Your Puppy’s Development: 7 Weeks

At seven weeks old, your puppy is nearly ready to come home! Some puppies need just one last week to develop alongside their littermates, with their mom as a guide. Seeing how active she can be during this stage, though, it’s clear that she’s almost ready for a new chapter in her life.

Training
During week seven, a puppy is becoming much more coordinated and is getting used to how far and fast her little legs can take her. She uses her abundant energy to move around the room freely and skillfully. As her motor skills improve, she becomes more receptive to training and she is better able to figure out what you’re asking of her.

Your puppy is learning to control her bladder at this age as well, but it will take a lot of work on her future owner’s part before she is fully house trained.

A Typical Day
A puppy can be quite restless during bedtime, and her dream activity can look a bit startling to someone who’s never seen it before. Your puppy may have a twitch in her legs, paws, ears or facial muscles. She may also let out barks, whimpers or cries. These are all normal signs of a dreaming pup, and will continue with less frequency as she grows older.

You may also see puppies eating grass at this age, but it should not be a cause of concern. It is normal for a puppy to eat fresh or recently cut grass, and this behavior is harmless as long as the grass is free of pesticides and other chemicals. You may want to discourage this behavior if the puppy eats enough for the grass to come back up again, but small quantities of grass will not hurt her.

Socialization
There are critical lessons a puppy must learn before making it out into the world by herself. By seven weeks of age, your puppy has learned a lot from her environment and the humans and animals around her. Her caretaker has made an effort by now to socialize the puppy and handle her daily, while also giving her ample time to spend with her fellow littermates. It’s very important not to separate puppies from their original homes before seven weeks because puppies who leave their litters too early may become nervous and show signs of biting, barking, and other unwanted behaviors. Any discipline puppies receive at seven weeks of age should be from their mothers, as the puppies are still too young to process human reprimands.

Though just seven weeks old, a puppy is already growing and learning enough to achieve independence from her puppy family. While she may be leaving her mother and littermates soon, she won’t be alone. Puppies are born and bred to be among others, and she will quickly take to her new family.

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