How To Socialize Your Puppy

Socialization is the process by which a dog develops a bond with a human, identifies itself as part of a human family, and develops relationships with people and animals. Puppies that aren’t socialized turn out to be abnormally fearful and/or aggressive as adults. A lack of socialization is no different than subjecting a dog to severe neglect… it is a form of abuse.

If you want your puppy to turn out to be a well adjusted adult, he/she must be exposed to a wide variety of non-threatening sights, sounds, people, animals, places and interesting experiences. They must also imprint and bond to people and animals, otherwise they will be permanently unable to relate to new social situations. The ideal time to adopt a puppy is at 8 weeks of age. You should then, purposely, socialize your puppy, every day if possible, from 8 weeks to 16 weeks of age. HOWEVER, forced Socialization, or introduction of strangers as this article describes, onto an aloof dog can backfire… Some breeds, and some individual dogs, are known for being aloof, meaning they are not interested in being involved with other dogs or people. It is NOT a good idea to push strangers (people or dogs) onto these types of dogs. It just makes them defensive and more aggressive in future encounters. The idea is to have each puppy socialization experience be a happy one. No one ever discusses this when talking about Socialization or introductions… because most trainers are automatons who perform certain actions and rituals with all dogs, not thinking about what they are doing or researching deeper into the concepts of what they are trying to apply. The only reason to introduce strangers to an aloof dog is to make the dog MORE wary of strangers, so that they will be more likely to act aggressively towards them in future encounters. On the other hand, if you avoid socializing the aloof puppy, the dog will be even more wary and/or resentful of strangers as an adult. Thus, you can and should socialize aloof puppies, but be ever more watchful and diligent to ensure the puppy is seeing the encounters as being enjoyable. Group settings where the puppy can play with dogs that are known to play well and fairly is the best environment to introduce your pup to other dogs, for example. It is FOOLISH to select a pet dog that has an aloof temperament. Pet dogs are required to interact peaceably and pleasantly with other dogs and strange people. The more a dog like this meets other people and dogs, the more it growls and eventually snaps at these forced encounters. It is important to avoid adopting breeds that are known to be aloof, if you want to make them into pets. Read the temperament description of the breed you are considering before you adopt any dog.

You will also head off a lot of potential problems if you start formal lessons before your puppy is 5 months old. Some people wait until the problem is almost unmanageable, or the dog is becoming dangerous, before they decide they need to train their dog. For most puppies, you can begin formal training in my group classes at 16 weeks of age, and private classes at 12 weeks of age. Some puppies, depending upon the breed, can be younger, but others should be as much as 16 weeks of age before you start formal lessons. After evaluating a puppy, I can tell you if your puppy is ready to start lessons. I started formal lessons with my dog, Dillon, when he was 9 weeks old. Yes, you can train adult dogs — I do it every day, but it is much easier to do things properly from the very start instead of having to unravel problems in an adult dog. This is also why I object to group classes for some dogs — they take too long to complete the training, and most people quit programs that take longer than 6 weeks to accomplish. For some tough dogs, you need to finish Basic Obedience before the dog is 1 year old, otherwise the dog will be dangerous to train. For example, I know of a dog that is related to mine that was spoiled (untrained) by his first owners. They allowed him to become an adult without any formal lessons or manners. By the time he reached 5 years old, they became afraid of him. He was too far gone. They had to sell him, and he needed to be trained by a professional. He was at the point where he would bite them if they tried to correct him. When he went to his new home, he bit her when she tried to correct him. He wasn’t a bad dog, he was a dog that was untrained. This could have been prevented if they hadn’t let things get beyond their ability to control. He had been allowed to become a brat, and he was then too strong and big for his original owners to control (they could have hired a professional, but then again, it says something about these people that they would rather let the dog get out of control or to sell him instead of taking responsibility and training him… I bet these folks were what I call “Mommys and Daddies“). Even my dog, Dillon, will occasionally bare his teeth at me (after all, he is a man working dog, and these breeds are supposed to be this way) when I correct him… but I’m not afraid or worried. I am an experienced dog owner, I don’t abuse him, and I have suppressed his aggression towards me because I have become his Master by diligently socializing, training, supervising and leading him all of his life. I also purposely purchased a dog with proper temperament. He is not a danger to me or to any friendly person. He is also especially trustworthy with children and puppies.

Here is a checklist of things you can and should do with your puppy.

Along with the Socialization, I highly recommend that you enroll in my Puppy FastStart Programâ„¢ . The training, in combination with the Socialization, will get you the best results. Trainers ALWAYS start training their pups from the very first day.

