Information – The Sensitive Period

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!

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Callie is so smart! She already knows sit, come, follow and her name. Is this just how German Shepherds are? Maybe I’ve just had difficult dog breeds in the past. Haha. Even the face that she had really never been outside on the ground before, much less in snow, and not much leash experience surprises me, because she took to those things like she had been doing them all along. She doesn’t mind the leash at all. She is doing great with the kids.

- Ashleigh, Indiana

Vet gave Cheyenne 2 thumbs up for health and the entire office gushed over her temperament. She slept right through getting her shots and even just laid there while they checked her teeth, eyes, etc.

- Brent R. from Illinois
The Sensitive Period (Including “Fear Periods”)

* Through week 16 or so puppies have a lot to learn. They are built to learn what is safe and what is scary very rapidly, often in a few or even a single exposure. 

* In general, before week 6 for most breeds, and before week 5 for GSDs, puppies don’t have much of a sense of fear – this is a golden opportunity for the breeder to start a puppy on the track of being stable, curious and creative throughout its life.

* Puppies go through different periods. They may suddenly be afraid of nothing that we can see, or of surprises or of things they weren’t afraid of an hour ago. These periods can have lasting effects.

* Be alert with your new puppy – fear periods can vary somewhat by breed and by a lot by individual so it’s best to watch your puppy’s/dog’s responses and be aware of when they’re uncertain about something. Train yourself to see puppy fear/hesitancy by watching their eyes and ears and tail, and watch for the puppy suddenly being afraid of things that used to not frighten him, and not getting over the fear within a few seconds. Let them retreat when they’re uncertain or afraid. We sometimes see a fear period around four and five weeks, and sometimes between eight and ten weeks. There can be additional fear periods till the dog is two years old, but by three-years-old dogs should be more unflappable.

* “Fear Periods” can last minutes or days or a week, can be more or less severe, and a single experience can bias the puppy to be fearful of a certain thing or situation for life (“Single Event Learning”).

* It’s usually a good idea to not push a puppy to do something it’s afraid of – the learning is in the puppy making its own decion to engage, which may take seconds or minutes or repeated exposure across days. Don’t put your thumb on the scale by coaxing the puppy, it has to be its own decision, but once it chooses to engage, shower the puppy with verbal praise! Brave puppy! It’s common that a puppy will shrink back from something and want to just watch for a while from a safe place. Usually after a little while the puppy will either engage or will go off in a different direction, which is fine. There’s no need to rush new experiences for dogs of any age. Across time its natural curiosity may well draw it to the experience. And all the while it’ll be checking your body language for any tension, which it will interpret as you being afraid too. As an example, forcing a small or young dog to play with rough dogs may cause it to resort to “fight or flight” in future situations. Instead, build the dog’s confidence and decision-making skills by patiently offering them choices, rather than deciding for them with your superior strength.

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