Share Your Favorite Ways To Socialize

[Kris & Brinkley]

 

There are textbook ways to socialize a Puppy & very different ways.... hehehehe

 

Share Your Favorite ways you have or are socializing your puppy & explain a lil about it.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

The biggest thing I did was take my puppy to puppy class. I could meet other puppy owners and they got to meet and play with other puppies.

[Martha & Cooper]

We took Cooper to puppy classes when he was fully immunized and he takes walks with two of our neighbor dogs almost daily when the weather permits.   We have taken him hiking on trails where he gets so much attention, it is just ridiculous!

I am looking at more classes as I write this, just to keep him busy during these winter months when I am not walking him as much.

[Jodi and Stella]

I try to take Stella to as many dog friendly shops and shopping areas as I can. We have a nice outside mall that is dog friendly and I have started practicing leash training there so she gets used to the distractions and to learn not jump on people when greeting. (everyone wants to pet your doodle puppy!)

[JerZeeGin]

I also take Ginger to shops and walk her on the sidewalk at the strip mall..and standing outside supermarket automated doors is also helping with her training.  Puppy play-dates and walks with another dog from her class are fun for her.  I gave up on the dog parks...too many bullies, dirt and poop.

[sandy b]

There are no dog parks where I live so he usually gets to meet people and dogs on our morning walks. And Sundays are a special treat, we go to breakfast and the farmers market.

[Smita, Ollie and Juno]

For Ollie, it is a combination of puppy class/ walking around the neighborhood and taking him to school to pick up my daughters.

We have to wait outside the school compound but people and kids love to talk to him and pet him. I take treats along so people can give them to him.

He also gets to meet people and dogs when family and friends come over.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Dog park, hikes, Petco, Petsmart, Pet Club, walks, runs, letting them have play day at a friends house, or just visiting our friends with dogs, Doodle Romps, sitting with us on an outside patio while we have dinner at resturants that allow this. Just rides in the car helps them with the stimulation around them and being familiar with the noises, smells, sights of the world at large.

 

[Camilla and Darwin]

Doggy Daycare, which is pretty self explanatory. Oh, and we did puppy kindergarten and it helped him come out of his shell,  A LOT. 

 

And walking him around our outdoor mall, on leash of course. It's a great place to practice heeling with distractions around him, sitting to be pet, etc. We are always stopped by at least 15 people, men, women, and often children. So it's really good variety. There are also other people with dogs, so again, it's great for training. And best of all, Darwin absolutely loves it.

[Adina P]

I look at socialization differently depending on the age of the dog.  From 8-12 weeks is that critical development period where ideally a pup is exposed to as many safe things/people/situations/animals as possible so that he forms good associations (or at least not bad ones) with a lot in his world.  I took my pup to work to meet coworkers, had friends over, and it met a couple of dogs whose owners I trusted along with my husband's (then boyfriend) two dogs.  No puppy class was going on at the time.  But puppy class is limited to socialization with other puppies...I think a dog needs more than that.

 

But after that I think just enjoying life with your dog and going places you would normally go that allows dogs is plenty.  Training in many places takes care of the rest.  My youngest dog is about 9 months old and we got her at 16 weeks.  I have not taken any particular "socialization" measures with her except training in as many places as possible--In other words I don't go out with her 'for socialization' but simply to go out and train so that she can more easily go with us when we do go places for fun because she'll be under control and responsive to commands and generally calm.  However, she is comfortable with people and other dogs so beyond there's not much I'm concerned with that can't be gotten via training. 

[Linda and Murphy]

Murphy did puppy class at 16 wks. He was really lousy at meet and greets, so we started going to our Saturday morning farmers market. I think that helped more than anything. We also did Petsmart and any other dog friendly places we could find.

[Ann Kendig]

I started out taking them to the nursing home to visit my Mother.  When they had all of their puppy shots we started taking them on walks, camping, hiking, dog beaches, doodle romps, pet stores, obedience classes, outdoor sporting events.  We take them out to eat sometimes if a dog is allowed on the property.  We have taken them to fund raisers for local shelters.  We pretty much take them with us anywhere that will allow dogs.

[Lorraine Bromley]

We took Neely EVERYWHERE. The thing is that most people love puppies, even if they are not dog people. This allowed us to take Neely into places that no dog would be allowed usually. This helped him learn about being in different situations so much more than regular walks and play dates. We had kids in sports then and had the opportunity to travel and stay in different places, flew ect. We had him go onto suspension bridges...a huge fear factor over come there!  Elevators, loud arenas that echoe. Large crowds that he had to walk with us or get stepped on. Horse drawn carraige ride too. Other animals. He just met a llama on the weekend (He's two now so not really socializing now) It was funny because the llama seemed to really like Neely as soon as he saw him, Neely was curious and stood up onto the feeder on his back paws and the llama reached over and kissed him right on the lips! Neely just stood there sniffing him then they went their seperate ways. It has been worth it and we were lucky to be in that time in our lives when we decided to get another dog. We had other dogs prior, but they were farm dogs and not house dogs so they had very different lives than what we had wanted for Neely so his training differed. But our all time favorite is just showing him off where ever we go. He was asked to pose for a photographer this past weekend! She saw how well he was behaved and so asked us if she could get him to do different things so she could get close ups and stuff! We are so proud! Oh yeah our kids are great too!