Four Critical Periods of a Puppy’s Life, Part 4

Welcome to part 4 of our Four Critical Periods of a Puppy’s Life. If you haven’t listened to parts 1 through 3, pause your player and go back to listen. We’ll be right here when you return. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been involved with the physical health and well-being of dogs since I was 15 years old. At that time, you had to get your hands dirty, learning by trial and error how to train dogs and, more importantly, train their owners.

I’ve had my share of puppy kisses, paws to my face, dogs literally pulling my hair out, dog bites, and just about everything you can think of dealing with dogs I’ve dealt with! I credit not only the Monks of New Skete, my husband Robert Forto, but also Clarence Pfaffenberger whose book the New Knowledge of dog Behavior taught me how dogs learn and can be shaped into what we expect them to be as adults. That’s right! You can literally determine what your dog will be like as an adult by introducing them to predetermined experiences and experiential learning opportunities during their four critical periods of life.

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If you are a canine enthusiast, dog trainer, dog breeder, or just someone interested in how dogs learn, then this is the program for you. If you know someone who may benefit from this information, please share this podcast, Dog Works Radio, with them. So far, we have learned about the first few weeks of a puppy’s life. We learned about when they are first able to hear, see, and walk on their own. We also learned about the importance of imprinting, early socialization, and the fear period. Now, let’s get started with the final part.

Hello and welcome to Dog Works Radio. I am Michele Forto, and I am the lead trainer of Alaska Dog Works. Are you one of the few people who train their dog? As a professional dog trainer, I find it interesting that every inquiry I receive is always about unwanted dog behaviors that I immediately recognize as starting during the Four Critical Periods of life for a dog. On part 1 we talked about the first three weeks of a puppy’s life on parts 2 and 3 we discussed the following crtical periods including the fear period and the age of puppyhood. This week, we are going to dive deeper and cover ages 12 weeks to two years!

If only the breeder whether a professional or an amateur had just taken the time to learn about canine development and behavior and had then incorporated it into their breeding program, even if it was just a one-time breeding or accidental then the dogs they are producing would gain a better start in life that would stick with them far into adulthood, thus making a well-rounded adjusted pup that owners would be doubtful to be wary of and ready to give up on.

I often do breed referrals for people looking for the right dog for their family, and I am the one who chooses your pup for our Lead Dog Service Dog Program.  Over the past two decades, I have trained several hundred dogs; in fact, I average about 250 new dogs every year.  That’s a lot of dogs!  I have bred my litters and trained every one of them up to the age of 12 weeks, but I have also trained many of them into adulthood.  I have trained many other puppies and rescues and I have seen many mistakes made by breeders, pet stores, shelters, fosters, and even the new owners themselves.  Puppies have four critical periods of life. 

This is part 4. We hope you stick around and subscribe to our podcast, as we produce excellent content all year long. If you have a topic recommendation or an idea for an extended series like this one, please send us a message on our social channels, and we will do our best to make it happen.

Again, I have used the information I am sharing for years in raising puppies and preparing them for life.  It is my hope that the novice and the expert in raising and training of dogs appreciates the information being shared and utilizes this information to raise well-balanced better trained puppies.

Reminder: The purpose of the puppy program is to condition the puppy to learn, and that learning and doing things are fun.  The program aims at preventing problems rather than correcting problems later. This purpose of “puppy program” must be fully understood.  Therefore, I recommend that you DO NOT attempt to program any puppy until you are familiar with Clarence Pfaffenberger’s “The New Knowledge of Dog Behavior.” Pro tip! We have included an amazon link on the show notes page that will make it super easy to order the book!

If you have listened to the other parts of this series you will remember that this puppy program includes a lot of exercises for dogs that are going on to do other jobs, like service dogs, therapy dogs, protection dogs, or compete in competitions.

Remember, we are Alaska Dog Works. We specialize in canine sports and working dogs, but did you know what? A program like this sets us apart from other trainers in our industry? Do you know why? Training in just about anything prepares a dog or a person for something else, whether it’s bigger goals, more fun programs down the line, volunteering, or having a job. Think about it, you may train to run a marathon by running a 5K or working out in the gym, or swim, bike, or whatever, right? The same goes for your dog, where you have big goals in mind. We even have a cutting-edge program that nobody else in the country offers, it is called Level Up. If you want to learn more about it, let us know.

The Fourth Critical Period: Days 85 – 112:

Day 85 – 91: If the puppy is to undergo bite-inhibition, place him/her in the yard or pen with peers of approximately similar age for at least 2 hours daily.

