A puppy's vision and ability to see distance continues to develop until 8 weeks of age and by 16 weeks, a puppy's eyesight is fully developed for distance.
As the nerves in their eyes continue to develop, so too does their eyesight continue to improve over the next several weeks. It's only when they're around 8 weeks old that puppies acquire full vision.
Around halfway through a puppy's second week of life, his or her eyes will start to open and while things will be a bit fuzzy, their sight will soon improve helping them to see the world around them.
A puppy's eyes don't truly mature until the animal is 4–5 weeks old. In fact, puppies can see before they can hear (their ears open at around 18–20 days), Todd says. As a puppy's eyes start to mature, his tapetum lucidum is developing.
8+ Weeks: The final stage of puppy eye development is when your pup's vision reaches full maturity. At this age, they will rely on sight rather than smell, and their peripheral vision is fully developed. While they may still bump into things, you can expect your puppy to have normal vision for a dog.
10-12 Weeks Old
At this point, you will begin to expand on your pup's commands, socialization, and impulse control. Introduce more basic obedience commands such as Place, Down, and Heel inside the home, still using food rewards.
10 weeks is also considered a developmentally appropriate age for a pup to go to his new home. Developmentally speaking, roughly any time during his 8-10 week window is considered the perfect time for a pup to join his new pack as he is still in this critical fear period that makes him very impressionable.
At such a young age, a puppy's immune system will struggle to fight off anything that would otherwise be okay for an adult dog. So puppies are ok outside for walks around 8 weeks old as long as you take care to keep them away from unfamiliar dogs, mind the weather conditions and don't expect them to walk too far.
Pups who don't have the opportunity to be corrected by mom will lack the same level of bite inhibition as a "normal" pup. These are the pups with the mouth issues from frantic mouthiness to nipping to downright hard biting. Similarly, sibling pups begin to teach each other in their play.
Ten weeks old is a great age to start leash training a puppy, though you can start the process as early as four to six weeks of age. By this time, your puppy should be aware of when they need to go out to urinate or defecate. They should also understand when you're happy with their good behavior.
Pups remain contently in their whelping box for the first 20 days of their life.
Puppies should not be bathed until around eight weeks old. Older dogs' body temperature self-regulates, but young puppies don't have that ability yet. A puppy less than eight weeks old might get overheated or too cold during the bathing process.
Dogs are pack animals who live in a well-established hierarchy, and they see their humans as members of their pack. Due to this, it is important to establish yourself as the pack leader while still showing respect and affection to your canine companion.
If replacement feeding is chosen, the feeding amounts listed on the product should be used. Puppies less than two weeks of age should be fed every 3-4 hours. Puppies two to four weeks of age do well with feedings every 6-8 hours.
Until puppies are about 3-4 weeks of age, their diet should be liquid only. When weaning begins, it is important to separate the puppies from their mother for short periods of time, a couple of times a day. The puppy should be fed a high-protein, 25-30% diet with water added to make it as porridge-like as possible.
As you can see (no pun intended), your puppy sees better in low light and can track moving objects really well. While not color-blind, puppies don't see as large a spectrum of colors and are limited to gray, blue/violet and pale yellow.
The Wonder Weeks
The ideal time to start puppy training is 8-12 weeks, known as their Wonder Weeks. A young puppy's personality is molded and formed during these early weeks. This is why puppies typically go home with new families around 8 weeks of age.
You might think that your puppy will be OK when you settle them down to go to bed, but at such a young age they will probably need a toilet break during the night which will wake them up. They're then likely to cry out because they need to be let out to the loo and they're frightened because no one is there.
Puppy Developmental Stages and Learning to Communicate
They cry or whine to seek contact or care from their mother. At this stage, puppies are helpless; they rely on their mother for everything from food and grooming to a warm and secure place to sleep.
As a result, they should poop around four to five times per day. By the time your puppy reaches eight weeks, he or she should have a more stable diet and better control of their bowels. Your puppy may begin to poop once or twice per day at predictable times, a trend that should continue for the rest of their life.
Don't crate your 8 week old puppy for more than 2 hours during the day. As she gets older you can increase the amount of time she spends in the crate. Associate as many positive experiences with your puppy and the crate as possible.
Aim to give your dog at least 20-30 minutes of meaningful playtime each day.
Puppy difficulty at ages 2-3 months
A smaller percentage of owners voted 8-12 weeks as the toughest age.
Take your puppy outside frequently—at least every two hours—and immediately after they wake up, during and after playing, and after eating or drinking.
There is a good chance that they are crying because they are in a brand new environment and scared of it. However, we are sure that that they probably miss their mother a little bit. Dogs, particularly younger ones, are susceptible to social anxiety. Over time, your puppy will cry less and less.