Introduction
The three periods of development in a puppy are the Neonatal Period, the Transitional Period and the Socialisation Period. In terms of elapsed time, the three periods are defined as starting at birth and ending at twelve weeks of age(1), as illustrated in the following chart:
| Neonatal period | Transitional period | Socialisation period | Socialisation period |
| to dogs | to humans | ||
| 0-2 weeks | 2-4 weeks | 4-6 weeks | 4-12 weeks |
NB: It should be noted that each pup is also a product of his own prenatal environment, and that even before birth he is ‘already under the influence of his own genes as well as his mother’s hormones’.(2)
The following essay addresses the physical, mental and behavioural aspects of each stage of puppy development.
The Neonatal Period
The first two weeks of a puppy’s life is defined as the Neonatal Period.
Physical Characteristics
At this age, the puppy resembles a wriggling ball of fluff. His brain is still developing along with his sensory abilities. At this age he is blind and deaf, and his feeling of touch is not well developed - only his head has a touch reflex. ‘He has a slightly developed sense of smell, and he also has a heat receptor in his face which enables him to locate his mother.’(3)
During the Neonatal period the very young puppy is unable to eliminate urine and faeces without the help of his mother. Because his gastrointestinal tract remains poorly developed his mother will lick his anogenital area to stimulate elimination. The mother also licks the puppy to wake him from his long periods of sleep in order to stimulate him to suckle.
The puppy is unable to walk at this stage, and should the mother want to relocate to a different nesting spot, she will carry the puppy by taking any part of his body in her mouth and carry him to a new nest site.
Mental Characteristics
Despite the limited development of the puppy’s brain during the first two weeks of life, the perceived insignificant experiences he has during the early stages do have a ‘tremendous impact on the mind of the pup’.(4)
When a new litter is born, the mother will lick the pups clean. Continuing to lick the pups to stimulate elimination, waking up and suckling, helps to deliver (via the smell of her saliva) a vital message to the puppy’s developing brain - “I am your mother”.
Human handling during the Neonatal period is also beneficial to the new born puppy. Not only does it help him to be aware of the human scent, but it also serves to create minor mental stresses which aid the development of the puppy’s early mind.(5)
Social Characteristics
Virtually all social interaction during the Neonatal period is with the mother.
The Transitional Period
The next important phase in a puppy’s life is the Transitional Period - from two to four weeks of age - when many rapid changes take place.
Physical Characteristics
Most of the puppy’s sensory faculties start to develop during the Transitional period:
Sight - the eyelids open and he begins to see dimly, with increasing responsiveness to light and movement.
Hearing - the external ear canals open and he will respond to loud noises.
Eating - the teeth erupt and he can start to eat semi solid food. He will also start nursing on his own, without the need for stimulation from his mother.
Balance - the balance reflex starts to develop during this period, and the puppy is able to start to orient and readjust his body to balance properly.
Motion - by two weeks of age the puppy has touch reflexes in his front legs, and by three weeks develops touch reflexes in his back legs. Hence he can sit at two weeks of age and stand at three. Shortly after this, he will start to walk and run.(6)
Pain - by the end of the Transitional period the puppy will be able to feel pain to a similar extent as an adult dog.
Other - tail wagging and barking will start.
Mental Characteristics
A puppy’s mind is developing at a rapid rate during the Transitional period, and it is during this stage of mental development that his world becomes significantly bigger - he is more aware of his littermates, his environment and humans. Therefore, as in the Neonatal period, it is important for the puppy to continue to have human contact to further aid mental development via small stresses. Furthermore, the introduction of various toys in the pen, with their associated tastes and smells, also helps to stimulate the puppy’s developing mind.
Social Characteristics
Although still dependant on the mother to an extent, the puppy will start to develop socially and will begin to play with his littermates during the Transitional period. At this stage he is clumsy, with poor coordination, but as he moves into the Socialisation period, puppy play will become more intense, and will form a more important part of his learning and development for later life.
The Socialisation Period
A puppy will enter the Socialisation Period from four weeks of age. This period in puppy development has two overlapping aspects - the socialisation to other dogs at 4-6 weeks, and the socialisation to humans at 4-12 weeks.
Physical Characteristics
By the time a puppy is four weeks old his senses have matured. His brain is well developed and is able to process information more readily. From five weeks he can easily recognise his mother or owner from a distance.(7)
His body will continue to grow, and his physical strength, dexterity, balance and coordination are all developed and improved through playing with his littermates and mother. Play at this age is likely to be quite vigorous, and it is during rough play that the puppy learns to develop a soft mouth (bite inhibition).
