Hi Greg
It is not a matter of belief. Periods of sensitivity to or fear of novelty are well documented in the long standing literature.
Most accurately, what is sloppily referred to as a “fear period” is more correctly a fear of *novelty.*
In dogs, this begins roughly at 4 weeks, when pups will distress vocalize even if warm enough, with bladder/bowels empty and belly full IF they are put in an unfamiliar location. This is the age at which their little legs can carry them further than might be wise, and finding themselves in strange territory, they vocalize to alert mothers and other caretakers. Kind of a puppy 911 call.
Being afraid of novelty requires the distinction between known and unknown (novel). Prior to 4 weeks, puppies don’t even have the sensory apparatus functioning well enough to have much in what I call their Reference Library.”
The fear of novelty period peaks around 9 weeks of age and continues on for a while. Puppies do NOT just wake up in a fearful state during this stage. How they respond depends heavily on their genetic template plus the foundation established (or lacking) due to the raising practices. Enriched puppies in a safe, supportive environment, such as in my Enriched Puppy Protocol develop a deep and broad Reference Library, so that a great deal of life does not fall into the “novel” category.
Sadly for many puppies, their early developmental period prior to 7 weeks is lacking in enrichment. Their Reference Library is so sparse that once placed in their new homes, just about everything is novel and potentially scary for them. When this lack of enrichment (plus their genetic template) results in fearful behavior, the “fear period” gets the blame, as if a healthy, well raised puppy is automatically going to be afraid of its world.
The so-called adolescent fear period is NOT well documented in the literature at all. I can trace it back to information presented by Wendy Volhard and Gail Fisher, who pushed that theory long and hard. Long ago I directly asked Gail for her reference(s) on that, and she had none.
What I believe is happening in that time frame is a combination of factors:
1. Adolescence, which has profound effects on the brain structures & biochemistry
2. Adolescence, which has profound effects on social relationships
3. Adolescence, which has a way of highlighting and exaggerating instabilities in experience, understanding, skills and temperament
4. Hormonal influence — which includes post-neutering hormonal changes
For deeper reading, I’d go back to the early works of Fuller & Scott, Fentress, Woolpy & Ginsburg, Zimen, Fox and others.
FWIW, wolves differ from dogs in that adult wolves do not lose their fear of novelty, a good choice for a wild animal. But by the same token, in ALL social animals there is a SHY——BOLD continuum. So while taken as a species, dogs or wolves or octupi or sheep or birds or whatever all will demonstrate individual variations in their response to novel stimuli or situations. There is value for the species at both ends of the continuum.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6742907/ offers a good comparison and information. BUT do take it with a grain of salt as the researchers were focused on the intensive socialization with humans aspect, and as far as I can tell, the environment was not particularly enriched at all. The presence of a human 24/7 is not, in my experience, the key to raising animals who are resilient when presented with novelty.
cheers
Suzanne
