Day 5 - some comments on the first week

At birth a puppy has only three senses: sweet taste (mother's milk), touch and cold stimuli. The eyes are closed at birth; there is no co-ordinated response of the brain to light, sound or smell.

The priorities of a new-born is warmth and food, to which the thermal, touch and taste reflexes are all committed. Puppy movement is one of sampling by trial and error for the warmest option. Contact of the head against the mother or another puppy stimulates a burrowing movement aimed to connect to a teat.
Location of the nipple is achieved by both touch and taste sensitivity to the sugar in milk.

The next major stage is when the eyes open at 8 to 11 days, and the visual system of eyes and brain starts to function from 3 weeks.


Functional hearing starts between 2 and 3 weeks, and a sense of smell at about 4. Movements become more co-ordinated and by four weeks following of the mother and play between puppies occurs.


The reflexes to urinate and defecate matures at 3 to 4 weeks, so the puppy can then eliminate without assistance from the bitch. by 4-5 weeks, the puppy moves to the edge and beyond the nest to toilet.


The period of 2-5 weeks is the time when there needs to be significant interaction between human and puppy if the dog is become well-adjusted. Gentle handling should start by 2-3 weeks. This "imprinting" involves the stimuli of both sight and smell ... and smell to the extent that a Dutch veterinary scientist recommends that young puppies are anointed with the underarm odours of their prospective owners! 


Too much information.