Dog Advice Topic: How to Socialize a Puppy

December 8, 2006

Bella,
I just adopted a 10 week old puppy yesterday. I've heard that it is very important to socialize them early. What is the best way to do that?
-Puppy in Palatine

PiP,
Kudos on asking that question so soon! For many people it takes them a month or so to realize that they might not be approaching the socialization properly.

The first thing you should do is research different trainers. For more information about that you can read one of our previous columns on how to choose a trainer.

Once you find a trainer you should get registered for their next available puppy class. It is easiest when bringing a new dog into your home to set out ground rules right away and the basic obedience learned in a puppy class will help you with those.

Most importantly a puppy class will get your dog appropriate socialization. Up until about the age of five months puppies' brains are still being formed and when they encounter different stimuli in an appropriate setting it actually causes more connections to occur in their brains making them smarter. Conversely, if dogs are not properly socialized at this age and these connections are not made there is a much higher likelihood that the dog will have behavioral problems in the future ranging from fear to aggression.

A properly run Puppy Kindergarten will allow the dogs to continue learning what they were practicing with their littermates. They learn how rough is too rough to play. In a group class they also learn how to play with a wide variety of dogs. If your Labrador only plays with other dogs like her while growing up when she encounters the Yorkie down the street she will most likely terrify him. And conversely when your Yorkie grows up only being around other little dogs he will be terrified when he first encounters that big old Lab. A properly run Puppy Kindergarten will allow all breeds to safely interact with each other. A good instructor will also inform you what is going on with the dogs as it is happening and will give you the tools to know how to handle your dog interacting with other dogs outside the classroom. You should learn how to know if your puppy is getting overwhelmed or overwhelming someone else and how to know if something is an unwanted play behavior and how to stop it.

These are things you need to do while the puppy is still young. You also need to know what is not safe or healthy for a young dog.

Taking a young dog everywhere you go is not enough to properly socialize them and, in fact, can be dangerous. Socializing with random dogs on the street or at dog parks can spread illnesses and also makes it much more likely that your dog will have an unpleasant encounter as often adult dogs do not react well to puppies. Most dog owners also do not understand enough of dog body language to know when their dog is feeling scared or overwhelmed. The world is generally pretty big and scary to puppies and when owners allow other dogs or people to make it even worse it often forces puppies to feel they have to defend themselves which is something we never want dogs to do.

Taking a young dog to most day care facilities is not a good idea either. The only time a dog under six months should be in a day care facility is if the facility will only allow the dog to play with other dogs under six months or a staff member AND if they only have short playtimes with lots of rest time in between. If young dogs are allowed to play consistently with older dogs they have a higher likelihood of developing play habits that are too rough or they become fearful of other dogs because they have been approached too roughly. Puppies also need lots of down time otherwise they build up their stamina to be able to play very rambunctiously for hours on end. Dogs don't understand the concept of relaxing on the weekend so you will have to keep up that energy with them!

There is so much more to discuss about how to prepare your puppy to be the happiest dog around so register for a Puppy Kindergarten as soon as possible!

And that's the bark on the street!
Bark up!
Bella

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