The answer then depends. Some dams remember their puppies even years after separation and some may not recognize their puppies at all. Dogs will remember their puppies depending on the amount of time the puppies have spent with their day.
Female dogs usually have a built-in mothering instinct and know exactly what to do when their puppies are born. However, sometimes your dog just does not know what to do with her puppies after they are born and she could care less about taking care of or nursing them.
Most will get upset if you take their puppies from them too early. Wait until mother dog whelps her pups, then you can release them to their new homes. The mother dog will be able to deal with the separation better after she whelps them.
Puppyhood is a time of important imprinting and learning experiences. Dogs are smart and have memory capacities. There are many accounts of dogs having the ability to recognize their owners, mothers, and litter mates after prolonged separations.
There are some circumstances when a mother dog may not show all of these maternal behaviors. But by and large, a mother dog is well-equipped to provide her puppies with all the care and nurturing they need when they are born.
So, yes, a puppy can definitely think of you as his “mother” — that is, his provider and protector — and develop as strong an emotional bond with you as if you were blood-related. Your puppy will also quickly learn to pick you out among strangers, both by sight and through his powerful sense of smell.
It's a very common misconception that a female dog should have one litter before being spayed (neutered). Not only is it an out-dated concept, with no evidence to support that breeding a litter is either physically or psychologically beneficial to a dog.
Memory Span
"Dogs forget an event within two minutes," reported National Geographic, citing a 2014 study performed on various animals from rats to bees. Other animals have long-term memories, such as dolphins, but dogs don't seem to have a long-term memory that lasts much beyond those two minutes.
Those that remain with their mother for the first 8 weeks tend to remember her (as well as their siblings) in later life. Similarly, females who are with their puppies for 8 weeks and beyond imprint a memory of them, and will show signs of recollection, even once they reach adulthood.
Research suggests that dogs are able to recognize their siblings and their parents later in life as long as they spent the first 16 weeks together. Intuitively, the less time dogs spend with their families as puppies, the less likely it is they'll be able to recognize a family member later on.
It's not exactly a father-and-son relationship, but the father will most likely interact and play with the young pups as he would other dogs or humans. Once the pups are completely weaned, the father may even show them the ropes, including play and mealtime etiquette, as well as social ranking in the pack.
What exactly is “littermate syndrome” and is it real? Littermate syndrome can occur when two puppies adopted from the same litter grow up together in the same home. In some cases, these sibling puppies form such a deep bond with each other that they fail to properly socialize with people and other dogs.
If a puppy is separated from its mom before the eight week mark there is also the likelihood that it will be particularly sensitive to psychological and physical disturbances. The separation from their mothers, littermates and familiar environments may result in fear, distress and impaired learning.
At what age can puppies be separated from their mother? The minimum time a puppy must be with its mother is 6 weeks, a period of time after which the puppy begins to wean. However, this is the bare minimum. The ideal minimum time that the puppy should be able to separate from its mother is 8 weeks.
It is their way of showing how comfortable they feel around you and how much trust goes into your relationship. It could also be that the momma is extremely proud of her puppies and she simply wants to show them off.
Accidental Harming
Large breed dogs will sometimes lie on puppies, smothering or crushing them. If your female does not have the natural instinct to nose their puppies into the center of the whelping box before lying down, you will have to closely monitor the puppies when your female is moving around the whelping box.
Dogs spend much of their day snoozing, but in the hours they're awake, they probably spend time thinking about some of the same things that a 2- or 3-year-old child would: “Solving problems, what's for dinner, what's that over there?” Hare says.
Our dogs have learned several cute tricks. But dogs (and other non-human animals) are missing something we take for granted: Episodic memory. Dogs don't remember what happened yesterday and don't plan for tomorrow. In defining episodic memory, Endel Tulving argued that it is unique to humans.
Lucky for me research shows dogs may actually be able to remember people for several years! The key to remembering is their noses. It is estimated that dogs can smell somewhere between 1,000 to 10,000 times better than humans.
Yes, your dog knows how much you love him! Dogs and humans have a very special relationship, where dogs have hijacked the human oxytocin bonding pathway normally reserved for our babies. When you stare at your dog, both your oxytocin levels go up, the same as when you pet them and play with them.
You may not remember what you were doing a few minutes ago. But your dog probably does. A study of 17 dogs found they could remember and imitate their owners' actions up to an hour later. The results, published Wednesday in Current Biology, suggest that dogs can remember and relive an experience much the way people do.
So as long as a dog can smell, has healthy eyes, and can hear, they will most likely remember you no matter how long you've been out of their life. If you are wondering if your dog misses you while you're gone they don't have any knowledge of time but can experience separation anxiety.
Weaning to solid foods
They still nurse, and mothers continue to produce milk for up to 10 weeks. Some nursing is for nutrition, but it is also a comforting, bonding activity for the puppies. Most puppies are fully weaned to solid food between 7 and 10 weeks of age, although the transition can occur earlier.
Dogs are social animals and usually happier around other dogs, but a second dog will never be a substitute for inattentive, absent or too busy owners.
Most animal care experts widely agree that three is not a crowd when it comes to owning more than one dog. Unlike that dreaded middle child syndrome you see in three-kid families, having three well-trained pups can be harmonious when the dogs balance each other out.