Puppies

Puppies for Sale

Puppies have several stages to go through when they are developing. Remember when you read this article that the stages are generalized as all puppies develop at different rates, this is dependant on their breed and also whether they live with another dog or indeed other puppies.

We will start from the puppies being aged between 8 weeks and 3 months as this is when they should be preparing to leave their mum and other siblings.

When puppies are this age they enter the 'I am absolutely terrified of just about everything' stage of their lives. They learn very quickly but this learning is coupled together with a fearful stage, the fear usually begins at around the 8 - 10 week mark for most puppies. Now not all puppies will travel through this stage but a high percentage do, you will more than likely discover your puppy seems to be scared of an awful lot more than he/she ever used to be.

If puppies are subjected to any cross words or strong discipline at this age they will remember it, as with all dog training though puppies should be trained through a non-coercive method such as the praise and reward system.

Puppies will now begin to control their toilet habits at this stage and should be able to go through the night without the need to be let outside. This is also a great time to begin training puppies, just the basics such as sit, wait, come and down. Puppies will also benefit from some gentle lead training at this age. Socialization is paramount for all puppies and should begin when they are very young and continue through all of their development stages.

From 3 - 4 months old puppies go through their 'toddler' stage. They develop their independence which in turn means they suddenly acquire the selective hearing which all dogs seem to develop! Puppies will now begin to only hear what they choose to hear. Be firm but gentle and just reinforce the fact that you are in charge and what you say goes. Puppies have a knack of winning us over with their imploring eyes but you must be strong, not harsh, there is a difference.

Between the ages of 4 - 6 months puppies enter the rebellious stage and this is where you need to take a deep, long breath and relax! Puppies will now start to test the water with you and just push you to see how far they can go. You could experience some dominance related issues with puppies now and this is the age they can 'choose' to ignore off lead commands. If you do not possess 100% control over your puppy off lead then do not let him/her off as this is the age when most puppies become flighty and can easily run from you.

Now between the ages of 6 - 18 months puppies will be considered to be young adult dogs and this is a wonderful time for them, and you. Your puppy/dog is young, energetic and great fun to be with. Introduce puppies to as many dogs as you can and begin training regimes regularly because it is vital that your puppy learns the correct behaviour now rather than having to be reprimanded all of the time because you have not trained them.