The Shout Outs will be four weeks old tomorrow . . .
At this stage fear has not yet developed and this is the age where the puppies need to be exposed to sudden noises like turning on the vacuum, radio, hair dryer etc. The puppies are listening to Sound Socialization CD's (you can see examples on the Clean Run website).
The startle response needs to be experienced and the puppy allowed to return to normal quickly before the fear stage begins. This needs to happen so the puppy knows that when startled throughout the rest of his life, he can return to normal and everything will be ok. A puppy that has not had these experiences during this stage of development will more than likely be a "fearful" dog as a adult.
The puppies will begin a loose pecking order at this stage and start "play fighting" with each other. They will also begin to eat food, but still be nursing their mothers as well. They've already started on gruel which is ground up/wet kibble/deyhydrated raw food.
Zene has begun to teach them to nurse more gently and when to quit as they now have teeth. This is one of the first lessons in discipline.
