The Adolescence Stage

The final stage of puppy growth before they become a full grown and developed dog is from 8 to 12 months.  This stage is called the Adolescence stage.  At this point your pup has grown into a full-sized dog but will still have the mental capacity of a puppy so its best to have patience when you continue to teach him/her new things. It’s important to keep training and teaching your dog new things at this stage to help establish you as being the dominant one (this will prevent the dog from becoming aggressive). It is also best that you keep introducing the dog to new animals to try to prevent the dog becoming aggressive towards other animals.  Depending on the breed of the dog, some complex training you can teach your dog is things like herding, identifying objects and running obstacle courses.  Since I live on a farm and I own a border collie I taught my pup, Sadie, how to herd.  On my farm we have goats, horses and cows. So, when I was first teaching her, we started on the goats.  I taught her that when I point to the animals and say “get them” she will go and retrieve them.  It was very easy teaching her to heard considering that’s what her breed is meant to do.  It only took us a couple of tries until her instincts kicked in and she understood.  Now she takes pride in retrieving our goats and horses for my family.  Now when we got our second puppy, Mollie, it took her a while to figure out what to do.  Mollie is a mix between a boarder collie and a lab, and she showed a lot of interest in retrieving the animals with Sadie.  Mollie would constantly get distracted by animals and Sadie that she would mess up and usually ruin Sadie’s work.  We eventually had to train her one on one on what to do then once she for the hang of it we added Sadie.  Now they have learned to work together and love it.  So, whatever you decide to train your pup in just remember that they might not understand the first try, but with patience and persistence they can learn just about anything.             

The Ranking Period

The next stage of puppy growth is the 5 to 8 month stage.  This stage is called the ranking period.  This stage the puppy will show even more willfulness and independent which will make them more bratty and will test your patience. At this point the dog might start to establish dominance in the family and try to figure out where he/she ranks in the family.  At this point you need to acquire a lot of patience.  Its best to correct the pup anytime she or he disobeys or do anything that they aren’t supposed to.  This is a great time to take your pup to new places.  They should be at the end of their booster shots and their immune system should be close to fully developed.  However, I would still take precautions when going to a place where unvaccinated animals might be.  When you take you pup to different new places it is always a good idea to keep them on a lease, but it is especially a good idea to keep them on a leash during this stage.  Again, the puppy is testing everything during this stage, so the safest option is to always keep them on a leash.  When I took my pup to new places, she would be too excited to see the new sights and to smell the new smells that she would completely forget her training.  Do not give up though, the best thing to do if your dog starts to act up like this, is to take them to new places often.  Each time you go, work on the same thing over and over again.  Then, after a while, your pup will soon learn to listen to you rather than chase after things.  Furthermore, your dog will also become accustomed to the new smells and things and will calm down over time.  In my opinion its best to take your pup to different stores that allows animals like rural king, tractor supply, pet smart and more.  There you can work with your dog one on one in an isle but have different distractions.  If you are struggling with discipline and obedience training, you can always take an obedience class.  They are usually offered in most pet smarts and you can usually find a local group that could help as well.       

The Juvenile Stage

The next growing stage for the puppy is from 3 to 5 months.  This stage is called the Juvenile Stage.  In this stage, the puppy is more independent and confident in themselves, so he/she may ignore basic commands that they already know.  To help fix this is just to firmly but genteelly reaffirm their training and commands. They also will start to chew on everything since they are now losing their puppy teeth they will go after anything.  To help through this stage every time they go after something they aren’t supposed to, just say “no” or “no biting” and ignore them for a few minutes.  You could also try taking away the thing they aren’t supposed to chew on and give them a toy or bone which tells them they can chew but only on this. At this time, you can really buckle down on potty training and discipline training.  There is a bunch of ways one could potty train their puppy.  Some people use the puppy pad method.  This method includes using pads to train the pup that they should only potty on the pads instead of anywhere else in the house. You could also try to schedule times to take the pup outside to potty and take them to the same spot every time.  This method teaches the puppy that it is only okay to potty in that one spot and nowhere else.  This method is effective because the puppy will soon realize the pattern and will smell where they went the last time you took him/her out.  This method can also be rather challenging because you might not be able to time when they must go potty every time which means they could have multiple accidents.  Another option is to have the pup do some sort of trick or do something by the door every time you take them outside to potty. This will eventually teach them to do that trick every time they need to go outside to potty.  For discipline training you need to be repetitive and consistent.  If you are confused about what you want the pup to do, then the pup will be confused as well.  Also, when the pup does what you want them to do give them a lot of praise.  Especially when they are puppies, dogs build off your energy so if you get really excited when they do something right, they will get really excited too which makes it to be an excellent learning environment.

