49 Day Litter Assessments - Page 2

Justcurious,

Thanks for your detailed response.  It has given me much to think about.  In short, testing at least once (say the 49 day mark) may give you some evidence of which pups will be the best genetically to continue breeding for working success, but socialisation and interaction are essential for the complete package in one animal.

The observation of trauma in the fourth week of life, affecting nervousness in the adult, has just given me some food for thought about an incident which happened in one of our own  litters.  The dam developed mild mastitis and became understandably tetchy with the pups.  She gave an inhibited bite to one of the litter, which could have been more 'inhibited' shall we say.  The injured pup, recovered, and appeared to be completely normal physically, but temperamentally, she was aloof and found working in unfamiliar areas difficult.  Perhaps this temperamental trait could have been caused by the harsh treatment of her dam, but equally it could have been there all the time, and could have been identified if I had tested the litter.

I have a fascination for the many aspects of behaviour, and am keen to take on board any useful ideas and research.

Very interesting.  I have a pup who will be 14 weeks old tomorrow.  Her breeder did a great job socializing the litter.  They had to be taken away from the mom at 5 weeks and bottle fed due to an infection the dam had.  The pups seem very confident but today while going into Pet Smart, my pup got scared of the automatic doors when they opened.  I have her 1/2 older sister and have NEVER noticed any fear stage in her EVER.  I got her at 4 months old.  She is rock hard unshakable.  They have the same dam but obviously not the same experiences.  I got this pup at 8 weeks old.  

Any suggestions on helping her to over come this besides exposing her to as many surfaces, people, animals and places I can?  This was her first visit to Pet Smart.  She travels to training at least 2 times a week with the other dogs.  She has limited play time around and/or with small & big dogs, cats and a bird at home.  She comes to work with me and recieves 3 short obedience play sessions while outside going potty at least 3 days a week.  Otherwise she is crated behind my chair with a few toys.  I planned to start leaving her at home soon, building her bladder control. :o)  I have just started to introduce her to cadaver scent on stuffed toys, balls & tugs at training this past week.

Teri           

Perception Modification might be an excellent tool for you with this pup.  Here's how Kacey Cover of www.synalia.com defines it:

"Perception Modification is a process of changing an animal’s perception, in any desired direction. In the examples shown, fear is translated to confidence, in pigs volunteering to have blood drawn, and a crab getting into a net on request. This process is based on a model of animals working for internal reinforcers, probably neurotransmitters such as dopamine and norepinephrine. By teaching them to access balancing neurotransmitters, such as GABA and serotonin, animals can leave habits of self-adrenalization behind. Best of all, dramatic results can occur in a single training session. Animals do not just cooperate, they compete to cooperate. The process involves a number of tools such as: the IB, conditioned relaxation, vocabulary, and cycles. For training details (short instructions), see: http://www.synalia.com/animal_training_animal_emotion.htm, or write kc@synalia.com, for detailed instructions (see also appendix 2)"

You can find the rest of this document at http://www.aza.org/AZAPublications/2004Proceedings/ it's near the bottom entitled Training Innovations that Save Time, Animals and Money Kayce Cover, President, SATS   She also has a couple of email groups that can help walk you through the learning process.