Newborn Puppy
Dog Submission Instinct

Instinctive submission: For a little newborn puppy, the first weeks of life tend to model his future behavior. The puppy's behavior will be influenced by genetic factors, the first experiences it went through in its life and the continual repetition of specific situations that happen during that period. They learn how social order works and how they need to adapt to life through games with their mother, brothers and sisters. Whenever a puppy is treated brutally by his mother such as in a rough game where she pushes him, hits him, grabs him or throws him, the puppy reacts by shrieking in pain by falls with his four legs up in the air. When the mother sees this behavior, she immediately stops the aggressive game because she is able to see the puppy's submission. This type of treatment helps the animal to learn a signal of submission that is characteristic in dogs and it causes the aggressor to stop. This is a normal and instinctive signal that avoids any further attack. If the aggressor does not stop at this, it shows that he has an instinctive behavioral problem, and it is evident that the social submission of the dog is limited or inexistent. A dog that has this problem will be difficult to control when he is an adult, because he is not able to recognize the signals of submission of his equals, causing the dog to bite at any given moment. This type of problem will be just as problematic with a company dog because it will not know how to assume submission before its owner. This type of dog will be rebellious, dominating and possibly even aggressive. The personality of a puppy depends on numerous factors during the development phase of the puppy that lasts from the forth to seventh weeks of life. This phase of formation is then followed by socialization that extends itself from the seventh week to the twelfth week of life. During this time together with the orientation of the mother, the future character of the puppy starts forming.