Birth through 3rd week (1 – 21 days):
Puppy needs mother and littermates. They can’t regulate their own temperatures very well, so they must have a warm place to sleep. Training is not effective at this stage. They have yet to open their eyes and ears and do much besides crawl around. Their instinct is to cry when separated from the warmth of the litter (so that mommy will save them). Do not handle more than necessary.
Fourth Week (21 days to 28 days):
Eyes and ears should be open by this time.
Ability to form an attachment to humans is forming at this time, so gentle handling is recommended. All handling should be supervised, and children should not be allowed to pick up the puppies.
DO NOT remove the puppies from the litter. Do not wean at this age. If complications with the mother dog require early removal from the litter, do it BEFORE 21 days or AFTER 28 days.
Do not allow negative events to take place during this period. This could result in shyness or other unwanted qualities in a puppy.
Fifth through Seventh Week (28 – 49 days):
The mother will be in the process of weaning the puppies. It is important that you let her do her job. If you abruptly remove the puppies from the mother, and begin feeding them puppy food, they will have missed out on a VERY IMPORTANT life lesson. By allowing the mother to wean the pups, gradually, they learn that RESOURCES ARE NOT ALWAYS AVAILABLE. Sometimes the resource (mommy) is there, but is not available to the puppy (she’s not in the mood to feed them). You should supplement her feeding with moistened puppy food, during this time. But, if you go directly from mom providing food on demand to YOU providing food on demand, the puppies will get a distorted view of reality (they’ll be “spoiled”), and will not easily accept the disappointment of limited access later in life.
Give daily individual attention to each puppy, getting him or her used to positive human interaction.
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