Hi, I was wondering, is it possible to compare a dog who left his/her mother too soon ( before 8 weeks) and a lab whose mother became ill and has been raised by humans ( breeder) but in his/ her litter with brothers and sisters but without other dogs? To me it seems that Finn doesn't understand the dog language. Annemarie
I don't have any personal experience of this, I would imagine that although there is some Genetic predisposition to doggy like behaviours, I think a lot of it must be attributed to nurture rather than nature as well. Like baby humans raised by wolves would have wolf like behaviours? I don't think it maybe necessarily a BAD thing though. Does Finn spend any time with other adult dogs? Xx
Yes, Finn has an older "brother" Euan. Also a yellow lab. He is almost 10 years old, but at this moment not doing very well. Euan is not well lately, and we don't know what the future will bring. When Finn came into our house Euan found him rather "wild" and didn't want to have to do anything with him. We socialized him directly with other dogs from different ages and "brands"..... But when I see my sisters dogs ( Doberman) who recently had a litter, and what he has missed out on, I think that he missed too much, also in communication with and towards other dogs. Annemarie
Why do you think he doesn't understand 'dog language'? There are somethings that a puppy will learn from mum and littermates, other things they won't. They won't learn how to meet and greet a strange dog for example, as that kind of scenario doesn't really arise in a litter of puppies. But they will start to learn things like bite inhibition and how to play in an acceptable way with other dogs, but this is just the start of it, it gives them a firm foundation. Actually then learning to play well with a large range of adult, possibly strange, dogs is something else. I think a sound upbringing, staying with mum and littermates, probably gives a dog the right kind of start which has to be carried out throughout puppyhood and the teenage months (and even forever, really).
An interesting question. puppies not leaving the litter until 8 weeks is quite a recent change of practice. I know when I collected my last puppy (back in the 1990s) the norm was for them to leave at 7 weeks of age. I do believe though that some dogs read body language better than others but I'm not sure that leaving a litter at 7 weeks rather than at 8 weeks would have a significant impact unless they have been deprived of both mum and litter mates from a much earlier age., but then again some dogs would still be fine reading body language. Although Euan may not have been keen to accept Finn initially, not all dogs like puppies, they have been living together amicably so they must have come to understand each others signals. A book called "On talking terms with dogs: Calming Signals" by Turid Rugaas is very interesting in how dogs communicate with each other and how you can help them.
Unfortunately Homer's mum became very ill when her pups were about 4 weeks old. The owners took the litter of pups across the county so they could be with their daughters dog, the puppies grandma. His grandmother certainly took no nonsense from the little mites. I am forever thankful that they made such a brave decision for the puppies social welfare.
Finn was with his mother for 1 week. His mother became also very ill and wasn't allowed to breastfeed the puppies. So the breeder bottle fed them all 8 puppies. There were other dogs in the house, and granny, but granny didn't want to look after them.... In my opinion, I think that the reason why Finn is such a frightened dog who is afraid of almost anything has to do with this! When he arrived in our home we have socialized him directly, also to noises and other things you can be thinking of. His big brother Euan let him play with him, but never corrected him. Finn was allowed to do anything. That's why we let him go out after he got his vaccinations and walk with a dog walking company. The woman is also a behavioral therapist and we started directly his education on a one to one basis. I also went to a group training dogs for puppy training. But nevertheless he is still having behavioral problems and anxiety problems.... Annemarie
I would have thought that it is possible this had a big effect - although it was an advantage that Finn was still with his littermates, I've read that this is much preferable than not staying in a litter. It is also possible though that a degree of his nervousness has been inherited. Or it's a combination of both. In any event, regardless of the cause, it's how he is coping now that matters. Have you tried any desensitisaton programmes, or seen anyone that might help you with such things?
Yes, my dog walker who is also walking Finn and know what he does and don't is going to practice with us. We had to postpone it though as a cause of my stay in hospital for a week and our vacation for two weeks. So next week we will start the courses. My brother in law is also a behavioral therapist. He says it is a combination of factors. Finn has inherited and his false start in life. We had him neutered and to be honest I think that didn't help him either and made things worse. My husband is so fed up with his behavior that he want to try an electric devise. I am so against this and won't let that happen!!! It was already against my will to neuter him. I love him so much and am going to work with him. I already started the basics with great success, even my husband had to admit this. Now my husband is following my rules towards him, and even Euan profits from it!
So glad that you aren't using an electic shock collar they don't work amd can make fearful dogs a lot worse.
