Mama's Monday - Enriched!

When Nanook and Pooka were baby newfs still living at the breeders, they got picked up and washed ALL THE TIME and had their toe nails clipped and they had blankets and grass and toys and people to pet them and play with them by themselves.

And it turns out, because they had all of these things, they became confident and intelligent adults - interested in their environment and capable of handling various stressful situations with aplomb.

I don't know if any breeders read this little blog but if so, check this article out! Very, very cool.

I've written before about the importance of socializing your puppy once he or she comes home, but I haven't talked about the important role that your BREEDER plays in the intellectual development of your dog.

During the first 10 weeks of life while your puppy is still with his dam, breeder and siblings, your puppy's brain is growing and expanding incredibly rapidly. The lessons and experiences he or she has during that time can have a profound impact on your dog's adult personality. For example, puppies that are handled very gently once a day by a human being during the first two weeks - picked up, rubbed gently, held in various positions briefly, and touched on the feet show increased neurological development, which creates a dog with increased future ability to learn - in short, it makes your puppy smarter.

During the third to seventh weeks puppies benefit from slightly increased physical stimulation - handling and slight pressure, the introduction of new sights, sounds and floor textures, the introduction of new stimuli like a jacket, toy, chair or a purse to explore, and also in week five very brief separations from the rest of the litter/one-on-one time with a human. This provides a valuable stress experience for the puppy as well as helping the puppy learn to interact with and be interested in people. The one-on-one time teaches the puppy his own worth, as an individual and can result in a more confident dog. And of course it is the beginning of your puppy's period of socialization - without socialization your dog will be inhibited socially and will be less healthy psychologically.

And although I think I've beaten the whole pet store argument to death already, it bears repeating that a puppy who is purchased from a reputable breeder will be much more likely to have experienced all of the above than a puppy raised purely for money in a puppy miller's cage. Reputable breeders do what they do primarily out of love for their chosen breed - and the puppies they produce have a significantly higher chance of being healthy, well-adjusted adults.