Your puppy should be exposed to everything the adult dog will be expected to work and live around… except the experiences must be significantly less intense. Keep these experiences happy and fun; don’t do things that make your puppy afraid. The puppy must perceive the experiences as being good. If you expose the puppy at a young age to many novel experiences, they will be better able to adapt and deal with them as adults.
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HOW TO SOCIALIZE YOUR PUPPY

I work with many dogs that are afraid of people, places or things. It’s a hassle to own a fearful dog. Some of this is a result of poor breeding, and all of the socialization in the world can’t overcome poor genetics. The rest are fearful because of improper socialization, traumatic experiences and/or poor training. You feel bad for the dog because the dog is so stressed out that it can’t cope with normal, everyday events. With some fearful dogs, you have to significantly alter any interactions with your dog, to prevent the dog from running away or biting someone.

In some cases, the dogs are fearful because they have weak temperaments and are easily conditioned to become fearful. Breeds that combine intelligence, timidity, pain sensitivity are prime candidates for becoming biters. They make quick associations between events and aversive consequences. I’ve seen this with Chihuahuas. In other cases, the dog has developed fears because of a lack of Socialization, especially during the first 16 weeks of life. By purposefully socializing your dog, you will be able to prevent your dog from developing social anxieties and phobias.

Socialization is the process by which a dog develops a bond with a human, identifies itself as part of a human family, and develops relationships with people and animals. Every dog needs to be on a purposeful socialization program for the first 2 years of its life. Many books will tell you that the socialization process is over by the time that a dog is 16 weeks old, but they are wrong. Socialization continues throughout the life of the dog, however the dog is most malleable during the first 16 weeks of life, somewhat malleable during the remainder of puppyhood (which in some breeds might be until the dog is 4 to 5 years old), and is able to be influenced somewhat when the dog is an adult. When the socialization process goes wrong, the puppy will have an improper view of people, and this can result in numerous behavioral and stress-related physical problems. YOU MUST INTENSELY SOCIALIZE YOUR PUPPY BEFORE IT IS 16 WEEKS OLD (STARTING AT 8 WEEKS OF AGE). YOU MUST NOT WAIT. YOU MUST BALANCE THE RISK THAT YOUR DOG MIGHT GET A DISEASE WITH THE RISK THAT YOU WILL CREATE A FEARFUL DOG IF YOU DON’T SOCIALIZE YOUR PUPPY. Yes, there is a risk that your pup could get sick by socializing it before all the vaccinations are completed. But, if you don’t socialize your pup before 16 weeks of age, you could end up with a dangerous dog. Socialization can and should involve commencement of Basic Obedience training by the time the pup is 16 weeks of age.

Ninety five percent of the time you spend with your young puppy (under 4 months of age) should be focused on implementing the tasks listed above. The other five percent should be formal training.

Always have treats with you wherever you take your puppy. Food overcomes Fear and makes the situation seem positive to the dog. Also use lots of sweet talk, handling, and gentle play to help your puppy get acquainted with you and your world. End every Socialization session on a high point

It’s always difficult to find areas in which to safely and legally Socialize, Teach and Train a dog. Scout out our town and neighboring towns for dog friendly areas. DO NOT TAKE YOUR YOUNG PUPPY TO OFF LEASH PARKS!!!! YOU RISK THAT YOUR PUPPY WILL BE ATTACKED (MANY DOGS ARE NOT GOOD WITH PUPPIES) OR THAT YOUR PUPPY WILL GET A SERIOUS DISEASE AND DIE. Pick other public areas. MANY GROUP CLASSES ARE ALSO INAPPROPRIATE FOR SOCIALIZING PUPPIES: I WOULD ADVISE TO AVOID THEM. Join one of mine, and you’ll see why.

Don’t expect the whole family, or some of your friends, to like your dog or to participate in the Socialization process. This can be a dangerous dilemma when you pick a protection breed of dog. The puppy needs to bond to the family and get to know your friends, but one person refuses to get to know the dog. This is the person that will be likely to be bitten by the adult dog. You must impress upon this person that it is in their best interests to get the puppy to know them during the first 2 weeks the puppy is home. This can be a real problem with moody teenagers or Dog Haters.

Don’t expect too much of your puppy. You are going to have to be comfortable with waiting on your puppy to become an adult. For some breeds, they aren’t adults until they are 4 to 5 years of age. Until your dog becomes and adult, you are going to have to continue the Socialization process. You also can’t finish the Training until your dog is an adult.

