How to Raise the Perfect Dog by César Millán Page A

puppies handled. I want them to hear other human voices. And I want them to hear different sounds, like squeaky toys and the hair dryer. The vacuum is one that I insist on, because the vacuum is so terrifying to most dogs.” Having taken on many Dog Whisperer cases where dogs were terrified of vacuum cleaners and hair dryers, I can personally appreciate the hard work breeders like Brooke put into this early desensitization.
    Like Brooke, Diana Foster can’t emphasize enough the importance of exposing puppies at this early stage to some of the different environmental sights, sounds, and smells they will be encountering once they’re out there in the “real world”:
Once the ears are open and they can hear a little bit, we do a lot of handling, picking them up, touching them, but we also start playing sound tapes. We do that at three weeks. We have realistic tapes of the sounds of firecrackers, vacuum cleaners, kids screaming, cars honking, doors slamming—everything you can think of from regular family life—because at that age, there’s no fear in the puppies yet. They have the comfort of their mother. We have the nice heat lamp on. They’re warm. They’re fed. They don’t shake. They don’t jump, and so what happens is, all these sounds get into their subconscious. This prevents the worst things that could happen down the line, like a German shepherd that gets freaked out when a kid yells. When that happens, the dog snaps at somebody. He ends up at the pound or being put to sleep, and it’s not even the dog’s fault.
    By the arrival of their three-week milestone, Angel and his siblings were all walking around clumsily and responding to the sound of Brooke’s voice. They were about to enter what is probably the most significant time in a puppy’s early development, the socialization period.

    Socialization: Weeks Three to Fourteen
    These next six to nine weeks are among the most crucial in your puppy’s life, a time during which he will learn the lessons of how to be a dog among dogs, from his mother, littermates, and any other adult dog with which he is living. From weeks three to six, 3 puppies still interact primarily with their siblings and their mother. They will venture a few feet away from the mother or their “den” but quickly come running back. This first phase of the socialization period is the time of “becoming aware”—of their own bodies, their surroundings, their littermates, and the comfort of their mother.
    The second phase of the puppy’s socialization, starting at about five weeks, is where the power of the pack comes in. His primary pack at this point consists of his mother and his littermates. Through trial, error, and an abundance of spirited playfulness, he learns from his littermates how to navigate through a social world. They teach him how hard he can bite or pounce, how to dominate, how to submit, and other basic skills of communicating with others of his kind. If your puppy were a canid being raised in the wild, the rest of the adult members of his pack would all jump in at this point and participate in making sure he grew up to be a good canine citizen. Canid societies—whether they be wolf, African hunting dog, or Canis familiaris —are incredibly orderly worlds in which the rules of the pack are established for every member, right from the beginning, with no exceptions. The whole pack adapts when puppies arrive, and they rearrange their lives to participate in the rearing. Even in the Dog Psychology Center, certain dogs in my ever-changing pack take it on themselves to become “nannies” or “schoolmasters” to any new pups or adolescents who happened to join our merry band.
    When her pups are about six to seven weeks of age, a mother dog begins to be a little less possessive of them and lets other members of the pack help lessen her workload. Among packs of wild canines, the rearing of the young is truly a family affair. Sometimes adults other than the mother even