I have a 4 week old who startles and stiffens up when you pick her up. She relaxes and quiets right down as you hold her but if you move or go to put her back in the box, she grips your arm like a monkey. She also seems to be the one who is easily flustered by things; mom getting in to feed, me changing bedding etc..

I am not letting my nieces pick her up and have told any adults who may visit to be very careful when picking her up.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

She startles--but if she sees the new thing coming, is she okay? Can she see and/or can she hear?

She may be in a stage, or she may be more reactive by temperament.

Let us know how she does.

Charlotte that was the 1st thing I thought about too, can she see and/or hear? It is not uncommon for a blind or deaf puppy to act that way.
Give the baby another week then take her outside by herself. It will not take long to determine if there is a problem.

It appears as though she sees and hears ok, although I may just have her formally looked at to be sure.

And if she is reactive by nature, are there things I can do now to help her with that? What are her placement options? Kids, no kids etc? I have 3 different situations for girl puppies so I want to make the right selection for all involved.

Thanks for your time and knowledge.

I would socialize her more too, expose her to a lot of new experiences to build her confidence, just carry her a round the house, sit with her, give her extra one on one attention. Keep the radio of TV on in the puppy pen area. Do her litter mates pick on her, is she at the bottom of the hierarchy?

Thanks for the suggestions.

Actually everything else seems in order, she plays just as much as the rest of the gang, doesn't seem left out of the sleep piles, it doesn't appear that anyone is picking on her etc.

She just seems to overreact to being picked up and to sudden changes in what is currently going on.

Dunno, maybe we have a baby diva on our hands.....

I'm going to try some of the above suggestions, see where we get with that. Thanks again.

I would hold her more, hold her while watching tv etc...It may take several but
hopefully she will become desensitized and start to relax

I had one puppy girl like that too. She played with the rest, nothing to be concerned about with her. But when she was picked up she grabbed your hand like a monkey... I had some people come in to look at her who are good with evaluating puppies and they said that puppies like that who hold you tightly will be very obedient when adults and very easy. That has been the case with her, she is very easy and very obedient and has a very strong, laid back temperament.She lives in a family with 2 adults, 2 teenagers and one toddler... I don't know if this is the correct what they said, but it has been the case with this little girl. I hope everything goes well with your girl. Good luck!

If your puppy were 7 or 8 weeks and startling that easily I'd be concerned, but at 3 to 4 weeks old, I find their senses are all just starting to function in full force, hearing, sight, touch, etc......... I think they can easily be overwhelmed. They also begin to sense fear, which in the wild, is a good thing. Some might take a little longer to get over feeling overwhelmed, and your little girl might be one of them. Slow gentle approaches but lots of opportunities to practice interacting with her will work best.

http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/DevelopmentalStages.html

Curious if anything scary or different happened last week???

Great link, thanks.

Things seem a little better. She still starts when picked up but is more relaxed as you put her down.

We'll see how this week goes when we explore outside....hope it warms up!!!

Thanks again for all your thoughts.

"I am not letting my nieces pick her up and have told any adults who may visit to be very careful when picking her up."

I have had 2 like this, one now 2 years old and the other in my current litter now 6 weeks old, both very fearful at 4 weeks old. I take the opposite approach - I assign my 7 year old to the pup. Pup gets carried around much of the day, put in a basket with a blanket while my daughter sits on the floor petting and reading "Nancy Drew" to her, put in a low cradle, played with constantly, with my supervision of course.

Both pups which were fearful at 4 weeks are now very adaptable and people oriented - the 6 week old is one of the first to the side of pup pen when people approach - licks, wags when held, hops around happily in the kitchen even with the dishwasher, microwave and refrigerator going. I agree with getting pup out with the family and also outside after the 6 week old shots.