How To Socialize Your Puppy
Without puppy socialization, behavioral problems could start to arise.
Socializing your puppy means teaching them how to be well-behaved around other animals and humans, as well as growing their confidence to feel comfortable in various situations and environments.
WHY IS PUPPY SOCIALISATION IMPORTANT?
The more exposure your puppy receives during the early stages of their life to various environments, people, smells and animals the quicker and more comfortable they’ll feel in the world around them. Well-adjusted, well-behaved and confident dogs with the ability to adapt to different social environments are often a byproduct of well-socialized puppies.
A puppy with fewer interactions can often lead to negative behavioral traits including nervousness, aggression or in some cases separation anxiety. Not to mention it can limit what you can do with your puppy and where you can take your puppy if these skills aren’t taught from the onset. Teaching your puppy how to interact with other people, animals and environments may be the most important training you will ever do together.
WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO START SOCIALISING A PUPPY?
Puppies have what is called a critical socialization period during the first four months of their life — this is the most important time to start socializing your puppy. Puppies are extremely impressionable during the first three months of their life. Their experiences during this learning and development period will help to shape their behavior well into adulthood.
Being proactive in providing opportunities for socialization and exposure to various environments will help your puppy grow into a well-adjusted adult dog that has the ability to relate positively with other dogs, people and environments.
HOW TO PROPERLY SOCIALISE YOUR PUPPY
The easiest way to begin socializing your puppy is to introduce them to new faces, sights and smells, as well as take part in varied experiences to allow them to grow their confidence and learn how to behave in various situations.
During your puppy’s training, It’s important that you’re aware of yourself to know whether you’re sending the right signals. The golden rule? Encourage curiosity. When your puppy is actively exploring a new environment with confidence and curiosity, it’s important to respond to this behavior with an equal level of positivity. By providing plenty of verbal praise and encouragement it will teach your puppy to be curious and open-minded about new experiences and encourage this sort of behavior in the future.
TAKE YOUR PUPPY FOR DAILY WALKS
Daily walks will help your puppy grow comfortable with the world around them, as well as help to condition your puppy to unnerving noises from the outside world.
A common misconception is that puppies have the innate ability to walk on a leash beside you without training. I'm here to tell you that this isn’t true.
It’s important to train your puppy to calmly walk on a leash beside you without expecting too much of them initially. Though i recommend that you take your puppy outside to sniff and explore (on-leash) during their training so they can grow accustomed to the world around them.
INVITE FRIENDS OVER TO YOUR HOUSE
It’s important to expose your puppy to as many new faces as possible to allow them to acclimatize to the idea of being around strangers more often without showing signs of nervousness or fear. In doing this, your puppy will learn to spread their affection rather than reserving it for you alone, and growing wary of anyone else coming into their space.
PUPPY SOCIALISATION CHECKLIST
Creating a checklist of experiences, people and surroundings your puppy should be exposed to throughout their life will allow you to make sure your puppy feels comfortable in normal day-to-day scenarios.
Below, i have made a list of prime opportunities to expose your puppy to throughout their life:
PEOPLE & ANIMALS
- Children
- Strangers
- Other dogs
- Other people’s homes
- Other animals/household pets
SURROUNDINGS
- Vet Clinics
- Parks
- Public spaces
- Ponds and river banks
EXPERIENCES
- Different surfaces (grass, stairs, mud, sand, carpet etc.)
- Road trips in the car
- Bath time
- Loud noises (vacuums, microwave, hairdryer, music, cars, storms etc.)
- Grooming
- Leash Training
- Crate Training
- Swimming
- Handling
- Enrichment Toys
- Tennis Balls
CAN I TAKE MY PUPPY OUTSIDE BEFORE THEY’RE FULLY VACCINATED?
A common precaution is that puppies should be kept inside until they’ve had their twelfth week vaccinations. Puppies are more susceptible to diseases before this time, so it’s important to be safe and sensible about where you’re taking them. As a general rule, stay away from dog parks and crowded places.
I have created a guide to first-year puppy vaccinations here.
HOW TO SOCIALISE A PUPPY AT HOME
If you’re unable to socialize your puppy outside of your home or are still feeling a little cautious, then you’ll be pleased to know that there’s still plenty that can be done, even without leaving your home. The idea is to focus on the tasks that you can do from home to help build your puppy’s confidence, for example introducing them to other people, common household items like cardboard, carpets, rugs, plastic, grass etc. As well as noises, surroundings, textures and anything else that you can think of that would help to stimulate and create unique experiences for your puppy to learn from.
Remember, it’s important to remain calm during every stage of your puppy’s training — especially when it comes to socialization. Whether you’re rewarding your puppy for their behavior, or simply encouraging positive interaction, verbal praise (accompanied by a few of their favorite treats & toys) will help to reinforce this behavior, and create a more enjoyable experience for your puppy which will ultimately shape a more confident, inquisitive, and well-behaved dog later on.
