What is touch sensitivity?
Touch sensitivity is simply handling puppies daily with a series of touch exercises. The goal is to get the puppy comfortable with all types of touch.
Touch Sensitivity Process
Benefits
- desensitization to multiple forms of touch
- comfortable with nail trims, collar grab, etc.
We soft touch puppies until they are about 48 hours old, but as they develop we will increase the amount of pressure and amount of touch.
By the end of eight weeks, we perform the following: rub/tug on ears, cover eyes, open mouth and run fingers on gums, rub belly in circular motion, run hand up and down the back and pat on the back, tug and twist on the tail, touch all paws and push in between pads, tap nails, run fingers around neck and tug on collar, and touch their nose. This type of touch will need to be continued past eight weeks of age to fully desensitize.