When Should I Socialize My Puppy?
The best time to start socializing your puppy is around 10-12 weeks old.
But Wait! Your puppy needs to be wormed and have their first set of vaccines before socializing with other animals and visiting new places.
Safeguard your pup from other dogs who are not vaccinated to protect them from dangerous diseases.
After reading through this post, keep this in mind: the ultimate goal is to try to get your dog’s socialization training established before they are 6 months old.
So many doggie parents ask me why their adult dog doesn’t like other dogs, barks at people, or panics when an alarm goes off.
Socializing your puppy will help them become familiar with new sounds, smells, and sights in a positive way.
Correctly socializing your pup will prevent them from becoming frightened or timid towards new people or experiences. Dogs who are not socialized, often become fearful and aggressive later in life.
Confession Time! Our dog, Bastian, wasn’t socialized as a young puppy.
From the start, Bastian had his den mates, our Dachshund, Reno, and our German Shepherd, Artemus, to play with.
We didn’t reach out and meet other people with dogs because they were so good with each other at home.
We didn’t realize how crucial it really was for us to take him out and meet other dogs that didn’t live with us.
Easy Ways To Socialize Your Puppy
Once your puppy has been wormed and received their initial vaccines, it’s a good time to start gradually introducing some new friends and experiences.
Gently introducing your pup to a variety of people, places, and sounds will make a huge impact on their temperament as an adult dog.
Here are some great tips to help socialize your puppy.
Introduce new people and animals gradually. Too many new faces all at once can make things scary for your puppy. Try your best to expose your dog to the following:
People:
Animals:
When people are introducing themselves to your dog, ask them to get down to the dog’s eye level and let the dog approach them slowly.
This allows your dog to make the decision if they want to give a sniff or receive a pat on the back.
Make sure young children have help petting your pup. Help them show kindness to keep it safe and positive for both the child and your dog.
Dogs love car rides. Even if it is just a brief ride to the park or to grandma’s house, allow your dog to tag along.
New Places To Explore:
Motion Sickness: If your dog is prone to getting car sick, try shorter trips in the car and be prepared with some cleanup gear just in case.
Read more about how to prevent motion sickness in dogs.
When you hook up your new puppy to a leash, they probably won’t have a clue what to do with it.
Don’t plan on a normal stroll down the street. This will be a slow, sniff walk.
Keep your leash walk short and sweet. Gradually work up to a longer walk as your pup gets used to the leash.
Be gentle and patient, call to your pup to get their attention, never pull too hard on the leash.
Hold on Tight: Always secure the leash around your wrist. When your puppy sees another animal, they may try to bolt.
Ask First: If you encounter another dog walker on your path, wait for the other dog owner to confirm if their dog is ok for a meet and greet.
Don’t Push It: If your dog seems scared, don’t force them to meet with the other dog. Just move them away from each other and walk on.
Introduce some new sounds to your dog. Turn on the radio while you are home and when you are away.
Gradually introduce the sound of the vacuum cleaner. Allow your dog to lay in a comfortable spot a safe distance away from the loud sound.
Don’t chase them with it, it isn’t funny, it is terrifying to them.
While playing outside or on walks, listen for the fire engines or a distant passing train. Allow your dog to listen, stay calm and let them know they are OK.
A great way to help your doxie adjust to new noises is to play the sounds in the background while they are eating or playing.
Here is an example YouTube video of Soothing Music and Desensitization Sounds For Dogs.
Here are some noises you should introduce to your dog:
Inside Noises:
Outside Noises:
Always treat your puppy with kindness. Keep young children away from your dog if they get too loud and crazy.
Allow your dog to escape to a safe room when they feel uncomfortable.
Whether it is a quick introduction with your neighbor or attending a puppy play date, make sure things stay safe and positive.
If there is ever a situation when your dog acts scared towards another animal, person, or place, don’t force them.
Forcing your puppy into a frightening situation will cause them to become defensive. When a dog feels threatened, they will defend themselves.
Attend a puppy class or playdate with your dog and give them a treat afterward.
A verbal “Good” and a yummy dog treat will reinforce that good behavior going forward.
Now, don’t go out and fill your days with social events and loud noises, take it slow.
Fitting in a couple of these puppy socialization experiences each week will help get your dog where they need to be.
Overwhelming them with too much all at once will just set them back.
Note: It’s ok if your dog isn’t the neighborhood socialite. Your dog may not want to greet every dog or person around, and that’s totally fine.
Having them get used to a handful of new faces occasionally will help them be comfortable around others.
You want your dog to greet people politely.
Think about how YOU feel when you visit friends and you can hardly get in the door because their dog is going crazy, jumping all over you, or barking frantically. Or perhaps you cant even touch him because hes such a scaredy-cat.
Those dogs have not been properly socialized or taught how to behave.
Puppy Socialization – Tips to Positively Work On Exposure Training
I have a dog/kid question to ask you. Next week we are having a “Neighborhood Night Out” Party, pretty much the same as a Block Party. I think it would be a Great Opportunity to socialize my puppy, but is that stepping over boundaries? There would surely be a lot of kids there, would that be asking too much of the puppy? (She’s five months old now.)
Hi Stella! Good for you to be thinking of your puppy’s welfare. Socializing a puppy is pretty much a whole topic in itself but there are some basics before deciding to bring your pup along: