You Can’t Start Socializing Too Soon

Zooey, Sammy & Seek-a-Boo out and about

When it comes to puppies I think people are bombarded with conflicting advice.  ”Get them out as soon as possible.”  ”Don’t expose your puppy to anything that can make him sick.”

I remember when I had the rottweiler pups they are at risk of parvo a nasty killer virus.  Puppies have a small window of opportunity to really get good bang for your buck socializing.   So what do you do your trainer is telling you to get the puppy out and your vet is telling you to avoid anyplace where there are other dogs.  I get around that by exposing my puppy to family and friends with dogs that do not go to dog shows or places where there are a lot of other dogs.  I also put a lot of emphasis on meeting and playing with people.  I think people think socializing is a numbers game.  While it is important that the pup is exposed to new things, It is more important that all the experiences are all good for the puppy.  The goal is a confident puppy, one that takes new things, people animals, places, sounds in stride.  Cagney and Lacey are 16 weeks old when they come and their goal is to work in some pretty interesting environments so we tried to hit the ground running.

Just for fun

The problem with bigger puppies is that they can not be over exercised because of the growth plates in the  joints.  Our solution was not to leave them home, rather we taught them to ride in the cart so they can come along.  The big dogs had the added perk of us spending time teaching them to pull the wagon.  Lets just say that is still a work in progress.  But I did just order a cart to pull behind my trike for both the puppies and big dogs as well.

Because I knew where I wanted them working we did lots of odd place introductions.  Like offices, buses, theaters, schools, churches, etc  Places you might want to introduce a service puppy to but many of them are not vital to most pet puppies.  I am beginning to believe that not only new places but new sounds may be even more important.  I am thinking of making my pups a recording of various sounds they can listen to at home before they are hearing them in new environments.  If you seem to be hitting a wall with the pup, break the scary thing into smaller more manageable parts.

So the FEMA rubble pile might have been over and above what we needed to socialize bed bug dogs.  I try to keep in mind that some things are “just for fun” for the pups.  Really you just can’t put too much emphasis on making sure the pup gains confidence in any environment, with noises, people, animals etc.  The only rule is to make sure it is a good time for the puppy.