Problem:
Right age to leave the nest
Dear
Shannon
A
while ago, I listened to a discussion where it was suggested
that puppies should go to their new homes at 6 weeks
of age to optimise their socialising and adaptation
to their family.
I
know that puppies go through many development phases,
and had understood from behaviourists that 7 - 8 weeks
was the best time to separate from the litter to attach
to the new pack. I was under the impression that at
6 weeks puppies experience a fearful and insecure phase.
As
a breeder I want my pups to have the best start possible
in their new homes. Leaving aside the possible conflicts
between vaccination schedules and socialising and bonding
issues, at what age do you advise the puppies go?
regards
Concerned Breeder
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Dear
Concerned Breeder,
The
topic of the optimum age for a pup to leave for his
new home is one that is guaranteed to get a range of
answers and heated debate. Unfortunately too many breeders
rely on anecdotal advice from their mentors, untested
experience or they simply do so because "that's
what everybody does".
The
breeder has the task of letting the pup go when "he
is enough of a dog to be a dog, but not too much of
a dog to be a pet". In other words, the pup needs
to be well skilled at living in a peer group, but not
to the extent that it hinders his bond with people.
BLANKET
AGE
It is very difficult (if not impossible) to give a blanket
rule in respect of the exact age for homing. One of
the reasons is difference in the mental and physical
development of individual puppies.
In
an article written by Dr. Ed Bailey (related to the
homing of Gundogs at 7 weeks of age) he states: "One
finding extremely important to the mystical (mythical?)
49 days time frame was that pups in a single litter
could vary in developmental age by a week in each direction
though all are born within a few hours. This developmental
variation arises from several sources- conception can
vary two to three days due to superfetation*, delay
in implantation of fertilized ova in the uterus may
be another two to three days, location in the uterine
horn, blood supply to the various embryos, developmental
arrests or speedups, differential delay in parturition
all can contribute to developmental variability. There
is also differential post partum development especially
during the first few weeks. This means that by the time
the pup reaches 49 days since birth, it can be anywhere
between 42 and 56 days old developmentally relative
to all other pups in the total population of pups whelped
on the same day, even to pups in the same litter. And
it is the neural, physiological and physical development,
not the exact chronological age, not minutes elapsed
since popping into the cold, cruel world that is important
in the behavioral stability or lack of it in pups and
later when the pups reach adult status."1
From
this one can surmise that each puppy in the litter should
be individually assessed prior to determining a homing
age.
As
you will see later, even with vast developmental lags,
the age of 10 weeks is a fairly safe bet with regard
to relevant completed behavioural stages.
FEAR PERIOD
Another aspect to consider is the fear period that you
refer to. Let's refer to studies done on the phenomenon
of the fear period in puppies:
Freedman,
King, Elliott, 1961, in Scott and Fuller, 1965: Puppies
raised in a semi-open environment in (nearly) complete
isolation from humans** reacted differently towards
an active unfamiliar observer depending on their age.
Each puppy was taken from the surrounding in which it
was raised, placed in contact with humans for one week,
and again tested. Fear in the presence of a human that
handled him decreased from 3 to 5 weeks, was minimal
at 5 weeks, then increased again afterwards. Recovery
(improvement or disappearance of fear) after a week
of interaction-socialisation was more efficient at 3
weeks; it was roughly the same at 5, 7 and 9 weeks.
Scott
and Fuller, 1965: A puppy - raised in the same type
of surroundings - was placed 10 minutes a day with a
passive observer, calmly sitting in the room and paying
no attention to the dog. At 3 to 5 weeks, the puppy
investigated the observer openly. At 7 weeks, it took
2 days before it investigated (2 10-minute sessions).
At 9 weeks this took 3 days and at 14 weeks it no longer
investigated the observer.
Dehasse
summarises: "Puppies demonstrate an investigation-attraction
behaviour towards the unfamiliar as soon as they are
able to express this attraction at 3±½
weeks. This attraction subsides in an almost linear
manner after the 5th week until at least 9 weeks. The
attraction recedes under the influence of fear of the
unknown behaviour, which grows after 5 weeks; the puppy
"recovers" from its initial fearful reaction
instantaneously from 3 to 5 weeks (investigation behavior
effect), and then it remains wary for longer periods
as it grows older. At 12 weeks socialisation requires
active manipulation (mimicking play-fights), at 14 weeks
socialisation seems to be impossible."2
Bailey
adds: "The last half of the socialisation period
is marked by the development of fear responses starting
in the 5th week, then escalating rapidly through the
7th week to a peak at 9 weeks, then levels off in the
10th week where it remains for the dog's life. In general
anything associated with fear during weeks 7 through
9 in the non-socialised dog** remains a fearful stimulus
for life unless changed by systematic desensitising.
