"Training" very young pups?

[AndrewMcLarenSafaris]

Traditionally training of gundog, or really all, pups start when you fetch the pup at about 7 weeks of age. OK, I buy that.

But studies in humans have shown that babies are affected even long before birth by music, stress and other situations that the pregnant mother is exposed to. Many parents, and grandparents like me, will know that the very early 'training' or 'learning' of a baby is all important in shaping behavior in later life. I buy, and know that too!

But what can, should, could be done very early in a pup's life, say from 3 to 4 weeks of age to 'start' doing the right things. I've known for many years that pups raised in a kennel placed on lawn are simply orders of magnitude easier to 'potty' or house train than pups bought from breeders where the pups were raised in a concrete-floored pen. My own experience show that a pup, even at a very young age, crawls out of the kennel, and as soon as those feet hit the cool grass a puddle is made. Now, if the kennel is placed on a concrete floor, as soon as the pup gets outside, its feet feels a smooth, hard concrete surface on which a puddle is made. When you want to later teach the pup to "Go outside before making a puddle" the experience of the pup raised in a kennel on grass seems to assist with associating “outside” with “grass underfoot”. The pup raised on concrete does not seem to be able to distinguish between “house floor” and “concrete”, and is much more difficult to house train. I will never again buy a pup from any breeder raising them on concrete.

I recently started in all earnestness looking for a new GSP pup. One of the potential breeders that I have visited made a remark about "In USA they are now starting with training of pups as soon as their eyes are open." I initially ignored this remark as everyone knows that you only start training a pup as soon as you get it.

But I have been thinking about this lately. The pup I'm going to get is now 4 weeks old; is there anything that I, during visits to the pup, or the breeder, can or should do to 'give early stimulation' that will assist in later training and hunting behavior or desire? I can think of quite a number of "for examples", but would rather not do that now, I will rather just ask the forum. What do you think could, or better know 'will', assist in bringing out the best from the genetic makeup of a very young GSP pup?

Any references to studies in this regard? Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Andrew McLaren

[FastDuckMotors]

It has been my experience that you bring the pup home when you can bond with that pup earn its trust then do the prelim training. What happens in a lot of cases that pup will bond and trust the trainer and the trainer has habits that are not yours so it can confuse the dog at times. If this dog is going to be used in field trials and what not then I would think about getting it home first then trying the other. You can take a wing of a duck or bird of choice and start playing with it and teaching it the basics for now. That will do more than you think. Congrats on the new dog!!