, urinates
and defecates on its own
|
Breeder divides sleep and play
areas. More handling and playing with litter mates.
|
|
5 to 8 weeks
|
Weaning begins, dominance games
with litter mates
|
Puppy arrives at new home at 8
weeks. Introduce dogs and children and consider crate training. Start housetraining. Lots of toys and human
games.
|
|
8 to 12 weeks
|
Exploratory behaviour, starts assessing
position in the pack
|
Start establishing yourself as
the pack leader and work on
bite inhibition. Select a good puppy class and book a place. Start desensitisation
to people, objects and noises
|
Juvenile
|
3 to 6 months
|
Starts Teething. Not fully independent,
but exploring further
|
Start puppy socialisation classes
(between 12-20 weeks), training good manners and lots of chew and teething
toys
|
Adolescence
|
6 to
18 months
|
Starts Teething. Sexual maturity.
Territorial behaviour
|
The most difficult time for owners!
Tackle common behaviour problems. Keep reinforcing pack leader status. Continue
basic obedience training and lots of stimulation with activity toys and
games
|
Maturity
|
12/18 months
+
|
Fully formed physically
|
Enjoy and indulge your passion
for dogs. Keep up regularly training sessions and perhaps a few dog tricks
that could even make them useful
|
