Information – Enrichment
You’re probably familiar with much of this, but hopefully you’ll find at least some of it useful. If these notes seem overwhelming simply start with the more important items that you can handle today (and what you can do will probably be enough!) and in time you’ll add more and more as you grow in the skills of dog ownership!
Enrichment – why do so few puppies grow into truly outstanding dogs?
Most puppies are so fun and loving when you visit different litters to select your new pal, but not all turn out the way you’d want. Why?
Well, at eight weeks they’re only in puppy mode more interested in play than in expressing opinions or full of bad habits. This changes when adolescent & adult behaviors kicked in. And of course, owners matter. Those are all obvious.
Less obvious is that the first eight weeks matter in ways you can’t see till much later. The lifetime consequences of how the puppy is started can’t be overstated.
Puppies rapidly go through a number of preparatory and developmental stages as their brains develop and various abilities come online in their first weeks. While some of this is immediately visible, some are structures that won’t be used till adolescence or adulthood.
Puppihood is a short phase. A new dog will appear between six and nine months when adolescence begins, and again between two and three years as adulthood begins and the final dog emerges. Most of this later development builds on foundations laid in the first couple months of puppihood.
The owner’s input is also huge, but from conception through the early formative periods, the deck is heavily stacked either in favor of or against your puppy growing into a smart, happy, confident, trustworthy, outgoing, people-loving, playful and well-mannered dog.
If you get a cute, sweet puppy and it can’t be potty trained or goes bonkers when you leave the house, or barks crazily at most dogs or people or is afraid of its shadow or is really slow on the uptake, it probably isn’t all your fault. Especially if you’ve done your part in raising it.
Stony Lonesome GSD (SL) works to produce top-tier pet GSDs using love, science, common sense and lots of elbow-grease. We start by keeping all our dogs as loved and loving house pets, in an enriched and fulfilling environment.
Next, we breed and start a couple of litters per year, using our protocol drawn from different experts, our network and from many years of experience. We put over 200 hours of attention and skill into enriching each litter and its individual puppies. That’s in addition to all the hours of caring for the basic needs of the litter, the mother and our other adults. Whew!
Of course we start all of our litters in our kitchen and family room, so that when an SL pup goes home, all it’s ever known is being at the center of an active, loving home, just like yours.
For the litter and for each puppy, every week from conception through eight weeks of age is carefully scripted to take full advantage of the phases that a pup goes through in its rapid development.
For example, dendrites are added or pruned, starting at three days of age, by seven weeks loud sounds will either be a source of fear or are conditioned to be a curiosity to be investigated, and by eight weeks the foundations will have been laid for a soft mouth to develop or not.
The litter’s environment is also crafted to take full advantage of opportunities to enrich, and to develop mentally and physically. Even details about the litter’s nutrition serves long term goals.
The Enrichment Window
The enrichment window is the period during which a puppy quickly learns to accept new experiences from a single or a very few exposures. The more positive unique experiences a puppy has during this period the better it will handle future stresses and the more open it will remain to new experiences. Enriched puppies become much more stable and creative adults. You’ll still want to keep actively exposing your dog as broadly as possible throughout its life, but the first 4 months are a speed-learning opportunity that won’t repeat.
* Enriched pups are smarter – there’s a measurable difference in brain size from age-appropriate challenges and stimulation.
* From whelping to 8 weeks, SL GSD works heavily during this period with entire litters and with individual puppies.
The enrichment window is generally open through week 14 or 16 weeks for enriched pups, but only through week 12 for non-enriched pups.. Owners can still take advantage of this wonderful training period to improve their dog’s confidence, curiosity, and problem handling. Suggestions for the owners:
* Meet as many different guaranteed friendly dogs as possible. Dogs don’t generalize well, so try to meet dogs of different ages, sizes, coats, colors, with different ear types, etc. For example, you could carry a small puppy around at a dog show, keeping enough distance to prevent fear, and expose your pup to the world of dogs!
* Meet as many different guaranteed friendly people as possible. Aim for different shapes, sizes & ages – especially children, clothing styles, etc. Again, dogs don’t generalize well. Expose to people with backpacks, hats, etc.
* Accustom pup to things you’ll do with him as an adult: hiking, water play, travel, learning tricks, going shopping, agility equipment, different areas of competition or working, weekend travel, meet family friends, etc.
* Caution: if you’re not completely confident in an outcome, safety first. A single negative weighs a whole lot more than a single positive. Give dodgy dogs and people a miss. We’ve seen adult dogs be friendly until the puppy is a foot away and then viciously lunge at the pup. Of course the owner either denies what just happened or says “oh, my dog was just teaching your puppy manners.” Keep your puppy safe.
* Variety – build their confidence in as many ways as you can: obstacles such as hopping up on a curb or a low rock or walking a narrow wall, ramps, jumps, barriers to crawl under, sniff walks, seeing the world, walks on different surfaces and in different places, human & canine socialization with guaranteed friendly people, tricks, games such as “tug” or “find” someone or a toy or a treat hidden in the house or outside, meet livestock (hold the pup till you’re sure it’s going to go well), etc. Even eating from different bowls in different places or with kibble scattered on the patio breaks down rigid expectations. Build a sense of “almost anything could happen, and it’s probably fun!” in your dog.
See also Exercise & Play
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