Imprinting a Litter - Page 1

I have a litter (3 males, 1 female) that is 10 days old. I know that early imprinting is important and I have been doing my normal litter work since birth with mine. However I want to hear from several different people their definition and schedule for early imprinting for puppies (lets say for schutzhund and/or Mondio). Thank you in advance!

Having only bred one litter in my more than 40 years in the breed (and a quick glance at recent topics should explain why I have no interest in doing so ever again), I am no expert in early neurological stimulation but this program seems to have had some succes: http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/breeding/ensp.htm  I did this with my pups...I figure it can't hurt.

   I will defer to the experts in the program that Keith has referred to but I would be very, very careful about lowering a neonatal pup's body temperature. The mother seems to be able to place enough stress on the pups by herself.      How you interact with the pups will make a difference that can last a lifetime. You can reinforce certain behaviours such as jumping and whining by rewarding with attention. It would not hurt to handle them while they are eating without distracting them. You can enhance their prey drive instinct by chasing objects, many a breeder has kept a pup and did nothing with them but let the pups mother domineer them as they grew older and were disappointed when they could do nothing with them. Don't chase the pups, let them chase you.   Good subject I am curious as to what others will post.

I would ask Melinda at Vom Gildaf Kennels.  She does that supedog imprinting that the military does.  I think this article talks about it:

http://breedingbetterdogs.com/pdfFiles/articles/early_neurological_stimulation_en.pdf

That's the same imprinting I linked to, hunger.

Great minds think alike, Keith...!

The link Keith posted is very good information, having said that I would have liked to have seen more emphasis on “Caution”.
 
Make Haste… Slowly
 
 Raising any puppy, let alone a working dog puppy takes patience and experience, a lot of people will tell you how important it is to”watch your dog/pup”.
 
“Pushing/Challenging a Pup”…. without damaging it, requires a lot of patience and attention to the strengths and weaknesse’s of the individual pup.
 
Very few understand it or practice it, you cannot successfully raise a working dog puppy by simply reading an article, and or asking questions on a Forum.
 
Reading articles and asking questions from experienced people is a good start, I would suggest finding an Experienced Trainer in your area and enlist their help.
 
Sent you an e-mail with some videos which I hope will assist you.
 

Merry Christmas


Kim

More helpful information for you;

http://www.mush-puppies.com/puppydevelopment.pdf


Kim

I have raised many litters. I do employ the biosensor program with my puppies. Once they are ambulatory and ears open, I drop metal dishes, play various noises like gunshots, etc, on my computer (whelping/playpen is right next to my computer in my office), from birth I make sure every blanket change is a different texture, I make sure my son handles them (supervised),  Once they are able to walk at 4-5 weeks old, they are taken outside and encouraged to chase me accross grass, dirt, concrete, wood (porch) gravel, any surface I can find. They are supplied with different toys in different sizes, textures, sounds. They are given rags to tug with each other. I have friends come over with their children to feed and handle the puppies. By 6-7 weeks I take them in the woods near my house and let them follow me and the other dogs on very short walks over sticks, through tall grass, soft/hard ground, mud, etc.

However I have never had access to obsticle courses, have never used pools filled with bottles/cans, and several other things that other people do. I'm looking to expand my own knowledge and experiance for the benefit of my (hopefully soon to be) working puppies. Thank you!