Framheim German Shepherds

This article was published in 1997 and I am somwhat embarraased by the style of writing I did then - but the content has merit.  I hope you enjoy and find something useful in it!

REARING PUPPIES TO BE ALL THAT THEY CAN BE

Joan Andreasen-Webb

published in The German Shepherd Quarterly, Winter, 1997

There has been a great deal of research on early childhood development. In a nutshell, a wealth of early sensory experiences in the human child enables the child to learn more easily, manage stress more efficiently and appears to even contribute to better health. This comes as no surprise to those of us who have been in the education system dealing directly with children. The good news is that many breeders are also developing their litters of puppies into vigorous, vital dogs that are eager to learn and have an enhanced sense of responsibilty to their humans by stimulating the young puppies' sensory perceptions.

Laying the groundwork for the imprinting of puppies: Many excellent articles have been written on the subject of rearing puppies. Authors have outlined techniques and timing of exercises for sensory development in great detail. Timing of sensory experiences can be a starting point but there is a great danger that these puppy imprinting experiences can become mere technique, thus missing the intent. Many of you have witnessed puppy aptitude tests where novices interpret behavior incompletely and thus incorrectly, by catching certain reactions but are unable to place them in a correct and complete context. A puppy can lick at one's face passively or dominantly; it takes experience and an understanding of dog behavior to accurately gauge which it is. I would hope that anyone taking on the whelping and rearing of a litter of puppies has the experience and knowledge to read dog behavior. Thus, timing of the sensory experiences becomes secondary. The individual who is rearing the pups must `read` and anticipate reactions of the pup to a stimulus. These experiences must always be within the `comfort-level' of the individual pup. This `comfort-level` thus expands with each passing week and with continued sensory experiences. I have heard people comment that they have put pups on concrete floors to acclimate them to cold, hard surfaces. They let them yell and holler because it builds character. Does it? Think back to your childhood (or your children's). If a child is anxious about going to sleep in the dark, do we maintain darkness because it will build character? Or do we provide a dim nightlight so the child experiences semi-darkness; within the child's `comfort-level`. A short time on a cold concrete floor followed by warm touch and breathing in the puppy's nostrils by a human will be retained in the puppy's sensory memory as a pleasant and trust-building experience with human smell. Another exercise often recommended involves pressure placed on the webbing between the toes of a puppy and increased until the pup shows discomfort. This may, in fact, teach a pup to be wary of squeezing human fingers. (What must a pup think when it runs into these same squeezing fingers during the puppy temperament/aptitude tests?) In contrast, gently massaging the feet and toes with slight pressure teaches the pup to trust those human fingers. These early experiences last a lifetime in the inner recesses of the brain's development.

The first ten days: This is a crucial period and, from my experience of speaking to various breed clubs, one that is a largely overlooked opportunity for imprinting. The senses/drives that are in control are smell, touch and hunger. When imprinting young pups, we must make use of the opportunities we are given. Even though these sightless babes spend most of their time sleeping and eating, we can not assume they are not assimilating sensory messages. First and foremost, we provide a quiet and secure place for the dam and her kids, well away from the kennel. We want mother to relax in complete security. Music is played to help drown out any barking and disruption so the dam isn't leaping in and out of the whelping box. The humans who interact with the litter during this time are people known and trusted by the dam. Each day the pups are weighed, examined and handled/massaged. The initial reactions of the pups are interesting. Some may become rigid and must learn that human touch is comforting and enjoyable. Others easily relax with handling/manipulation and fall asleep. Of course, most will be stimulated to search for a faucet to nurse from. Any of these reactions are normal and should be noted in your records. A lot of face-to-face contact during this time with gentle breathing into the puppy's nostrils is excellent, especially as a prelude to being placed on the dam to suckle. What better way to build trust and imprinting to humans than to have the last sensory experience of touch and smell be a human just before mealtime!

Pups spend time with us in our living areas at all ages even at this young age - sometimes in an x-pen and many times on our laps!

Ten days to three weeks: As the senses of touch, hearing and sight develop, the pups are allowed to enlarge their world. As soon as they are fairly mobile, the hinged wall of the whelping box is lowered. This enables the pups to leave their nest to eliminate and allows their exploration of the whelping room and beyond. Each day we continue with handling; massaging the pups in a gentle and thorough manner and getting them accustomed to being in various positions. The pups become quite comfortable with having their heads, ears, mouths, legs, feet, toes and tummies manipulated. The pups become comfortable with being on their backs but this is in no way done in a dominant or adversarial approach. Pups are never forced on their backs. A dog that presents its tummy to be rubbed or when playing with dogs or people should not always be taken as submissive - quite the contrary with some dogs. It can be a sign of absolute confidence and security to expose one's belly. Pups are elevated by placing them around our necks, abit like a fur collar. This encourages trust as well as confidence to be aloft without feet firmly on the ground. We continue with this exercise until they are too big to ride on our shoulders. As the litter reaches three weeks, special attention is given to pups' explorations and their reactions. New items/articles appear in their area and their behavior is noted. Does a puppy pounce and begin killing a broom, or does it smell the broom thoroughly before interacting with it? What is the interaction with the broom? How readily do pups enter and investigate new areas? If there is a 'startle' response to objects/noises, how quickly does the pup recover. Does it return to check out what frightened it? When senses are just developing, one sees more of the genetic temperament of each puppy as they are introduced to things for the first time. By the age of seven to nine weeks when most pups are ready to leave the breeder, one is seeing the combined genetic and environmental temperament. The most honest evaluation of genetic temperament can be accomplished between 2 and 4 weeks of age.

