When training pups we should provide experience that builds drives we want, encourages the formation of desirable character traits, and that develops key skills sets.

I believe that by the time a pup is 12 weeks old she should have been introduced to the key components of her life’s calling. Hunting retrievers should be marking and handling in some fashion by this time. The Schutzhund sport dog or working police dog candidate should be tracking, doing obedience and some little form of bite work by the end of this period. Puppies destined to be Detection dogs should be finding target odor by twelve weeks.

 Since Pfaffenberger popularized the information on the critical periods in the development of pups with his book "The New Knowledge of Dog Behavior" the importance of socializing pups is widely understood.

However, I think the importance of introducing a pup to her life work during the early socialization period is not fully understood.

 In Puppy Training What we present, When we present it and How we present it are all very important. The same considerations are true in all training but are critical when training pups because the time period is so short and because what we do makes an indelible impression on the dog. Puppy training sets the stage for the dog’s life.

Do we really need to train puppies?

Lots of dogs are trained successfully that have not benefited from early training. But I believe that on the individual level each dog is going to turn out better for the early start and on a group level more dogs will turn out to do the work they were bred and trained for with the advantage of the early training. 

Prove it

When discussing dog training I believe personal experience is important, the most interesting theory doesn’t mean a thing if you cannot demonstrate positive benefit in real training with real dogs. So, from time to time I will be sharing video and "how to" stories about puppy training.

However, I do not want personal experience to be the main focus of this series. I plan to present some research on puppies and general research on brain development in mammals and on learning theory to support a comprehensive approach to early puppy training.

Build drives, form desirable character traits, develop key skill sets. Sounds like a lot for a puppy program.