Training and your dog’s age

From birth until maturity, your dog goes through
physical and mental developmental periods.
What happens during these stages can, and
often does, have a lasting effect on your dog.
His outlook on life will be shaped during these
periods, as will his behavior.
The age at which a puppy is separated from its
mother and littermates has a profound influence
on his behavior as an adult. Taking a pup away
from the mother too soon may have a negative
effect on his ability to handle training. For example,
housetraining may be more difficult under
these circumstances. A pup’s ability to learn is
important to becoming a well-trained dog. It will
also affect his dealings with people and other
dogs. So what is the ideal time for your puppy to
make the transition to its new home? All the
behavioral studies that have been done recommend
the 49th day, give or take a day or two.
These studies have also shown that dogs begin
to learn at 3 weeks of age. At 7 weeks old, their
brains are neurologically complete, and all the
circuits are wired. Their mind is a blank page,
and all you have to do is fill it with the right information.
They won’t forget what they learn in the
next few weeks. If you wait until your dog is
older, he’ll probably have picked up several bad
habits, which means you have to erase the page
and start all over, a much more tedious job than
starting when he’s a puppy.