NOT EVERYONE likes dogs, but you’ve got to be hardboiled if you don’t love puppies. The most seasoned bird doggers smile when they peer into a whelping box. How could they not, for puppies represent possibility, along with hope, faith, love, and everything associated with new beginnings.
But puppy development is a deliberate and progressive process, that, if done properly, results in dogs with qualities we admire: boldness, drive, intensity, patience, handle, bird smarts, and a biddable disposition. Some of those traits are genetic for sure, but properly introducing puppies to the world brings out the best in them.
Betsy Danielson of Minnesota’s Northwoods Bird Dogs, Jeremy Criscoe of Florida’s Blue Cypress Kennels, and Mark Fulmer of South Carolina’s Sarahsetter Kennels, know that during the first eight weeks, puppies develop…