The Socialization and Fearful Period

Now that you have picked a puppy and have taken them home, the next growth period for the puppy is from 8 weeks to 3 months.  This period is called the Socialization and Fearful Period.  In this period of the puppy’s life, the puppy is experiencing a lot of changes.  Between being away from home for the first time and being away from his/her brothers and sisters.  This means that this transition can cause the puppy to fear the weirdest things.  So, it’s best to avoid loud noises, stressful events and harsh punishments.  During this stage, its important to give the puppy a lot of attention.  They will most likely be very sad and confused during the first couple of days you have the pup so it’s best to be by their side constantly, so they don’t feel alone and get depressed.  Additionally, by being by the dog constantly during the first couple of days the puppy will become attached to you and will learn to trust humans.  This makes a puppy that is really loving and kind to people, which everyone wants out of a dog.  At this stage one can start training the puppy but only simple command like sit, lay down and shake.  As the puppy’s brain isn’t fully developed yet the puppy won’t be able to learn everything just yet. You could also start leash training but don’t expect to get a perfect walking puppy right off the bat.  They will most likely bolt at new things they haven’t seen before walk in front of you a billion times and constantly try to bite the leash. It is also a good idea to introduce the puppy to car rides because if you wait too long to introduce your dog to cars, they might not enjoy the car rides or fear them and they might get car sick, so it’s best to start early. It’s also a good idea to take the puppy to new places to get them accustomed to new surroundings.  However, you do not want to take the pup to any unvaccinated areas since the puppy’s immune system isn’t fully developed it could be deadly if you took them to places where unvaccinated dogs might go.     

Picking a Suitable Companion

When the puppies turn 8 weeks old, they are now old enough to go to their forever homes.  As a person who is coming to pick out their puppy, it can be difficult to pick a puppy that will be suitable for you. Of course, you will want to pick the puppy you think is the “cutest”, but there is other factors to take into consideration.  When I go to pick out a new puppy there’s a couple of key things I look for.  First, I look for and pay attention to the puppies that will come up to you and want your attention.  Second, if there’s a puppy that is antisocial or not really interested in any people walking by, they probably wouldn’t be the best companion for an active and/or social person.  However, I also take note of the puppies who are too over welcoming and push their boundaries.  If a puppy is constantly jumping on your leg and or “playful bite” everything that goes their way, this could indicate that the pup is too dominate and will most likely test you authority as it grows up. A puppy that will be most suitable for most dog owners, I think, is the one that shows interest to people when they walk in the room but is not over bearing.  Of course, all puppies can become a perfect companion over time, but some will just take more patience and time than other puppies.  When I went to pick out my first dog, I went to a nice boarder collie farm and got a really nice selection of beautiful dogs.  When they showed me their litter of puppies, one puppy ended up coming right up to me than sat down and looked up at me.  That was an extremely good first impression for me because it showed that the puppy was interested in me but wasn’t over whelming.  As I looked at the other puppies, they were all very nice and extremely cute, but I ended up picking the puppy that came up to me.  That puppy is now named Sadie and she became an amazing dog. So, as you go to pick out you own puppy take into consideration what you are looking for in a dog.  Once you know what you are looking for, picking a puppy will be an easy task for you and your family.          

