![]() The puppy kindergarten’s new endeavor has garnered the support of multiple Duke programs. “That’s the time where we want to play cognitive games with them, to understand how they think and navigate the world, and basically try and give them a head start for becoming assistance dogs,” she explained. The dorm program will give the puppies a chance to socialize more and give them experience with a range of people. Woods explained that the puppies stay on campus from the time that they are eight-weeks-old to 20-weeks-old, a period of rapid brain development for them. “It’s not just that you have to keep alive, you have to train them,” Ferrans said. For example, the puppies have to sit and wait before they have to eat, and “teaching an eight-week-old puppy self control is not an easy task,” said Morgan Ferrans, a second-year graduate student working in the lab. “We really are going to be much more like a kindergarten where you drop your puppy off in the morning and then you pick them up in the afternoon,” Woods said.ĭorm volunteers receive training on how to teach puppies good behavior and positive reinforcement. Each “dorm puppy” is assigned to a team of three student volunteers, who each take care of the puppy for two nights a week. ![]() While puppy kindergarten’s reopening might mean a step towards normalcy, it also comes with some changes, including reduced visiting hours and a new dorm program.Īll five puppies will be part of the dorm program, which was briefly piloted in spring 2020 before campus closed due to the pandemic. The lab’s research focuses on identifying potential assistance dogs early and gauging the effects of exposing puppies early on to a diverse range of people, Woods explained. The goal of puppy kindergarten, which works with puppies from non-profit organization Canine Companions, is to help graduate more assistance dogs. I think the puppy kindergarten is one of the signs of that,” said Vanessa Woods, a research scientist in evolutionary anthropology and director of puppy kindergarten. “Everyone is just really looking forward to getting back to normal on Duke’s campus.
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