|
Dog Breeding: Tips On Handling Your New Puppies After Birth
Once your puppies' eyes open up then the real work and expense of rearing a litter begins. As puppies begin to display individual character traits their emotional and physical development relies ever more heavily upon the breeder and less with their dam. This is also when early observations can be made between the committed, conscientious breeder and one who lacks dedication.
The conscientious breeder recognizes and readily assumes the responsibilities of optimum caring for a litter and is not one who abandons them to their dam's care alone. The difference between breeder types is first discernible when the puppies are about three weeks or slightly older.
Supplementary feeding while continuing to allow the dam and offspring full access to each other is crucial to large litters, yet often is of no less important with relatively few puppies. Untimely puppy supplementation causes the dam's health to wane shortly before deprivation becomes noticeable in her offsprings' development. A brood matron should be vibrantly healthy, carrying neither excess weight nor appearing undernourished. The emotionally and physically healthy dam consistently maintains an active and lively interest in her puppies and environment.
Earliest puppy stimulation and socialization with the breeder begin from the moment of birth when the sac is broken. Because their first sense is that of scent, the breeder is familiar to the puppies before their eyes open. Further stimulation is given by the breeder as puppies' eyes open and they become aware of a hazy world beyond their olfactory sense. Until now they essentially became familiar with their breeder's scent through their dam's coat and learned different portions of her anatomy: where there is and is not her heavy milky scent.
Only the breeder should handle puppies during their first two weeks. While such handling is consistent with sound early puppy care practices, it does in reality limit their world. Once they react to a feathery touch on their eyelids, although their eyes are not yet open puppies are highly aware of differences in people. As a result, puppies can react violently the first time handled by anyone other than their breeder.
Some struggle, screaming to be free; others may growl menacingly although the new handler implicitly follows the breeder's instructions. Reactions can be indicative of how puppies handle strange situations later in life: reactions from complacency to submission or aggressiveness, dependent socialization of puppies at first contact by a stranger.
Puppies' first human bonding is through the breeder. The experiences must therefore be positive. If a puppy is incorrectly handled or handled not at all, it responds instinctively with distrust toward all humans. It is therefore crucially important that all early contacts be positive. Once the barrier of distrust is instilled, the puppy becomes hard to work with, and in some cases, unmanageable.
|
