Why do puppies have such strong instinct?
Posted on 04. Nov, 2010 by raiders1 in Nature
Puppies have to have a very strong inclination to survive. If you are lucky enough to spend some time with a
very young puppy, you would be amazed at what you see. I’m talking about from the time they are born to the time they are weaned from their mother.
When first born the puppies can neither see nor hear yet they will instinctively seek out their mother for nourishment. One by one they make their way to her. They cannot yet walk so they wiggle and squirm until they find her. Once they find mama they latch on and do not let go until they are full or she stands up and walks away.
The puppies can sense when mama is not near them. If she has left them for a quiet moment, you can almost immediately hear them crying out for her, I found this to be true even when they were sound asleep. They seem to sense that she has left them alone. This is probably because they miss her warm body.
When their eyes are open and they can hear their instinct is still in play. They seem to establish who is the alpha canine, what order they will nurse and in what spot. They begin to be more social and their personalities are forming. The puppy that is the smallest at birth, is not necessarily the smallest when fully grown. Sometimes they are the feistiest of the group. I have learned that instinct plays a huge roll in raising a litter of puppies.
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