9781422274996

For the first several weeks

of their lives puppies, like this black cocker spaniel, are nearly unable to provide for any of their own needs or defend themselves.

The mother of these Bernese mountain dogs will teach her pups not to foul their sleeping space. The practical reason for this, called the "denning instinct," is not simply to avoid messiness but to keep odor away so that predators won’t be led directly to the den.

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