Our Puppy Parties begin early, many times by 2 weeks of age with dog savvy friends . We take care that people have not been around sick dogs before visiting our pups.

Beyond three weeks: Handling continues for as long as the litter is with us. By four weeks of age, pups begin walks on the grounds. Walks through the woods present obstacles such as fallen trees, brush, and shallow streams that pups learn to negotiate. Recalls and hide and seek games are played. Toys are hidden in high grass or snow drifts for pups to find. We also 'accidently` come upon `strangers' (a friend or family member) in the woods. We note reactions to this passive stranger who then becomes their friend. We also investigate our pond and again, behavior is noted. Do pups jump right in and paddle about or do they watch others and think about this activity first. If a pup mistakenly believes it can walk on the water, what is its reaction when it finds itself swimming? (We had one pup recently who thought he could lope across the pond. When he returned to shore after his unexpected splash, he turned around and angrily barked at the pond. The next day when we visited the pond, several adult dogs who love to swim accompanied us just in case the pup would have developed fear of the pond. Not to worry, he was in the water in an instant.) We place crate pans, tires, play pools (right side up and upside down), big cardboard boxes in their play yard. Pups are exposed to remote control cars, large stuffed toys, time-outs in crates, managable children, as well as trips to town and playgrounds. We have a collection of oddities that we have collected over the years that we let pups explore. Household items (such as brushes, laundry baskets, buckets), kitchen utensils, garden tools are represented in this collection. Pups are not left unattended with any objects that could harm them. Games, such as placing toys or food under an upside-down laundry basket , encourage pups' problem-solving abilities. Plastic milk bottles are filled with a few stones and hung from the fencing as well as provided for pups to kick around. Some of the favorite toys are edibles such as carrots, apples, oranges. Almost everyday, pups receive individual play time to chase a ball-on-a-rope, burlap rag, to retrieve balls or take a stroll. Retrieving is done for a brief time and we stop while the pup is still very much wanting to play - not when the pup is tired or losing interest.

We provide a rather 'communal' environment for pups. This is not an approach that works for everyone but we have been fortunate to have adults that are excellent with puppies. It is not unusual to have several adult females happily sharing playing and upbringing duties once litters are four weeks and older. These females have varying 'styles' of mothering which contribute to puppies' personality development. One must be very careful with this approach and that other adults are not dominant or irritable with puppies. It is a beautiful sight to see the mother of a litter and several friendly surrogate mothers lounging in the grass with a litter happily playing with all. We have been fortunate to have several generations represented with pups able to interact with grandparents as well as aunts and uncles. Quite frankly, it is probably more meaningful to us than it may be to the puppies!

The reason for exposing pups to a wealth of new experiences and environments, is to prepare the pup for its eventual move to a new family that will have a different lifestyle and different expectations from those that these puppies have had thus far. A pup that has learned to adapt and adjust to myriad changes will enter into a new home with relative ease. This rich puppy experience also enhances the potential for a profound and loyal relationship as companion and working partner. The seeds of a pup's personality and how it will handle stress have already sprouted by the time a litter leaves the breeder. Are these tender shoots rooted firmly in a rich foundation of confidence? I have encountered breeders who believe that this interaction and socialization weakens or softens the hardness of the dog. Here, I tend to separate hardness into two areas. The first is environmental hardness or how a dog reacts to the occurences around it. The second is handler hardness. It is true that such imprinting to humans will increase the dog's awareness and sense of responsibility to humans. Is this softness? Training a dog that is very tuned into its "human" does place more responsibility on the trainer to train intelligently with an understanding and respect for the dog's perspective and drives. The ideal dog will have a high degree of environmental hardness and is undaunted by the newness or strangeness of changes around it. This kind of hardness is certainly enhanced by careful and varied socialization during puppyhood.

House-training: As well as the hinged wall of the whelping box being lowered when pups begin to move about, puppies graduate from the whelping room to a `nursery'. This nursery is a large area inside connected day and night by a doggy-door to the outside puppy yard. With most litters, the pups are consistently making trips to eliminate outside by four to five weeks of age. If pups are provided with an area to eliminate away from their sleeping/eating area as soon as mother begins spending time away from the litter, they satisfy their desire to keep their living area clean. In this way, house-training begins at birth with their mother keeping the nest clean and is uninterrupted all the while they are at the breeders. House-training is, in large part, in place when pups leave the breeder. This makes the transition to a new home that much easier for families and, in turn, for puppies. When we bring pups into our family room for playtime, they will go to doors or windows and paw at them when they need to go out. By allowing puppies to keep their sleeping/eating area clean from an early age, they do not need to be re-educated (house-trained) when they join their new family.

A breeder does not need to have acres of woods, fields and ponds to create a wealth of experiences for litters of pups. I have seen some wonderful puppy play areas made to stretch the imaginations of pups. Tires arranged for pups to climb and walk through, steel drums and concrete drainage pipes turned on their sides have been a few ideas I've seen other breeders incorporate into their puppies' play pens. One is limited only by one's imagination in providing a 'mind-expanding' environment for litters.

No one needs to reiterate the the enormity of responsibility and seriousness of breeding to most breeders. The gambles are many when one undertakes creating life. Once these lives are created, there is much that we, as breeders, can do to prepare them for the rigors that they will face. This is as much our duty as studying pedigrees and genetics.