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Nothing is more fun than introducing a litter of puppies to the world. Interactive playtime with balls, squeaky toys, climbing obstacles, and games of hide-and-seek helps puppies put their best paw forward on socialization. Add in children and seniors, backyards and basements, carpet and concrete, and puppies will be well on their way. Puppy socialization focuses on that sliver of time to shape puppies toward becoming confident, well-mannered and cooperative adult dogs.
“Puppies develop at a fast pace, so there is a small window of opportunity when they are from 5 to 16 weeks old to effect positive development,” says Pat Hastings, co-editor of Another Piece of the Puzzle: Puppy Development.
Hastings considers “bounceback,” puppies’ ability to recover from first being afraid, as one of the most valuable behavioral traits. Socialization reduces the number of things in the world that frighten a puppy by continually providing the experience of first being afraid and then recovering. The more things a puppy experiences during critical socialization periods, the less bothered the puppy will be throughout life when confronted by new things.
“The bounceback is critical, which is why you must never feed into a puppy’s insecurities,” says Hastings, a prominent puppy evaluator and seminar presenter. “You have to ignore puppies’ first fear reaction and let them figure it out for themselves without interference from you. If you ignore it, they usually will too. The next time, they likely will not give it a second thought. This is the bounceback.”
According to research by behaviorists John Paul Scott and John Fuller, a dog’s behavioral makeup is 35 percent genetic and 65 percent due to socialization, nutrition, health care, training, and management. In other words, socialization cannot change temperament. However, it certainly plays a role in behavior modification.
Although puppies are born with the ability to be cooperative social partners with humans, socialization is the key to success in helping them develop confidence and the ability to handle new situations. Missed opportunities during the critical puppy socialization period put pups at risk of becoming shy, fearful, defensive adult dogs.
Animal behaviorist Michael W. Fox showed that puppies exposed to increasingly complex stimuli, or enrichment, sought out complex environments and were dominant over “stimulus poor” puppies. Those that lacked enrichment were inhibited, fearful and looked for less complex environments, and often compensated with self-destructive behaviors such as chewing and licking.
In a nutshell, the more puppies experience, the more accepting they become. In reality, socialization lasts the entire life of a dog. It should be consistent, firm but gentle, patient, and loving. It starts during that sliver of time from five to 16 weeks of age.
“Socialization requires creativity and must occur during this critical period of development,” Hastings says. “There is no substitution for intensive and ongoing socialization for all puppies.”
What is the best age to obtain my new puppy?
Since it is critical for the puppys development to interact, observe, play and learn with members of its own species, the puppy should remain with its mother and littermates until about 7 weeks of age. Then when placed in the new home, social contacts can be expanded to new people and species while still in their primary socialization period. Also by this time puppies will begin to develop preferences for elimination sites, so that this is a good age at which to begin house training.
Can You Socialize Puppies Before They’re Fully Vaccinated?
Because a puppy’s vaccination ramp-up happens over the course of weeks, veterinarians used to caution pet parents to keep their puppies home until their series was complete to prevent accidental exposure to infectious diseases.
Unfortunately, this period of isolation also coincided with a critical puppyhood developmental stage, as pups are most open to novel experiences through roughly 16 weeks of age.
The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) revised their position statement on puppy socialization over 10 years ago to reflect the fact that puppies are more at risk for behavioral problems later in life than infectious diseases during puppyhood.
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) notes that behavioral issues, not infectious diseases, are the number one cause of relinquishment to shelters and cause of death for dogs under 3 years of age.
The revised AVMA statement states that puppies must have a variety of positive socialization experiences before their puppy vaccination series is complete in order to develop important coping mechanisms.
It also states that puppies can begin puppy socialization classes as early as 7-8 weeks of age after receiving a minimum of one set of vaccines at least seven days prior to the first class, as well as a first deworming.
Puppy Socialization – Tips to Positively Work On Exposure Training
Did you know studies have shown that dogs will never be able to properly bond with humans if they aren’t exposed to them by 14 weeks of age? It’s hard to believe, but the first 4 months of your puppy’s life are vital in teaching them how to respond to the world around them. The process of gradually introducing your new puppy to all of the things that it will need to interact with as an adult is called Socialization. Socializing puppies to the world in a positive manner drastically decreases the risk of them developing fear and aggression issues later in life.
Dogs go through 3 main socialization periods. The primary socialization period is, unfortunately, not something that most owners have control over. This is defined as the first 3 weeks of a dog’s life, where the most important interaction that they have with the world is through touch. Gentle handling during the first few weeks of life leads to calmer puppies that are more resilient to stress as adults. Puppies that are raised without littermates, or who are raised in kennels or barns with little human contact are more likely to have anxiety issues as adults. When purchasing a puppy from a breeder, be sure to ask them about their socialization tactics. A good breeder will be happy to tell you.
The stage of socialization that most owners have control over happens from 3-14 weeks of age. This is the stage where puppies learn to play, but it is also when they begin to experience fear. Puppies at this age are often afraid of humans, loud noises, unfamiliar objects or animals, and unfamiliar environments. The more positive experiences that puppies have with these outside stimuli the less fearful they become. Thus, it is extremely important at this stage of a puppy’s life to introduce them to humans, children, cats, the car, the crate, etc.