Playing Based to the Puppy's Age

Playing advances in function to the puppy's age, the relationship with the mother and the surroundings.The first indication of playful behavior happens when the puppy is 4 weeks old, during the initiation of the socialization period. The puppies that are 2 to 4 weeks old have short periods of games, which are consistent in movements that provoke the puppy to bite something. In rare conditions are they individual. The puppy plays with the mother or with a brother and is very clumsy. During this period the dog begins to know its body through its tongue and teeth.
Between the fourth and fifth week, the puppy discovers that it can play alone with an object. Then it adopts some positions as if it were in front of its prey or as to defend itself from another dog that gets close to the toy. The puppy also discovers play fighting: it hold another puppy by the neck, lifts it up and shakes it.

The puppy receives a bite and learns what pain is and then it howls. This makes the biter know what the effect of biting is, and stops playing like that. As soon as the bitten puppy howls, the aggressor lets him go. We must not intervene so that both animals understand who bites and who is bitten. If we intervene then their learning will not be the right one. Learning to inhibit biting is fundamental for the future puppy's balance. 
Between the fifth and seventh week, fights are more elaborate, the puppies will push each other and prepare real game strategies. A lot of adult conducts of submission and dominance appear during this stage.
Beginning in the seventh week, the puppy plays very often and the game intensity increases. In this moment the games and go against the owner, who has to pay a lot of attention to the puppies. This is when sexual exploration appears.

The Playful Relationship between the Mother and the Puppy: The puppies make the mother play by biting her ears, lips and tail. The mother rarely plays with the puppies and ignores their invitation. The puppy that grows up alone will not be able to play with another puppy. On the other hand, the mother will play sometimes after weaning. Therefore, the owners must adopt the mothers behavior towards the puppy if he wants it to understand the relationships that exists between the members of the hierarchy.

The Owner's Role: The most important aspect of playing in the puppy is not the breed, but on its mental balance; which depend on the conditions in which the puppy was raised and its surroundings. It is very important that the owner know how to play with the dog. We have mentioned the importance of playing for the puppy, with the other puppies and with the owner; in order to establish normal social relationships. The education is an essential stage in the formation of the puppy and it is important to understand the different types of learning that it uses. The Upheavals of Behavior