The Last Two Weeks of the Critical Learning Period For Puppies
Some of what I share with my potential puppy buyers
By Dr. Jeannie Thomason
The puppies are just a couple of days shy of 9 weeks old and are leaving or being scheduled to leave with their new families.
While it is a very bitter/sweet time for us, it is a time of great excitment and more new learning experiences for the puppies and their new families.
The new families are going to have their puppies for the last two and half to three weeks of the "CRITICAL LEARNING PERIOD" (the critical development/learning period for puppies is from 3 weeks to 12 weeks of age).
While I personally do all I can to prepare the puppies for this stage of their lives by raising them with lots of enrichment exercises and socialization, they may still go through a brief fear impact stage after leaving their Dam and siblings.
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