While to some, it may seem almost ludicrous to send your puppy away to “camp” not too long after bringing that cute little “fuzz-ball” into your home, one thing we know with absolute certainty is that you really only get one shot at doing things “right” during this most crucial learning period in your puppy’s life.

There’s never any question whether or not owners want their pups to grow up being well-behaved…but what is in question is the owners ability, time & resources available to them in their efforts to help lay a “foundation” of balanced behaviors, as a young pup, to build on all the way to adulthood.  

If the right amount of time and effective effort is not committed at this early stage…well, we can clearly open the possibility of the puppy learning to practice undesirable behaviors…plus, it’s much more likely that more intensive, time-consuming training will be required later in life.  You wouldn’t wait to put insurance on your car until after you get into an accident…so why take a “wait & see” attitude to your puppy’s future behaviors?

In Canine Developmental Psychology, a critical period is a maturational stage of puppyhood during which the nervous system is especially sensitive to certain environmental stimuli. If, for some reason, the puppy does not receive the appropriate stimulus, during this Critical Learning Period, to learn a given skill or behavioral trait, it may be difficult, ultimately less successful, or even impossible to develop some functions later in life.

There are essentially 7 main Critical Periods, of learning, in a puppy’s life.