puppy socialising
why?
Socialisation is a process that exposes your puppy to as many different experiences of the world as possible.
It is important to really work hard to socialise your puppy, between the age of 3 & 12 weeks this time period is the most important, as this is the time when puppies approach situations without worrying about it.
Most of us have a puppy at 8 weeks of age and are told not to take the puppy out until the vaccination course has been complete.
It is important that we expose our puppies to as much stimuli as possible, and the amount of socialising that is done will dictate how your dog’s cope with life as an adult dog. Puppies who have not been socialised are often frightened and anxious, which can lead to behavioural problems.
It is not a guarantee that you will have the perfect dog but it’s the building blocks to having a confident, happy dog that deals with most situations with ease, and that is what we all want for our companions.
safe socialising
Socialising doesn’t come without risk, so it is important that it is done safely. Unfortunately, the vaccination course takes around 5 and a half weeks to complete, but we know that keeping your puppy indoors constantly will have a detrimental effect on their ability to cope later on in life.
we recommend
- Carry your puppy everywhere
- Do not let your puppy interact with un-vaccinated dogs.
- Do not take them to dog parks, or areas where a lot of dogs go.
- Do not let them play in streams or rivers.
Randomly making loud noises and acting as if nothing is happening, for instance shaking plastic bags, knocking on tables, opening the front door to allow the puppy to hear traffic noise and people noise, dancing around the living room, having children visit if you do not have children of your own. It is important that whatever you are doing, you remain calm when doing it, as dogs can sense that we are anxious about a situation.
Small trips in the car are great, as often puppies have motion sickness as it’s a new experience, this should stop after a few short trips around the block. Frequent car rides are great as dogs usually associate a car with going to a bad place like the dreaded vets, so ending up somewhere fun or familiar takes the tension away.
A trip to a friend house is fine, as long as they do not have an unvaccinated dog, or unvaccinated dogs frequently visit them, different environments and different people are a must in the socialisation period.
If your puppy seems scared, try to ignore him/her as showing any attention to a dog that is scared or anxious, and only rewards the behaviour, it tells the dog that there is something to be scared of.
Even wearing something out of the ordinary, like a massive hat, sun glasses, or a mask, just something that slightly obscures your usual look, these are just small things that can really help. Over the past couple of years, we experienced dogs that did not like us wearing masks, it was a really scary time for a dog, being separated from their owners and being examined by a human with a face covering.
sounds sociable
The Dogs Trust have a free download called ‘Sounds Sociable’ it’s designed to help with the socialisation period.
It’s a series of sounds that include, children, traffic, fireworks etc, it comes with a booklet that we recommend reading before playing, it also has tips on bringing your dog into your home for the first time, tips on toilet training, play biting and sleeping
Below are the links to the dog’s trust website for the sound’s sociable sounds & booklet