The Socialization Stage

The next stage to puppy growth is from 6 to 8 weeks old.  This stage is called the Socialization Period.  This is the most exciting stage of puppy growth because the puppies are now fully mobile and very curious about anything and everything.  At this time, you can now introduce the puppies to new things.  For example, you can now take the puppies outside to explore.  They should also be introduced to a car when they start their first round of booster shots.  The puppies should also be introduced to puppy food.  At this stage, the puppy’s puppy teeth have fully come in which now makes it more painful for the mother to nurse them.  That is why the mom starts to wean the puppies during this stage as well.  When you first start to feed the puppies puppy food, you should start with small amounts and slowly add more over time. The mother will also start to discipline her babies more during this stage.  The mother will teach the pups things like how to get a long with their siblings (or other dogs).  She will also teach them to be submissive by showing that she is in charge.  That is an important learning experience for the pup to have because it will prevent the pup to be over dominant when it gets older.  You will want to start handling the puppies a lot more during this stage (which will not be hard to do).  By handling the puppies when they are young teaches them to trust and like humans which is another huge important lesson for the puppies to learn. You should not try to correct or train the puppies at this stage because the puppy just won’t have the attention span to understand what you are trying to do.  When my puppies were in this stage, I took them outside to play and explore many times a day.  It was very entertaining watching the puppies experience new things like other animals for the first time and flowers bending in the wind.  They were supper observant and intrigued over everything. I also made sure that the puppies were getting handled by more people than just me. So, my sister, mom and dad would often help me give the pups one on one human interaction, daily. Many people will try to give the puppies away early when they turn 6 to 7 weeks, but it is best for the puppy’s well-being to stay with their mother until they reach 8 weeks of age.

        

The Period of Awakening Senses

The next stage of puppy growth is from 4 to 6 weeks old.  This stage is called the Period of Awakening Senses.  At this stage, the puppies will become more independent and adventurous.  They should start to recognize the person taking care of them or other humans that walk by often.  This stage is also the time where you should avoid sudden loud noises that might scare the puppies because a negative experience during this stage might make the dog more timid when he/she becomes grown.  It is still important for the pups to be around their mom at this stage since the puppies are still on the mother’s milk and is learning how to act like a dog.  The mother will also discipline the puppies and teach them right from wrong.  If a puppy is taken away from their mother too soon, they could have many problems when the become a full-grown dog. When my puppies were at this stage, they were very adventurous.  They would often venture outside of their crate, which was very different from the previous stage, and they would get very excited when I visited them.  At this stage we introduced the puppies to chew toys to help their puppy teeth come in.  Its important not to give them any chew toys that they could possible swallow or choke on, but we gave them things like tennis balls old rags and empty water bottles.  The one they loved the most was the water bottle.  At this stage the puppies are learning new things and experiencing different experiences so when they realized they could make the water bottle crackle, they all wanted to try.  At this stage we decided to open up a playing area for them with the crate inside of the play area.  This was hard to create where it allowed both, the puppies to roam and explore freely on their own and the mother to be able to get in and out of the play area whenever she wanted.  We ended up creating a barrier around the crate with piece of wood that was high enough the puppies couldn’t get over it and short enough where the mother could jump over it.            

The Transitional Stage

The next growing period of the puppy’s life is 2 to 4 weeks.  This stage is called Transitional Stage.  At this stage the puppies open their eyes and will now respond to light, sound and movement around their whelping box.  During these first two stages its important to keep the puppies in a small secluded box.  This is important because it will make the puppies feel safe and secluded from the outside world while they begin to experience things for the first time.  You could use a dog crate with a blanket wrapped around or something to that effect.  At this stage the puppies will start to get their puppy teeth, but it will not become painful for the mother to nurse yet.  The puppies will also start to move and try to walk. The puppies won’t be able to do much but stumble, but they are now strong enough to stand and try to learn how to walk.  When my puppies were at this stage, they would all try to walk around in the cage but wouldn’t be able to see too far in front of them so they would end up hitting each other and falling down.  The puppies will not try to venture outside of their crate yet.  Again, when my puppies were at this stage, we provided the crate for the puppies but we also provided a way for the mother to get in and out of the crate without us having to supervise and only let her in to see her puppies when we are home.  We did this by placing a two by four at the bottom of the crate’s door.  This allowed the mother to be able to step over the two by four to get in and out of the crate and prevent the newborn puppies from stumbling out of the crate.  The mother will still be doing most of the work and will be feeding the puppies, cleaning up after them and help regulate their temperature.              

