This episode’s question is about fear periods.

“What are the critical fear stages in puppies from 8 weeks on? Is it best to keep up their socialization during these periods or back off for a few days and then resume?”

In this episode I discuss:

• How to recognize fear periods as opposed to general fearfulness.
• The evolutionary reasons that puppies have fear periods
• ​Navigating fear periods in puppies and dogs

Visit our website madcapradio.com for further reading.

This episode’s question is about preventing dog-to-dog resource guarding:

“Can’t seem to find it in the video; what is the protocol to work against food aggression within the litter? We have been doing marrow bones and resource guard training with people, but a few puppies are showing aggression to the other puppies at meal times. Any info appreciated, thanks!”

In this episode I discuss:

• Why protocols for dog-to-dog resource guarding are not as effective as protocols for dog-to-human resource guarding.
• Five golden tips I have found helpful for preventing dog-to-dog resource guarding
• ​Thoughts about dog-to-dog resource guarding and breeding programs

Visit our website madcapradio.com for further reading.

This week’s question is about whether doing Puppy Culture or any other early socialization program can guarantee good outcomes for puppies.

“…I was talking to a breeder about Puppy Culture and I told her that if she would just adopt the program, she would eliminate any temperament issues with her puppies. Am I right about this? Isn’t Puppy Culture a guarantee that puppies will have good outcomes?”

In this episode I tackle:

• Re-thinking the line between nature and nurture
• The partnership between breeders and puppy owners for raising a good dog
• The evolutionary reasons why breeding “good” dogs is so difficult

Visit our website madcapradio.com for further reading.

This week’s question is about whether you’re supporting or interfering when you help mom with her neonate puppies:

“…I've noticed that you lay in the box with Velvet and provide significant assistance to her. Among many groups of breeders, there is a faction who strongly advise to essentially let Mom alone in the first days as she has instincts and knows what to do, and that the presence, participation, and assistance of humans may be bothersome to her.

So, I'm wondering if this is breed dependent? Or an individual preference?”

In this episode we talk about:

• The variability of maternal behavior
• How much assistance you should give your dam with caring for her puppies
• Supporting your dam without interfering with her instincts

Visit our website, madcapradio.com for further reading.

This is part two of my podcast, answering many questions one of our fans sent in about raw feeding puppies.

In this episode I cover:

• AAFCO’s “Complete and Balanced” designation and why it’s relevant to kibble but not relevant to you if you feed a varied raw diet.
• Safety suggestions for feeding, sourcing, and handling raw dog food.
• Special considerations when feeding raw diets to puppies.

Visit our website, madcapradio.com for further reading.

This week’s episode is a fan request on feeding puppies a raw diet:

My breeder uses and recommended Puppy Culture as a resource for my partner and I in preparation for our Toy Poodle pup that we'll be picking up in a week or so. We've completed your Puppy Owners Course, the Puppy Culture and Attention is the Mother films, and have started binging your podcast- love your stuff!

I'm wondering if you could make an episode on feeding dogs raw food. We plan to feed our pup raw (the breeder currently feeds raw) but it is a bit intimidating for people who are new to this diet! I'm wondering if you could cover a few things:

1. The science behind it / health benefits
2. Why you feed raw / how long you've been feeding raw
3. The dangers of it / how to avoid these dangers (proper practices for purchasing, handling and feeding raw)
4. Any challenges you've experienced / seen with feeding raw
5. Tips for starting raw diets - where to begin!
6. Whether the meat has to be a certain quality / where to purchase ingredients for homemade raw (I've heard that grocery store meats aren't safe because of their allotted salmonella/bacteria thresholds?)
7. How to handle raw treats (bones with raw meat) - do you have to clean bedding, etc. every time raw treats come in contact with it? Do you have to wipe down your pup's face/paws after contact?
8. Would LOVE if you could share some recipes for homemade raw food! Or other resources/recipe books on feeding raw
9. Whether puppies need special recipes or if they can eat the same recipes as adult dogs

I know a lot of this is google-able lol, but I've found that there is a lot of fear-mongering around feeding raw (from both owners and vets) so I wanted to reach out and see what your thoughts are!

There were too many great questions here to fit them all into one episode, so I’m doing this in two parts - In this episode, which is part one, I talk about:

• Why we feed raw to our dogs and our experience with feeding raw for the past 26 years
• The challenges of raw food and why some people are understandably more comfortable with kibble
• Tips and resources for getting started feeding raw without losing your mind - it’s easier than most people make it out to be!

Visit our website, madcapradio.com for further reading.

This week’s conversation is the result of an interview that I did with Jean Donaldson a few weeks ago. In it, Jean mentioned that it’s now a “thing” not to offer puppy play groups for puppies. The thought is that allowing puppies to play will make them less likely to pay attention to their owners.

This raised a big discussion in the Puppy Culture Discussion Group, with many pet owners, breeders, and trainers coming down hard on the side of not taking puppies to puppy play groups. What I found through this exchange is that the theoretical truth and the practical truth do not always align…

In this episode, I discuss:

• The benefits and parameters for puppy play groups.
• Why there is a perception that puppy play will diminish attention to the owner and/or create hyper focus on other dogs.
• ​The practical limitations and realities of puppy play groups and thoughts for the future

Visit our website, madcapradio.com for further reading.

This week’s question asks what the earliest is that breeders have observed consistent personality traits in a puppy:

“Out of curiosity, how early have you noticed personality traits developing in your litters that did stick around until the time they went to new homes or even beyond? (Caveat: I know a puppy's personality truly doesn't settle until they are much older which is why temperament tests aren't predictive of adult temperament as we learn in PC. This is just for fun / curiosity and because my current litter seem to be showing consistent temperaments at only 3 weeks and my last litter didn't really start to show that until around 5 weeks!)”

In this episode I discuss:

• Various breeders’ experiences with early personality traits.
• Why adult personalities will often seem inconsistent with puppy personalities.
• ​Practical advice regarding breeder observation of early personality traits.

Visit our website, madcapradio.com for further reading.