The mum, courage and puppies

In fact, the mother plays a major role in the development of the puppies, both before whelping and in the whelping box. Mothers are different but both fears, how the bitch takes care of the puppies and how she shows courage affect her offspring.

Fears

Many people understand that inherited fears are something that carry over to the offspring. But unfortunately, it has also been seen that learned fears are also inherited by the puppies. Learned fears are inherited for as long as 3 generations before it starts to diminish. This is because trauma alters the dog's DNA, a chemical imbalance which in turn becomes a hormonal imbalance and affects the dog's emotional life. This is very important to consider when choosing a breeding animal.

Commitment

Something that has been seen to affect the puppies is how affectionate the bitch is with the puppies. All bitches are different and have different abilities to mischief, raise and care for their puppies. The bitch's ability to care for and engage with the puppies, in her own way, influences how stressed, socially adjusted and curious the puppies will be as adults. Physical contact makes the puppies secure which also results in secure adult dogs.

Courage and confidence

The bitch has a huge learning effect on the puppies. How the mother behaves on outings, especially in demonstrated courage and confidence, is something the puppies take after. Fear has a strong learning effect as it is a way of protecting oneself from danger, but combined with the mother showing fears it can create problems for the puppies going forward. Social learning is about taking after what their mother does. If the bitch is forward, curious and confident, it will help the puppies to also see the world with a curious eye. 
Mothers play a very important role for their puppies. This includes choosing a breeding stock that does not show obvious fears, allowing the bitch to have access to her puppies at all times, and the mother showing courage with her puppies.