The Neonatal Stage

When the puppies are first born, the stage between when the puppies are 0 to 2 two weeks old is called the Neonatal Stage.  When the puppies are born, they will have their eyes and ears closed and will weigh about a pound depending on the breed of the puppies.  The puppies won’t be able to do much in this stage except for crawl a little and nurse off their mother.  At this stage they won’t have teeth so when the puppies are nursing it won’t hurt the mother, but as the puppies start to gain their teeth you will find the mother will be more and more less willing to nurse.  The puppies won’t be able to regulate their own temperature so it’s best to keep them in a comfortable room setting but the mother will do her best to regulate their temperature for them. Between the time the mother has the puppies and to the time they are eight weeks old, the mother and pups should not be separated to ensure the puppies develop and grow appropriately.  When my dog had her puppies, she was confused and scared at first because she didn’t understand what has happening.  However, as I couched and helped her through it, her motherly instincts soon kicked in and she knew what to do.  My dog is a pure-bred Boarder Collie and she had 7 puppies over a period of about 4 hours.  The first 6 were perfectly happy, but when the last puppy came, the runt, he was a lot smaller than the rest of the pups and was very week.  This is very common when it comes to the runt in a bigger litter group, but my family was convinced to help him out.  The runt couldn’t nurse off the mother like his brothers and sisters because of how small and week he was.  We contacted our Vet to get her opinion and she told us the best thing would to try and help him latch onto the mother.  My mother and I tried for a couple of hours to get him to latch on, but he was just too weak.  Then we went to the store and bought milk supplement to try to bottle feed him but he was just too weak to even drink from a bottle.  We did all we could but the runt ended up dying.  He was just not fully developed yet and there was nothing anyone could do.  This can be common in litters of puppies it best to not blame yourself for what happens and realize you did the best you could.         

Puppies in the Womb & Preparing for Labor

As soon as you realize your dog might be pregnant you will want to take her to the vet to obtain more information. When dogs become pregnant, they require more food and nutrients, so it’s best to provide access to food and water 24-7.  You could also get dog food designed for expecting mother that will give her the nutrients she needs to have healthy pups. She can also continue to eat this food when she is nursing the pups as well.  Dogs pregnancy usually last 63 days.  During this period, she will not need any supplements or vitamins, the mother usually will do most of the work as of keeping herself healthy and happy but there’s a number of things you can look for to ensure the mother and puppies are healthy.  First, you can look for any vaginal bleeding, if you spot this, it’s best to take the mother to the vet right away.  Second, you could also pay attention to your dog’s wellness.  If your dog is displaying any signs of illness or vomiting, do not wait to take her to the vet.  Things can form and escalate more quickly in a pregnancy that wouldn’t usually happen if the dog wasn’t pregnant. So, it’s best to go to the vet straight away to try to prevent miscarriages and/or complications. The mother also needs plenty of exercise during her pregnancy, but nothing too straining.  Walks or jogs at a park is healthy for an expecting dog, but when the end of the pregnancy comes, its best to only do slow walks and no jogging or running. When it’s come closer to her time to have the puppies, there are somethings you can do to help your dog.  First you need to provide a whelping box that is basically a secluded, safe box that the expecting mother can have birth in.  The whelping box needs to have some sort of temperature control.  Second, you will need to provide whelping material that can be placed in the box during labor and will be thrown away after the pregnancy.  Third, you should also have disposable rubber gloves, hand towels/washcloths, and a first aid kit in case you need to help with the labor.  Finally, the most important thing to have during the pregnancy is the number for the vet just in case there is any complications or if you have any questions.