Inside the Puppy Pen, Day 36 – Pride and Prejudice Litter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohHgsvgYxfM

Today we ramped up the clicker training.

I’m trying something a little different with this litter by introducing the clicker, games, and barrier challenges just a bit later than I have in the past. My thought process is that waiting until they’re a little more developmentally ready may help them catch on faster, and so far, that seems to be the case.

We’ve still been doing plenty of desensitization and exposure, but the more structured learning pieces are starting slightly later this round. That’s something we adjust with every litter. There is never an exact timeline here, because we watch the puppies and let them tell us when they’re ready.

In today’s session, you’ll notice how quickly most of them caught on. They were very food motivated and completely unfazed by the clicker, which is something you tend to see more of with a bit more maturity.

The one exception was Collins.

He was a little stiffer, a bit hesitant, and slower to engage with the food. In the moment, I noted the behavior, but what I didn’t mention in the video is that this lines up perfectly with a fear period.

At this age, it’s very common for puppies to go through a short fear phase. It doesn’t always show up in every puppy at the exact same time, but you’ll often see it pop up in one before the others. During this window, puppies can be more sensitive to new experiences and may react more cautiously than they normally would.

That’s exactly why we adjust.

With Collins, we’ll simply slow things down. If he’s not ready for something, we don’t push it. We keep everything positive, lower the intensity, and give him a day or two to move through that phase. Then we pick back up when he’s confident again.

This is also a perfect example of why I don’t label a puppy’s personality based on a single moment.

Every interaction you see is just a snapshot in time. A puppy might be tired, hungry, overstimulated, or in a fear period, and all of those things can temporarily change how they respond. What matters is how they show up over time, across many different situations.

I don’t expect Collins to be a timid puppy at all. I think what we saw today was simply a brief developmental phase, and you got to see exactly what that can look like.

During fear periods, puppies can become more easily overstimulated, so we’re extra intentional about keeping experiences positive and not overwhelming them. We never try to scare them, but during these windows, we’re especially mindful to go slower and support their confidence as they work through it.