# AKC article about maternal care affecting puppy temperament



## Dianaleez (Dec 14, 2019)

And do the dams learn from experience? 

Are later litters given calmer and more effective maternal care?


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

I thought I'd just read something on this topic. The book was recommended by JayD here recently and is written by Alexandra Horowitz. 

From AH:
_...And I am a scientist of dogs: I study their behavior to try to understand their minds. I founded and run the Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard College, where researchers and I observe dogs who come onto campus with their people to participate in our experiments, or who submit to 
our gaze at their homes or in the parks. As a scientist and author, I have surely typed the word “dog” tens of thousands of times. As this nascent idea was bouncing around in my consciousness, I found myself thinking of Jean Piaget. As a father of three, as well as the father of developmental psychology, he famously observed his own children while wearing the hats of both parent and scientist. While I can bear no puppies, it occurred to me that I might bring a scientific eye to puppy development. As a bonus: I’d get to live with a puppy.
...
Instead of following an instruction manual for a puppy, I wanted to follow the puppy: through introductions to a new world, meeting suspicious older dogs, a playful feline with long claws, and an adolescent boy who, in his enthusiasms and energy, bridges the world between dog and human. _


Relevant excerpt:
_The kind of maternal care pups receive will influence their response to stress, their endocrine system—an influence that will last their lives. The puppy’s mother does her own sort of “handling”—licking, sniffing, nose-poking. Those pups who receive higher levels of maternal contact become more exploratory pups later, and even at eighteen months old are more engaged with people and objects. Every dog will be confronted with the need to adapt to an uncontrollable world, to live with a different species; some will encounter the challenges of specific working roles._

Horowitz, Alexandra. The Year of the Puppy (p. 30). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.


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## peppersb (Jun 5, 2011)

Interesting article. Thanks for posting. I like the way the author of the article said that puppies (and human babies) that grow up with their mothers cuddling and touching them are more likely to grow into sociable and emotionally stable adults. I think that there is something very special about a happy, secure mother dog who is raising her babies in her own home with full support from her loving humans. A secure confident mama will impart a very special happy confidence to her puppies.

I bred my girl Cammie 8 years ago with the help of Michelle Birchard (New Destiny Poodles). I have seen how Cammie and also some of Michelle’s mama dogs do such a great job of taking care of their babies. I have gained a huge appreciation of how a happy well-supported mama can give her puppies a happy confident start in life. Of course genetics matters too! But I would never buy from a large scale breeder that kept breeding dogs in kennels. 

Here’s a fun photo of Mavis playing with one of her puppies (my boy Sam is the sire). Happy mama, happy puppy!


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