Socializing Puppies

[Paula & Greg]

We're picking up our new apricot pup, Amber, in 17 days. She will be nine weeks old when we get her. We've been reading a puppy training magazine that has a good article on the importance of socializing a new puppy.  The article is pretty direct about the fact that a pup should be positively exposed to all ages of children, as many different sizes of people, varied situations, textures, colors, just about everything one can think of in a very short window of time, between 3 and 16 weeks.  Not doing this can evidently set up fear and distrust patterns that will remain with the dog its entire life. 

The first Labradoodle that we met in a neighbor's home had not been well socialized.  Although a beautiful animal, he wouldn't let either of us touch him and circled us continuously, growling occasionally, during the visit.  The owner said he was a little skittish around men. How does that happen?? We almost decided against the breed at that point. I definitely don't want our little Amber to grow up with a similar distrust of strangers.

Since we'll pick up Amber at 9 weeks, that leaves 7 weeks to expose her to a lot of different environments.  It will also be mid March in Colorado, so a lot of outside activities may not be possible because of weather.

What are some of your recommendations around how to best socialize a new puppy?  Are there shopping areas where one can take a pup to help socialize her?  We have signed up for a puppy class, but that won't start until she's 11 or twelve weeks. What are some things we can do in the meantime to assure we have a friendly, non-fearful pet?

[Adina P]

Puppy parties! The book I read in prep for my LD puppy was Ian Dunbar's ''Before and After Getting a Pupy'' and loved it! If you do a search in this group's forum (use the group's search box rather than literally skimming all past discussions) for the name 'Dunbar' you'll find links to download the book (free). He recommends 100 new people before 12 weeks (end of fear imprint period) by having 'puppy parties' where you invite friends over a few times to meet puppy and create a positive association. Got a friend who rides bikes or motorcycles? Have him/her come wearing a helmet! Feed people Pizza in exchange for their time!

[Sandra Griffith]

Try to take your puppy everywhere you can. If you are worried about her not having finished her shots (a legitimate concern) then carry your puppy. I spend a great deal of time in New York City (a true walker's city) so I got a carrier that looked like a front baby carrier and was able to take Aylah everywhere (except for food stores) until she had vet approval to walk on her own. I also arranged for playdates with other dogs so that she could be socialized with other dogs. Although familiar with her littermates and the breeder's dogs, she was somewhat afraid of dogs that she did not know. As for children, playgrounds and parks are a great resource. If people are interested in saying hello to your puppy, have some treats with you and ask them if they would mind giving your puppy a treat. Lastly, be careful of having your dog say "hello" to other dogs while on leash. Dogs greet nose to tail and leashes tend to make the dogs greet head to head which may be seen as bad "doggy manners" to other dogs. A puppy class that uses positive reinforcement methods only (no alpha dog stuff) is also a great place to introduce social time with other dogs. The class should spend time on training and time on play with the other puppies. Ian Dunbar's books What to do Before Your Puppy Comes Home and What to do After Your Puppy Comes Home (these are available separately or combined) are excellent books. Hope this helps- have fun with your new family addition.

[Leigh & Allie]

Let me start by saying Allie is now 6 months old and has never met ANYONE she does not LOVE!!! My son and I always joke that Allie will see someone and say "Oh I love you" then see someone else and say "OH I love you". She is very friendly and not at all shy or distrustful of anyone or any dogs. You may think this is a bit overprotective but I have heard horror stories about puppies getting very ill. I did not let Allie around ANY dogs I was not sure had had all of their shots until she was 16 weeks old because a puppy is not fully protected until then. This means I did not even let her out in the front yard until she had had all of her shots. I did not take her to a dog park or a pet store until then. Puppies can catch things a dog is carrying, kennel cough comes to mind and there are other digestive problems that can come up. I forget the ailments name but the puppy can die from it. I did have several people come to the house and I now I take Allie with me a lot on errands ex. picking up my son from school etc. I did have other dogs come over that I knew had had all of their shots. I do believe it is very important to socialize the puppy, I would just be a bit cautious about where I took her in the beginning. I now have a very healthy well adjusted dog and I would not have changed anything I have done so far.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Lucy is now about 4 months old. We used a sound socializing CD (to accustom her to various scary sounds like thunder, machines running, babies crying, etc.). We were pretty protective of her before having all her shots so kept her home until 10 weeks, but had lots of visitors over (no dogs). At 10 weeks we enrolled her in puppy romp sessions at a local doggy daycare facility that sanitized the entire area every night. Only puppies with the same level of shots were allowed. The puppy romp sessions were a godsend for socializing Lucy to other puppies, people of all ages, and a different environment. She was very shy with puppies for several weeks, but during the 4th session she really blossomed and came out of her shell. Lucy has always LOVED people! Men, women, children.. she doesn't discriminate. She's also enrolled in a puppy class (which started last week), and is doing extremely well there. I think the puppy romps have helped her immensely in all areas of her socialization.

BTW, when we had Lucy home continuously, we set up a puppy obstacle course with a 2-sided ramp, raised broomstick for jumping over, and a ladder laid flat so she could walk through the rungs. She loved all that, and you could see how it really improved her self confidence with mastering all the elements. We also took her for drives and parked outside dog parks and horse stables so she could watch the dogs and horses as well as people. We trained every day on walking, waiting sitting, downs and coming when called. All done at short intervals to keep her interest.

Lucy is far and away above the level of training than her peers at puppy class. She's like a star pupil, but only because we started training her the moment we brought her home.