It’s awful convenient when we have a handy development reference that explains what to expect from a dog at specific times. We use a similar reference for our own children that describes when babies, toddlers, and kids learn new skills or become capable of learning new skills. The following puppy development timeline describes the same for puppies. Refer to it to make sure your dog is healthy and properly developing according to schedule.

0 – 2 Months of Age

During this stage of puppy development, puppies gain the most important skills. They identify their family members and learn muscle coordination in the first 20 days, and then they learn proper doggy manners around both canines and people between the following 21 – 35 days. By 5 weeks of age, puppies demonstrate an interest in being independent from their mother. They also learn how to play, how to control the infamous bite, and how to share. This is also the time in which exposure to people is critical. Puppies that aren’t exposed to people at 5 weeks may become fearful of them and instinctively prevent amicable people-to-dog relationships. A similar fear can develop if puppies aren’t exposed to other dogs or if puppies are removed from their home too soon as well. This is a fear that could potentially lead to aggression, so if you get a puppy before 8 weeks of age, you’ll need to take extra steps to socialize it with other dogs, other animals, and of course, people.

2 – 3 Months of Age

This is the appropriate age in which most puppies leave their home to live with a new owner since they’ve already learned basic primal skills from their mothers (how to eat, pee, poop, and walk), and they’re generally ready to adapt to new situations. But that doesn’t mean their skills are complete. They still need exposure to a wide variety of safe and non-threatening objects, situations, and creatures. In a new environment, puppies can be vulnerable and/or sensitive to the oddest things: children’s toys, a deep puddle of water, or even a loud talking relative.

You’ll want to take extra precautions against exposing puppies to unfamiliar dogs however because their immunity systems aren’t finished developing as of yet. So although you may take puppies on walks and to your friends’ homes, you must not allow them to sniff bacteria-laden animal feces or play with dogs that haven’t had their shots.

This is also the appropriate age to start crate training, house training, and command training. Puppies accept crate training easier than adult dogs do, especially when they have a warm inviting crate to enter. House training may take a little longer than crate training, and depending on the breed or health of the puppies, house training could take longer than expected. The sit command and the pay attention command should be fairly easy to teach however. Save the more advanced commands (stay, heel, come, release, etc.) for later.

Be aware that puppies in this age range like to explore with their mouths. That means they’ll bite and lick almost everything just to see how stuff feels and tastes. You must keep a careful watch on what a puppy wraps its little mouth around since so many things in our world poses a serious health threat to young dogs. Your safest bet would be to keep your puppies in a crate or on a leash when you can’t watch them.

3 – 6 Months of Age

This is a good age for puppies to attend puppy kindergarten. A vary basic command class lets vaccinated puppies socialize with other dogs and people in a safe environment. At 17 weeks of age, they can test the skills they’ve learned in kindergarten while talking neighborhood walks. Beaches, dog-friendly shopping outlets, and quiet parks are also appropriate hang-outs as long as you continue to keep puppies under 6 months of age away from public dog potty areas.

Continue to expose your puppies to new things around the home, and if you don’t have children, try to arrange a play date or two. Both activities will reduce fears puppies may develop from a simple lack of exposure. The children that your puppies meet must be well-behaved and understand why rough housing or excited movements and sounds can be upsetting. A fun activity that children can do with puppies is to teach them the sit, stay, down, come leave it, and drop it commands. By this age, puppies are old enough to learn and respond to those commands.

6 – 12 Months of Age

Canines in this stage of puppy development can travel just about anywhere, so feel free to take them on a camping tip, to sports games, or anywhere. Just remember to keep them leashed. Puppies at this age are still energetic and strongly curious about things, and they won’t hesitate when given the opportunity to explore something new.

With adult teeth and a lot more strength, 6 – 12 month old puppies can be difficult to manage since their growth and might doesn’t quite match their intentions. An excited puppy for example, may bite harder than it used to, or it cause more havoc running through the house than it did before. This is why early training is so important. Early training won’t eliminate a puppy’s clumsiness or vigor, but it will give you some control over the behavior that causes it. A lot of people aren’t prepared for the effects of 6 – 12 month old puppy behavior and they (unfortunately) opt to put puppies into shelters instead of taking the time to further train them.

Enrolling a 6 – 12 month old puppy into teenage puppy obedience school will help you alleviate potential problems. In such a school, puppies reinforce what was learned in kindergarten, and then they learn even more commands like heel and stay. This type of environment also strengthens socialization skills puppies can use outside of the classroom and in parks – even around strange dogs. At this stage, puppies should have received enough shots to put them in a safe zone -- free from infectious diseases.