Other physical activities such as walking and running together are also formed during the Socialisation period.
During this period a puppy does not have the physical capacity to hold his motions for long. The bladder muscle is the last to develop, and he will need to eliminate every couple of hours.
Mental Characteristics
It is during this period of his life in which the puppy’s mind is most malleable and absorbent. He is able to bounce back more quickly from perceived threats and he has greater confidence. The more experiences he has in this short window, the better prepared he is for a less stressful adult life.
The puppy will also experience a period of fear, from about eight weeks of age to eleven weeks of age.(8)
During the Socialisation period, a puppy achieves a relative amount of independence from his mother. However, this independence does come at a small cost as the puppy will have to cope with some amount of frustration as his mother starts to prevent requests for suckling as she starts the weaning process.
Certain feeding behaviours are also imprinted in a dog’s mind during the Socialisation period. Dogs are competitive feeders because they are pack animals. Puppies will compete for the ‘best teat’ whilst in the litter, and they will also learn to beg their mother for food during weaning.(9)
A puppy is capable of learning at this age, but his brain won’t finish developing until he is twelve weeks old. And although it is not possible to train a puppy at this early age, all interaction does have an affect, and a puppy can learn through play.(10)
Social Characteristics
The bond that the young puppy forms with his mother starts to evolve in the Socialisation period. Where in the Neonatal and Transitional periods the puppy was wholly dependant on the mother for maternal care giving, the mother now starts to move away from the puppy when he tries to feed, and many also be more aggressive and dominant towards him. This would usually happen at about four or five weeks of age. ‘The care dependency relationship evolves into one of dominance-submission’.(11)
Despite this, it is during this time that the puppy also develops a more sophisticated repertoire of signals to communicate with his mother. These displays of care seeking behaviour can come in the form of tail wagging, whining, yelping, pawing, jumping up, licking his mother’s face, nose and lips, and never leaving his mother’s side.
Social interaction with littermates starts to intensify during the Socialisation period. A puppy will start to learn to communicate with his brothers and sisters through playful activity.
Communication through play teaches a puppy ‘play cues’ and invitations to play via the ‘play bow’. Puppies quickly learn how to build on their natural predatory instincts by inventing games of ‘chase’ and ‘tug’. And their in-built inquisitiveness is amplified by embarking on adventures with littermates.
‘Play affects and moulds adult social behaviour’(12), and is a good indicator of future dominance behaviour. Through play is it easy to identify which individuals will be more dominant or more submissive as adults.
It is during the final stage of the Socialisation period (from eight weeks of age) that the puppy will leave his litter and begin life with his new human family. As responsible dog owners we take over from the mother and littermates to provide a social outlet for the puppy. He relies on us to introduce him to a myriad of new sights, smells and sounds (be it the vacuum cleaner, bearded Uncle Bob, or the cat next door) to help him cope less fearfully with the outside world.
Conclusion
In the course of twelve weeks a puppy evolves from a ‘wriggling ball of fluff’ into a ‘pint-sized pooch’ with a good deal of the physical, mental and social characteristics of a full grown adult dog. That’s a lot to fit into such a small amount of time. It is these initial twelve weeks - the Neonatal, Transitional and Socialisation periods - that form the major foundation for his ongoing development and will underpin his behaviour as an adult.
Works Cited
(1) The Dog’s Mind, ch.6, p.69 (Fogel, Bruce 1990)
(2) The Dog’s Mind, ch.6, p.70 (Fogel, Bruce 1990)
(3) Introduction to Canine Psychology Unit 3, Course Notes, p 2
(4) The Dog’s Mind, ch.6, p.71 (Fogel, Bruce 1990)
(5) The Dog’s Mind, ch.6, p.74-75 (Fogel, Bruce 1990)
(6) The Dog’s Mind, ch.6, p.76 (Fogel, Bruce 1990)
(7) The Dog’s Mind, ch.6, p.76 (Fogel, Bruce 1990)
(8) Introduction to Canine Psychology Unit 3, Course Notes, p 3
(9) The Dog’s Mind, ch.6, p.89 (Fogel, Bruce 1990)
(10) Puppies For Dummies, ch.14, p.209 (Hodgson, Sarah 2006)
(11) The Dog’s Mind, ch.6, p.81 (Fogel, Bruce 1990)
(12) The Dog’s Mind, ch.6, p.83 (Fogel, Bruce 1990)
Bibliography
Puppies For Dummies (Hodgson, Sarah 2006)
Puppy Behaviour and Training (Heath, Sarah 2005)
The Dog’s Mind (Fogel, Bruce 1990)
The Culture Clash (Donaldson, Jean 2005)
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