In order to have a well-rounded dog, you must socialize him when he is a puppy. What most people don’t know is that socializing needs to take place prior to 16 weeks of age. There are many ways to socialize your puppy.

Puppies need positive interaction with human beings, and provided all experiences are positive, the puppy begins to trust people. The puppy should meet lots of different people, and children prior to 16 weeks of age, and should meet these people in different locations or surroundings. Home is not the only place the puppy should be familiar with. If the puppy is insecure with people, have those people bend down while avoiding contact, and feed the puppy.

New things look interesting to a learning puppy. He or she should begin to explore their new surroundings with confidence. If the puppy is nervous, he should not be picked up, held, and told that the fear he is having is “okay.” It is not okay for the puppy to be afraid of something that you are not afraid of. The puppy should be encouraged to continue investigating his new surroundings and build confidence on his own. He will quickly figure out that the magazine rack won’t bite, and the garbage disposal won’t eat him.

Puppies need to visit new places, see and hear new things, and be introduced to friendly dogs. A group obedience class is a great place to meet friendly, healthy dogs, and socialize regularly with them. Puppies not completely vaccinated, should stay away from dog parks, pet stores, and places frequented by other dogs. Should the puppy meet a dog that is aggressive, remove the puppy from the situation immediately and re-introduce the puppy to a friendly dog so the impression does not stick in the puppy’s mind and cause distrust or fear of other dogs. Get your puppy exposed to many different sounds, places, people, and dogs for the best socialized dog you can have.

Continue socializing and reinforcing the positives for a year, as the goal of every responsible dog owner should be to have a dog who is behaved well in public as well as in his own home.   

Alexandra Wright

© 2005 Alexandra Wright. All Rights Reserved.