Socialization tips?

[Jack]

Hi everybody!  first post here!

Any tips for socialization for my 2 month old goldendoodle?   

I take him to puppy class at Petsmart but that's only 1x/week and he doesn't get much "playtime."    Im afraid to go to the dog park since he's so young.

Id like to see him play with other dogs around his age so he gets used to having other dogs around him.I  want to get a therapy dog certificate for him one day!

Thanks!

[Julie and Max]

Your puppy is adorable!

Do you have a doggy daycare near where you live? Sometimes that can work great even if it's just a few hours a week, that's what I do with my puppy.

Or maybe you know some people with dogs that you could set up play times?

[Jack]

Thanks!

People i know with dogs are a bit scarce, everybody my age is in working mode.  I thought about doggy day care but he's not yet of age where they accept him >4 months.  

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

At two months you still have to be careful.   How about putting him in a shopping cart and taking him to a store that allows dogs....usually lots of people will stop to meet a puppy.  You may have to wait a bit for him to play with other dogs.

[Richard Crowe]

We usually have at least ten litters of rescue puppies fostering in our home during any year. 

A shopping cart is the way that I socialize many of our rescue dogs; Maltese and smaller doodles.  I put a dog bed down in the shopping cart and have a lead on the dog.  I will also carry treats which I give to people so that they can offer the treats to the dog.  It is amazing how even skittish and fearful dogs can be socialized in this way. Stores like Home Depot, Lowe's and most pet stores allow you to bring in dogs.

However, IMO, 2-months old is too young to bring to dog parks.  I don't like to expose puppies to the various germs, viruses, and other nasties which abound at dog parks until the pup has had the full regimen of three puppy shots.  I won't even bring the dogs out to stores until they have had their three shots...

If you know someone who has a nice dog and if you have a yard for two dogs to play in, you might arrange a play hour.  Always remembering however, that some adult dogs have a short fuse when it comes to puppy behavior.

We brought a young Silky Terrier, named Truman, home on Saturday from a rescue event we attended.  Our organization had five adoptions from this event and three of them were our fosters.  Since the Crowe's foster dog cupboard was pretty bare, we took Truman to our home in order to relieve another foster.  Truman has vision problems but plays very well with our younger fosters.  However, the adult dogs are not keen on Truman's antics.

The big exception to that is, of course, our 6-year old Goldendoodle, Holly was playing with little Truman last night as we watched the Olympics.  Holly has never met a puppy or small dog that she didn't like. She has amazing patience with puppy behavior but, we monitor the interaction because we don't want to stretch Holly's goodness to a point in which she becomes uncomfortable.

So it all depends on the personality of the dogs which your puppy will be meeting.

 

[Alex]

Our dog was out and about playing with other dogs from that age, and I credit his pretty much total fearlessness to it. They are, after all, coming from an environment of nonstop romping. But of course, for health and safety reasons you can't just go playing with any dogs; dog parks are not a good idea. If you have any friends/neighbors with even tempered and fully vaccinated dogs it could be helpful to set up play dates. We were lucky in that we had neighbors with puppies a few months older. Our dog was "traumatized" by one who was overeager and pinned him the first time, but they soon became best friends.

[Camilla and Darwin]

The socialization we did for Darwin when he was a young puppy was puppy kindergarten, and it was wonderful! We knew all of the puppies there were up to date on their shots, he was learning, and it was a very nice controlled way to socialize. 

[Adina P]

While I think it's great for dogs, puppies especially, to play with other dogs/puppies, IMO the most important part of socialization is just being in the presence of the things you want to socialize your dog too.  Socialization is too often misinterpreted as 'playing with' when really it means having positive experiences in different circumstances, around different people, with noises, places, etc.  Socialization is the process by which you expose your dog to the stuff of life in ways that aren't scary.  It's not about dog parks or play dates, really.  A well socialized dog has seen and been in the presence of all sorts of people, places, situations...not necessarily played with all those things.

[Adina P]

Another way I'd put it is think of the opposite of well socialized.  A puppy mill dog who has never been outside of his crate.  He's never walked on grass, never experienced cars whizzing by, never interacted with nice people, never met kids, never walked on leash, never been in a crowd of people, never seen anyone in a wheelchair, never met anyone with a hat, never ... you get the idea.  So socialization is simply exposure to the world at large and all that is in it that a dog might ever have to encounter (within reason).  They don't have to play with dogs all the time...that's a social life more than socialization. 

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Enzo has gone everywhere possible with us, since she arrived @8 weeks. She was never allowed to walk in public areas, yet she has been very well socialized. Dog friendly stores, such as Lowes and Home Depot. The loudest noises and bangs don't faze her in the least. LOL..of course, she has been brought around loud cars and motorcycles too. At a recent carshow, a guy fired up his very loud vintage Chevelle....most people jumped sky high...Enzo was lying in the grass and picked up her head and glanced in the direction.
Your pup need not romp and play with pups in order to be socialized. There will be plenty of time for that after all Vaccinations are completed.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

PS...your puppy is adorable!

[Stephanie and Ragley]

Same with Ragley- since she came home she goes everywhere I do. I would go places and they would joke and ask "Where's the dog? Is she in the car?" She is now old enough to walk places, but when she was little and hadn't had all of her shots, I would just carry her. We went in A LOT of stores and they were receptive to me carrying her, but I was always sure to go ask first. When she was small enough to carry, she was also small enough to hand off to other people who would admire her too so we did that a lot. It was great for her and people love it when you let them hold your tiny fluffy puppy! 

[Julie and Max]

Adina that sounds sad, I know puppy mills are very sad, but just to think of it in that way. 

I agree taking the puppy different places just to experience is important for socialization, but if you want your puppy to play with other dogs, I really do think doggy daycare is great. Ours has a Saturday play group that you stay with your dog and it lasts for two hours. All dogs must be fully vaccinated and they are assessed for aggression. I started taking Max there as soon as he had all his shots and it has been a wonderful experience. There are trained staff there of course, and they are always watching for any problem that may occur. I don't really know anyone that has a dog, and I really don't like the dog park so it's been wonderful to go there for us.