Juvenile Socialization Period

The time from the age of 8 weeks until the age when sexual maturity occurs will define the juvenile period. This behavioral period varies in duration depending upon the breed of the dog. Behavioral activities and further socialization of the young dog depend largely on his environment. The young dog left in the kennel during this time develops quite differently from the dog that matures and grows with a human family. In either environment, the most important process during this time is learning your dog's status. The young dog will be learning about how to affect its environment and how the environment affects the puppy. During the juvenile period, the young dog is looking for the leader. A young dog left in a kennel with several littermates or other dogs of similar size or age may fight over food, water, or play objects. At other times, spontaneous bouts of aggression of one dog toward another may occur. These usually occur until a pack hierarchy is established. This is normal dog-to-dog communication. The young puppy that is placed in a home becomes a part of the social organization of the family, and establishing human-dog communication is important to being the dog's leader.

There is little doubt that the young dog will test the members of the family, looking for leadership. New pet owners need to understand their role in preventing or encouraging problem behaviors at this phase of the puppy's development. The puppy that is indulged, with free attention, will develop to exhibit aggressive, destructive or unruly behaviors. When this occurs, carpets are chewed or wet, chairs destroyed, drapes ruined, doors broken, and many other obnoxious and preventable behaviors occur. These events frequently lead the dog owner to deposit their new pet at the city pound, dog shelter, or the pet may be abandoned in a rural area. This happens all too often and contributes to the large number of unwanted dogs in our towns and cities. How the adorable 8-week-old puppy becomes an unruly, destructive nuisance by age 16 weeks is a short trip that starts the day the puppy is brought home, and with proper attention is entirely preventable.

Statistics show that out of 10 puppies born, seven will be dead before their first birthday, and only one of those deaths will be due to disease. Of the remaining three puppies, two will be re-homed at least twice. Only one of the 10 will survive in its first adoptive home. The human/companion animal bond suffers greatly from misunderstanding and miscommunication during this period. It is during this period that it is vitally important that all humans in the puppy's life need to use Earned Petting to communicate clearly with the puppy. This will allow the puppy to seek its rightful and genetically engineered place as follower in the human-dog relationship. Earned Petting will be discussed later. Relinquishment studies at shelters across the USA indicate that the most common reasons for giving up the family pet are: house-soiling, household-destruction, aggression, barking, and unruly behavior. Interestingly, these studies also found that 80 to 90% of relinquished dogs had been "Crate Trained". This led the researchers to add "Crate Training" to their list of risk factors for relinquishment. For this reason we strongly recommend against crate training, as we feel strongly that crate training most likely plays a prominent role in creating the very problems for which young dogs are relinquished from their original homes.

If new pet owners understand the importance of their leadership role, they can avoid or alleviate many of these behavioral problems. It is also necessary for the owners to understand that the puppy is going to spend a lot of time exploring his environment, and in the process, the puppy can make mistakes that soil or destroy household objects. How the owner(s) respond to these mistakes will affect behaviors for the life of the puppy. The owners need to teach the puppy about the areas of the house. Good house manners are not learned in a crate. Dogs are "Alleomimetic"; they will mimic the owner in their closest ability. Interacting with the smell of the owner is the primary drive of destructive chewing behavior. Establish a toy box with appropriate and non-food toys. We will discuss toy boxes in chewing prevention. This is the time puppy needs to learn house training, bite inhibition, preventative handling, being alone at home, and to be socialized to new people and situations.