PSST, WANNA HAVE A BETTER PUPPY ?

In the forever elusive quest of producing a great puppy, one often forgets the basics. No, I am not talking about genetics, pedigrees or which sire would be appropriate for which bitch. I am speaking about what happens after the puppies are born.

More than likely, after the puppies are born, every self respecting breeder knows what to do to keep them fed, happy and content. Most even know about the importance of socializing the puppies. However, most confuse the word Socializing with Exposure to the outside world (undeniably an important part) and with the fear of the "P" word looming in the horizon (Parvo), shelter their precious progeny at what most expert consider one the most crucial time in their life.

Lets look at some given points that I believe we can all agree with. The puppies will learn a lot from their mother. Now, if you wish to breed that amazing OTCH/BISS/BIS Champion, that puppy will need more than just good looks. It will need confidence, attitude and adaptability. If the mother is a shy and/or aggressive bitch, guess what the puppies will learn ? If you are breeding a bitch whose tendencies can be detrimental to the personality development of the puppies, wean them as early as you can and raise them yourself and/or with other confident friendly dogs.

Now that the mother part is taken care of (kind of), lets look at the puppies themselves. No one knows their personality better than you because no one has spent as many hours as you do by the whelping box looking them over and over again. If you have a puppy who is consistently bullied by the others, place it or segregate it no later than 7 weeks of age. That way, you will allow it to blossom without becoming a submissive dog.

If you do not have children around that you trust in playing with the puppies, the least you can do is play a tape of kids playing and babies crying in order to desensitize the puppies to this unusual sound.

In the event the puppies are raised in a whelping room segregated from the rest of the house, tape yourself in the kitchen one day. Make sure to bang the pots, run the vacuum, the disposal and so on. Then play it back to the puppies at low volume at first when they eat ( they will associate the sound with something pleasant) then louder and louder at different times. I have been known to fire firecrackers at some distance from the whelping room in order to get them used to gun shots and thunder type sound. Very useful during thunder storm or if you plan on doing schutzhund with the puppies.

Another important thing is to accustom them to different things they may encounter in their new homes such as stairs, grass, gravel, sand and so on. If you live in a one story house, just go out and buy four concrete blocks. Place three of them side by side then the fourth one on top and voila! The puppies have their own stairs in their play area. You can also buy a couple bags of gravel or sand or whatever you do not have and place it in their play area. It is also easy to get them used to tunnels ( important if you wish to compete in agility) by using a large PVC pipe fitting. You can leave it straight at first then add a turn to it. It is easy to entice the puppies to enter it by tossing a few treats in. Later you may cover one side with a towel. By then the puppies will not be afraid anymore and will run in the "tunnel " and through the towel confidently.

Of course no discussion of puppy temperament would be complete with out mentioning the book The Art of Raising a Puppy by the Monks of New Skete. Although I do not advocate their training methods, their chapter on puppy development and testing are extremely valuable.

One of the most disturbing problems facing our breed is the question one gets from the general public which invariably ask about the temperament of our dogs. It always amuses me when I bring Mobster, or one of my other dogs, during therapy or education work and have a student or teacher ask me, while being duly licked from ear to ear, as to what kind of dog he is. When the answer comes, they seem very surprised that they are still alive. It is up to us, the fanciers, to do an even better job at raising our puppies.

Insist that your puppy buyers attend a puppy kindergarten where puppies socialize with other dogs and people. I have been teaching such a class for more than 3 years. As I am known in this area a rottweiler fancier, I tend to have a lot of them in my classes. I have probably had more than thirty rotty puppies go through my school, aged between 12 and 16 weeks when the class start, and to this day, I have not had any problems (Knock on wood). Could some of us, with the honorable intention of protecting our dogs, actually create a bigger problem by never exposing their immune system to the outside world. Do not excuse a dog or bitch temperament. If they are not up to the accepted standard of our society, do not sell them to novice owners and DEFINITELY do not breed them. The day is around the corner when we will face being legalized out of existence.

So as you can see, it only takes a limited budget and a little imagination to come up with a lot of things to enhance the puppies chances at being well adapted members of the society. Of course, exposure to other people is crucial and should be done as soon as possible.

Last but not least after you have selected the puppy (ies) who will be staying with you, it would be very beneficial for them to be placed with a trusted friend for three to four weeks when they are 4 to 6 months old. It allows for them to realize that there is a world beyond your house, and that they do not need you and their mother to survive. Often staying with their mother pushes them for a long time in a subservient, subordinate position, and impacts their attitude. I do stress here the need for them to be with someone who will allow them to grow and not stifle them. If done right, it will be a tremendous confidence builder for your puppy and will tremendously increase its chances at being a well adapted competitive, friendly dog.

Now just go out there and socialize.