Fear of aversive stimuli occurring for the first time
during this period such as harsh punishment, isolation,
or any strong fear-inducing stimulus, can result in
extremes in behavior, abnormal fearfulness, difficulty
in training or anti-social behavior as an adult."1
It
would thus make sense to keep the pup's routine as stable
as possible during the fear period (starting at 7 weeks)
and to home pups once this period is complete i.e. 10
weeks onwards.
SPECIES VS PEOPLE BONDING
The pup's optimal time for species identification is
3 weeks to 14-16 weeks2. In this time the pups learn
an incredible amount with regard to canine communication
and pack skills. During this stage puppies also learn
bite inhibition as well as gross motor and fine motor
control.
However
if pups are homed after this period, they may well have
trouble in bonding with people as the domestication
phase is said to run from 3 weeks to 12 weeks2.
Based
purely on the rule of averages it would thus appear
that somewhere in the middle would be a sensible choice.
This would put us at the age of 9-10 weeks.
APPEASEMENT SKILLS
In 1965, Scott and Fuller, demonstrated that a puppy
yaps and rolls over on its back and then learns to keep
away from its mother's teats during the weaning process.
An aggression-inhibition relationship hierarchisation
is then established between the mother and puppy for
access to the mother's teats.
This
attitude is extended towards other mother-young conflicts
and adopted in the presence of other adults, as shown
by Dehasse: "In a husky breeding station the presence
of the mother beyond the 5th week led to her puppy's
spontaneous submission to the adults of the pack. In
another station the mother was taken from the breeding
kennel when her puppies were 5 weeks old; these puppies
were not submissive to adults when they were first placed
with the rest of the group at 12 to 16 weeks. They did
not use the submissive posture (rolling over) thus the
ritual was not acquired." 2
The
presence of the mother is thus vital for the development
of appeasement-submission rituals. It goes without saying
that the puppy should be entirely weaned and should
be well skilled at displaying the correct appeasement
rituals long before homing is even considered. Breeders
who force wean puppies (in order for the bitch to retain
a tidy undercarriage for the showring) and thus never
allow the puppies to learn appeasement-submission rituals
do a terribly disservice to the puppies and puppy buyers
alike.
Most
bitches left to their own devices would have weaned
their pups entirely by 8 weeks. Homing at 10 weeks would
give the pups ample time to practice and refine the
appeasement-submission rituals, thereby endowing them
with better social skills.
CONCLUSION
Based on the above data it would thus seem scientifically
valid to home puppies at 10 weeks of age. At this age
they should be well prepared to integrate into another
pack as well as still have time to effectively bond
with their owners (the breeder's constructive presence
from the age of 3 weeks has in effect already ensured
that the pups will bond with people per se).
The
caveat would be if the pup were in a sterile environment,
devoid of human or canine contact or appropriate sensory
stimulation. In this instance he would be better off
being homed as soon as he is weaned into an environment
where he can acquire these proficiencies and practice
his social skills.
I
suppose that one could argue that if a dog is to be
a pet with no contact with other dogs, then perhaps
6 weeks would be a appropriate time for homing, as this
would allow a further 6 weeks within the domestication
phase. However I would argue that many inter-canine
skills carry over onto how our dogs communicate and
interact with us. Denying a puppy the opportunity to
develop an effective canine communication repertoire
could thus hinder his ability to communicate and interact
with humans.
*Superfetation
is the fertilisation and subsequent development of an
ovum when a fetus is already present in the uterus,
yielding fetuses of different ages. This is not to be
confused with the common misconception that pups are
conceived on the days of the different matings. The
ova are only released after the bitch normally disallows
mating, so it is not feasible that some puppies can
be conceived on the first mating and some puppies conceived
on the second mating. Superfetation refers to an ovum
being released and fertilised once fetuses are already
present i.e. during gestation. However there is dispute
over whether this can or does occur in dogs.
**It
must be remembered that these researchers refer to pups
that are unsocialised i.e. no or very little human contact.
A typical breeder's pups will no doubt have human contact,
so the propensity for severe behavioural problems if
the pup is homed during the fear period is greatly reduced
as the pups would probably already have established
an attraction toward people.
Regards
Shannon
References:
1. Why Not Seven Weeks? The Forty-Ninth Day Revisited
(Gun Dog 13:5. Apr/May 1994) Dr. Ed Bailey
2. Sensory, Emotional and Social Development of the
Young Dog (Version 1.1 - 6 Feb. 97 - 26 Nov. 2001) Dr.
Joël Dehasse