Intro
Your puppy is without a doubt the cutest, smartest, most obedient puppy ever to set four paws on the ground. She follows you around, comes when you call, even seems like she’s already housetrained! She’s a puppy prodigy! She also has the energy of an 8-year-old boy and needs to work it off. It’s a good thing that this is the optimal time to begin training—your puppy needs some work to do!
Perhaps you’re better off not knowing—but it’s the calm before the storm…
Physical Development
You can pretty much tell what breed she is now, but not always. Her ears are starting to prick, if they’re of that type, although they often have a second floppy stage during the time the permanent teeth are coming in, perhaps because of the drain on calcium in her system. If she’s to have long hair as an adult, it’s definitely long by 4 months of age, although the texture is usually softer than the adult coat. The color, too, may be different from her adult color, especially in "blue" hair colors that start out black as puppies. In larger breeds, especially, her knuckles are oversized. This just indicates that her legs are planning to get a lot longer. Big knuckles, rather than big feet, are a sign of future growth.
Around 4 to 5 months of age you may see her chomping her mouth open and closed, over and over, as yet another baby tooth comes loose in her mouth. Her little front teeth will fall out and be replaced by permanent teeth first, followed by her canine teeth and finally her rear teeth. Sometimes the baby canine teeth don’t fall out and the new one comes in beside it. If they stay there for more than a few days or a week it could alter her occlusion, especially if she’s a toy breed dog. You’ll need a vet’s opinion about pulling them.
Your puppy’s senses continue to mature, and she’s better able to integrate information she gets from one sensory system with information from another.
She’s getting more coordinated, her actions more fluid and adultlike. Depending on her breed, and your athleticism, she’s making one of the grandest discoveries thus far in her short life: you can’t catch her!
Socialization
She’s getting more involved in finding her place among other dogs. If she’s still with her littermates, they’re becoming more rambunctious, but it’s still all in fun. Social positions change from day to day at first, but gradually become more stable until the ranking order is fairly constant by week 16.
By 12 weeks of age her tendency to be cautious of new things has overwhelmed her tendency to be curious about them, and that tendency will increase for the next few months. That doesn’t mean he should be sheltered. She needs to continue being exposed to new people, places, and things, taking extra care to make sure she has good experiences. You may have to take things more slowly than you could have at a younger age. This is prime time for puppy to get into things she shouldn’t, including your purse, garbage, and gardening tools. Certain household items and foods are very poisonous to dogs, so be sure to supervise her when she’s out adventuring and socializing.
Behaviors
Her play is getting rougher. Puppies explore with their mouths, so like babies, they tend to put everything in them. As adults. they’ll carry, chew, lick, and fight with their mouths, so they need to get started now practicing. Without a littermate to gnaw on, a puppy will practice mouthing the closest humans. Fortunately, she’s easily distracted and handing her a toy often does the trick. If not, do what her littermate would do when she plays too rough: say "ouch", and refuse to play until she calms down. For good information taming puppy’s aggressive play, click here.
Your four-legged baby still objects to being separated from her family, whether canine or human. Contrary to popular belief, she now appears more distressed if confined to a crate when separated. Studies have shown that soft stuffed toys, warm toys with a heart beat, or a safe mirror can help alleviate her distress somewhat when she must be contained. Remember that dogs are pack animals and isolation from the pack is a read by your puppy as a form of punishment or disgrace. Food or hard toys don’t help in this situation, since she is seeking physical contact and reassurance. Care should be taken to introduce her to being alone gradually. Puppies that are forced to stay alone for long periods, and who do not get any response to their distress vocalizations, tend to be more likely to have separation anxiety as adults.
Care and Experiences
Remember all that puppy proofing? She can run faster, jump higher, and chew harder now. It’s time to do another check and make sure your efforts are keeping pace with her abilities.
Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security because she really hasn’t chewed much of your house yet. The truth is, she’s only now entering her heavy chewing stage. Her baby teeth were capable of decorating everything with tiny pin prick holes, but her adult teeth can do a lot more damage.
You also may be in for a surprise if you thought she was already housetrained. Perhaps it’s the tendency to give him too much credit, or too much freedom in the house, but it’s not unusual for him to regress when it comes to potty habits. Remember, she’s still learning the rules. A good rule of thumb is to not expect him to hold himself for more hours than she is months old, so your 3 month old can only hold herself for three hours. Less, if she’s been playing or drinking a lot. And the bigger she is, the bigger her puddles are. Consistent housetraining reminders will help keep her on track.
Training
At no other time in your puppy’s life is she more amenable to training. Even by 8 weeks of age she could learn simple tasks almost as well as an adult, so what are you waiting for? In fact, at about 4 months of age the ease with which puppies learn actually starts to decline. It doesn’t mean your puppy’s going senile, but this is the easiest time to introduce him to the concept of learning. Finding and working with a good trainer is optimal right now, but you can also begin with a few basic commands on your own.
She can easily learn how to sit, lie down, stay, come, and heel by 4 months of age. If you have aspirations to compete in advanced obedience, or in agility, or to work in search and rescue, now’s the time to introduce her to the concepts of climbing over and under objects, and of using her nose to seek out hidden objects and people. She’ll catch on easily at this age, plus you’ll have a new game!
Play
Her games still center around play fighting, and if she doesn’t have another dog to play with, you’ll have to do. The problem is, your skin isn’t so tough, and those teeth hurt! So you need to redirect her games to something more cooperative. Break out the ball and try some fetch. If she wants to play catch-me-if-you-can, think hard before you accommodate her. If you really want her to bring the ball back, practice in a hallway. Use two balls, Stand midway down the hall, and throw one ball to one end. Once she gets it, encourage her to come back—use a treat if you have to—and when she gets to you, throw the other ball in the other direction. Keep it up until she knows her reward for bringing you one ball is the chance to chase another.
She still enjoys balls and stuffed animals, but she’s ready for some more sophisticated toys. Various puzzle and interactive toys are on the market that require her to work to get treats or toys out of them. Such toys are great for occupying her mind when you can’t be with her—which can lead to less separation anxiety and bored destructive tendencies. Better that she contemplate ways of outwitting the toy than ways of redecorating your home.
No matter how gifted your puppy is, she’s going to occasionally do something to remind you she’s a puppy after all. Nobody said raising a puppy was going to be easy—but it sure is fun!
