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