Hallson Gardens

Debbie (TQ) asked me about imprinting puppies in another post. My big mouth has a habit off (unintentially ) hijacking posts so I'm going to move this here.
Debbie, imprinting is probably not the word I should have used. Hardwiring for stress would be better. While the pups are between 3 and 16 days old, many working dog breeders put the pups through mild stress for 3-5 seconds per exercise, once a day. Cold, held upside down, etc. What this does is program the pup to withstand the normal stresses of life much easier. this was developed by the U.S. Army Canine Corps. My working dog Thunder was put through these "stress periods" as a tiny pup. A lot has to do with his breeding and upbringing, but I have yet to find anything that stresses him. He's been in helicopters, small planes, all kinds of boats, all kinds of loud noises, Hes' played ball right in front of a firetruck with the sirens and horn going off, gunfire, I've rappelled with him, etc. Nothing bothers him.
A better explination can be found at http:www.breedingbetterdogs.com/achiever.html
Hope I got that right.

Wow! I've never heard of doing that, OED! You learn something everyday. Thanks for the explanation.

Interesting! You'd think doing that would make them more 'excitable'? if that's a word LOL Maybe that's why some kids are fearless, b/c of the fathers that carried like them like footballs, threw them up in the air and such J/k of course, but it's a thought.

oed, so if we got a puppy i should hold it upside down? Or by the time we would be able to adopt a puppy would it be too old? I guess that gets it use to the unexpected so it doesn't freak out when something different happens around it? I know it is important to socialize a puppy, something poor Bijoux never got, but I didn't know about stressing them a bit. Very interesting. Thank you for explaining that to me!

Debbie

Jane, although I think it can have some effect, I tossed all three of my kids around like a football yet they turned out with three totally different personalities.
Debbie, this is for newborn to 16 day old pups. It used to be believed that nothing affected a puppy till aprox 21 days old. 7-8 weeks is the ideal time to get a new pup for a pet family. From birth till aprox 4 months old there is so much that a pup can learn it's stagering. A puppy that has limited contact with people (puppy mill and pet shop dogs) till they are 16 wks old, have slim chance of being normal. The thought today is that 7wk old pup has all the brain capacity as an adult. It's just a matter of expieriences. Temperment is genetic, for the most part, but can be molded, to a point, with the right upbringing and socializing.

I may be sticking my neck out here Debbie, but early stresses such as those that OED is discussing are best left to knowledgeable breeders, IMHO. Because they must be done at such an early age (3 to 16 days), any puppy that you get would be much older (7 weeks or more) and past the age that it would benefit his development. Read the article that OED referenced (here's a hot link: http://www.breedingbetterdogs.com/achiever.html). Please note that irreversable damage can be done to the puppies if the stresses are done incorrectly (too long, too often, etc). Lets leave it to the breeders, eh?

Socializing dogs is always a good idea, not just for puppies, and you can certainly benefit your dog in many ways by giving him new things to think about and do. The broader their horizons, the more self-confident they are, the more they can cope with unusual situations, the more reliable they are...it all ties together.

OED, I've been to a couple of Dr. Battaglia's lectures (even have an autographed book around here somewhere ). He is simply fascinating and sticks around to answer every single little question anyone has at the end. As you can imagine with any group of dog folks, there are always lots of questions!

Thanks oed for the info. Janet, I'm not planning on getting another dog any time soon, but just wanted to know, well just in case we ever do.

Debbie

Thanks Janet, you splaned it much better than I did . I'd love to see one of his seminars.
I got an update on Thunders littermates tonight at the Schutzhund club. Good breeding and good upbringing has produced 1 SAR/Schutzhund dog (Thunder). One Schutzhund sport dog in Kansas city area. One PSD K9 in Utah. One Certified drug dog in Hawaii, and one AKC obedience dog that has his CD already with an average score of 196. Not bad from a litter of 8. Thunders mother will be bred again this summer to a dog that should produce some AWESOME,working pups. These pups will probably go to serious, expierienced handlers only. Thunders mom is entered in the WDA Schutzhund nationals in April. She's taken first place in the last three trials she's entered.

I tried hardwiring the new puppies today, they just laid upsidedown with no fighting it. But peed on me as soon as I turned them backside up!! Ha!! I don't think they are too stressed! Ha!
Bonnie

Bonnie, but read EVERYTHING in that article. As Janet said, it can cause more stress if not done by the book. Super Dog Shitzoo dogs!