How your puppy develops
When does the first tooth come in, until when does your puppy grow, and at what age can you expect puberty?
Your puppy goes through 6 developmental phases until adulthood, starting from birth. To help you understand when which behavior is normal and how long each phase lasts, you can find out here.
1. The neonatal phase: Weeks 1 and 2 of life
As soon as your puppy is born, the first phase of development outside the womb begins. Your little four-legged friend cannot see or hear during this time. The daily routine is one-sided and relaxed: Sleeping and eating. As soon as the puppy feels hunger or cold, it wakes up to meet its needs.
It is important that no help is given in searching for the mother's nipple: Through the active search for mother's milk and the success of consuming food, first learning processes occur that are of great importance for later life.
2. The transition: From week 3 of life
When do puppies actually open their eyes? When can they hear? From now on, because in the transition phase, which begins in week 3, your puppy's eyes and ear canals gradually open. The milk teeth also begin to grow.
Now that your puppy has more active senses, interaction with the environment, other people, and siblings becomes visible. In addition to long phases of sleep, the little ones begin to slowly make their way through the whelping box - muscle development increases.
The increasing interaction also initiates socialization. Gentle petting can lead to the first contact with humans.
3. The socialization phase: From week 4 of life
This third phase is crucial for the further life with your furry friend. How will it cope with people and dogs, and how will training be structured? These questions are grounded here.
It is all the more important to introduce the puppy to all possible conspecifics, objects, and experiences during this time. What the puppy associates with a positive experience during this time will be seen as completely normal in everyday life. For this reason, intensive engagement in the form of cuddling and playtime with siblings is important.
Initial training can and should also begin during this phase. After the 8th week, your little four-legged friend is ready to move in with you. From here on, you take over: setting boundaries, creating good experiences, training, and establishing contact with people and other conspecifics are now your responsibilities.
4. The juvenile phase: From week 16 of life
When do puppies actually lose their milk teeth? From the 12th week, these can gradually fall out, often even later. Your puppy has now settled in somewhat in its new home. The start signal for this phase is now the tooth change. The onset of sexual maturity marks the end of the juvenile phase.
By the 3rd month, most breeds have already reached 2/3 of their final size - the remaining growth now occurs more slowly. Now it’s important: Just don’t lose sight of the →consistent training. Your puppy is highly sensitive to learning new skills and commands. Training sessions should still be kept short, but then gradually become longer.
You can recognize that your little furry friend wants to test boundaries by noticing that it finds its place in interactions with other dogs and wants to prove itself. Light insecurities during this phase are normal - for example, cars may become scary again, but this will subside within the phase.
5. The adolescent phase: From the 6th/12th month
Depending on the breed, the next phase of sexual maturity begins around the 6th to 12th month - sometimes this starts even later.
The hormones now lead your puppy to do things you wouldn’t normally expect from it. During puberty, your little four-legged friend may become quite rebellious, possibly ignoring commands ("What was that *'sit' again?! *Never heard of it!), and wanting to compete further with other four-legged friends.
Important: Don’t let this get you down. Your furry friend’s puberty lasts - just like in humans - fortunately not forever. Give your young dog a lot of love and continue to train consistently and correct misbehavior immediately.
For male dogs, →in-heat females become interesting during this phase, while it’s the other way around for females. To avoid unwanted offspring, you should always walk your four-legged friend on a leash.
At the end of this phase, your dog’s character solidifies. Certain breed-specific traits such as the hunting instinct and protective behavior now become constant.
6. The adult phase: From the 3rd year of life
Your dog’s character is fully developed by around 3 years. The experiences it has gathered during this time are solidified and cannot be easily erased. The same goes for negative experiences: Generally, nothing easily disturbs its calm.
For the entire life of your furry friend, it holds true: Training is a lifelong process. Training is therefore also important after this time.
By this point, you will have experienced a lot together: from the tooth change to first really good and bad experiences, to successes, wonderful vacations, and shared cuddle time on the sofa.
We wish you an exciting, loving, and long life together with your furry friend!