• Continue with obedience training to include an introduction to all the AKC obedience exercises.
• Do longer isolation periods, socialization, location conditioning, crowds, and night work.
• Do retrieves, bag work, harness, booties, show posing, and gaiting.
• Swim
• Practice the obstacle course
• Take a puppy traveling and include overnight stays.

The puppy is working off-lead now, if you have been following the program.

Day 91: 13 weeks old: Work in crowds and traffic at night—test for sound startle. Swim.

Day 92 – 98: 

• Bite inhibition
• Socialization (man-dog) If you stop now, your puppy may become DESOCIALIZED.
• Bag work; play-retrieves; location and isolation conditioning continues; booties
• Harness work; hook up to gangline, allow pulling lines, no weight
• Puppy obedience training session
• Show standing and gaiting
• Do crowds, traffic, and night work

Do not let up on any of these programs.  You have only 3 weeks left.

Day 98: 14 weeks old: Test for sound startle. Swim.

Day 99 – 105:

• Bite inhibition
• Socialization (man and dog) Bite inhibition can be combined with dog-dog socialization, only if the same-age peers are being used in both.
• Location and isolation conditioning. Retrieves, bag-work, booties, harness, gangline exposure.
• Posing and gaiting.
• Obedience training, now you can start increasing the demands on attention.

Day 105: 15 weeks old: Test for sound startle. Swim.

• Bite inhibition

Review all parts of the program—test responses. Expose the puppy to as much as possible.

Ok, we are back. Before the break, we covered up to week 15. By now, your new pup should be in a puppy class. If not, consider giving a trainer a call to get signed up. You have worked hard up to this point, and it is essential to keep the momentum going on making sure your dog is well adjusted and ready to take on the juvenile years! Believe me, you will be happy with everything you have done beforehand. If you have ever had teenagers in the house, you know exactly what I am talking about!

Day 112: 16 weeks old:  CELEBRATE!!!

The puppy receives the second polyvalent vaccination today (distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, and parainfluenza). The dog gets a yearly booster for the rest of its/life.

If you have not followed your program, you can now prepare to begin months or even years of “remedial” or “corrective” training. If you have, progress into any type of advanced obedience, guide dog work, hunting, herding, guard, mushing, sport, Schutzhund work – or simply know that you have a companion animal that is steady, fearless, and reliable among men, women, and children, in crowds, traffic, storms, gunfire, and other challenging situations, as well as around other dogs.

If you are going to proceed with formal obedience training, you are now ready to begin in earnest, to learn to communicate with your programmed dog.

From birth to 16 weeks, puppies follow the same development. After four months, larger breeds develop more slowly than smaller breeds.

4 – 6 months: Teething. This period can be stressful for some puppies. While others remain oblivious to the teething process, others seem to develop painful gums. Be cautious and use gentle guidance rather than correction during this time. Puppies tend to chew excessively during this period, so provide a variety of safe chew toys. From now on, feed the puppy two meals a day, a routine that will continue throughout the dog’s life. The puppy should receive a rabies vaccination.

4 – 8 months: Sometime between 4-8 months, fear periods may appear, with the flight instinct dominating the puppy’s behavior. A fear period may last up to two weeks. Handle onsets of fear calmly. Do not, under any circumstances, “comfort” the puppy. Do not make a big issue out of the puppy’s fear. Try to make the puppy investigate, or at least ignore the object that it found scary. Allow the puppy to work it out. Walk past the object many times, so the puppy gets used to it again.

6 – 12 months: Some breeds are mature at 10 months.  Larger breeds tend to take longer, and could take up to 2 -3 years to fully mature.  During this period, the puppy could have periods of fear in new situations. These fear periods may be correlated with growling periods. Allow the puppy to work it out.  Do not push, but continue training.  The training is a confidence builder in itself.  If you followed the whole puppy program there will be considerable fewer, if any, instances of fear periods. Teach a 30-minute down-stay.

[bctt tweet=”If you have NOT followed your program, you can now prepare to begin months or even years of “remedial’ or “corrective’ training.” username=”alaskadogworks”]

Between 1 and 2 years: There will be tests for dominance. The dog, particularly the males, attain a new level of assertiveness. The first serious dog fights occur. Use obedience training to assert yourself, particularly the 30-minute down stay. If you have a submissive dog, obedience training is even more important as a confidence builder. However, if you have followed the puppy program from Day 1, you should be able to assert yourself over the dog with just a look and a voice reprimand.

Note: Before you pick up your new puppy, have a plan in place for the first two years of its life. Commit to this plan. I promise that if you do, you will have the best-trained dog you’ve ever had in your life!

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Michele Forto is the lead trainer of Alaska Dog Works and works with service dog clients from around the country.