Place a wide nylon buckle collar on your puppy. Check the tightness on a regular basis as the puppy grows. You should only be able to get 2 fingers under the collar, otherwise the collar could slip off in public and your puppy could run away. Get the puppy used to wearing a collar.

If the puppy cannot be directly supervised by you, then it should be in a kennel or a crate so it can’t learn anything on its own, so it can’t be hurt, and so you can House Train the puppy properly.

When the puppy is out of the crate, it should be directly supervised by you. You are going to show it what it must learn, and shelter it from danger and dangerous people.

It’s going to be hard to find safe and clean places to take a puppy if you live in a city. You’re going to have to do the best that you can.

If you have multiple dogs, and other pets, you should let the pup interact with them every day. However, make sure the pup bonds to YOU instead of the other dogs! Spend lots of individual time (at least 50% of the pups waking hours, until the pup is 6 months old) with the pup every day.

Crate train and house train the puppy. An adult dog can be in a crate for up to 4 hours at a time before they need to get out and move around. An adult dog can be in a kennel up to10 hours a day, but will need more exercise and time with you once out of the kennel to balance out the isolation and lack of exercise. Do the house training properly from the start… otherwise, you might have problems for the rest of the life of your dog!

Teach the puppy to chew on Chew Toys, not on your furniture, clothes, rugs, etc. Just substitute the Chew Toy for the other object. Through repetition, the puppy will learn what is an acceptable Chew Toy. This will take a process of 2 years of constant supervision.

While outdoors, expect the puppy to pick up small stones, leaves, sticks and pieces of bark in their mouths. Just gently take the object out of the puppy’s mouth and move on. They are just exploring their environment. After 8 weeks of age, you should start correcting your puppy for picking up these objects (You need a professional dog trainer to show you how to do this… don’t try this on your own). You must not let them swallow foreign objects, otherwise the pup could die or need surgery to remove them.

Your puppy will need to play with other puppies for the first 3 years of life. Try to find some disease free puppies. The puppies shouldn’t be any older, or much larger, than your puppy. You’ll want your puppy to get used to being around other strange dogs. You start this with puppy play. I often have contacts with other puppy owners needing other puppies to play with, so contact me for some names and phone numbers.

After Socialization sessions, expect your puppy will need to sleep about 1 ½ to 2 hours.

Expect puppy playfulness. The puppy won’t be able to pay attention to anything for a long period of time. Their minds wander as they soak up all they are seeing and experiencing.

Expect the puppy to be mouthy (nipping). Warn strangers and their kids before they pet the puppy. You don’t want someone slapping your puppy. You also don’t want an accusation that your puppy bit someone, and have your puppy seized by animal control. In some jurisdictions, animal control might seize a puppy that bites if a complaint is filed! Always warn first and allow the other person to opt not to touch the puppy. You must warn children and the parents, not just the children. Children aren’t held responsible by the law for their consent, but adult parents and guardians are. The solution is generally to supervise the situation and everything goes fine. If you don’t know what to do, then you need to hire a trainer to show you. Even when you commence training, many pups will enter into a test of wills with you, or resent being made to obey, and will be mouthy (nipping) in order to avoid doing simple obedience exercises. These issues need to be worked out patiently. This kind of thing is normal. You must NOT lose your temper with these types of pups, or give up on the training. This kind of thing needs to be sorted out. Getting this sorted out early will make your long term relationship with your dog much better. I have seen people give up on lessons, thinking that the situation will go away on its own as the pup gets older. This is rarely the case, and only allows the pup to get bigger, stronger and more determined. It is easier to work on this when the pup is small and more malleable, than to wait and let the pup become older, stronger, more willful and unruly. It is still possible to work with adult dogs that have become serious bullies or brats, but it isn’t any fun and often then requires a lot more force than I prefer to use. Such adult dogs can actually become quite dangerous if you lose your cool and try to force them to obey. If you don’t properly train them and deal with the confrontations, things can quickly get dangerous. Since they have been getting their way for so long, they can now back up their “opinions” with big, sharp teeth.

Expect that the puppy might throw up after a lot of activity, which can be life threatening to some breeds and types of dogs. It’s best to Socialize a puppy before meals, not right after them. If the vomit looks strange, then get the puppy to the veterinarian immediately!

Don’t let your puppy learn to be a digger! If you leave the puppy in the back yard unsupervised, the puppy will learn to dig. This is extremely important with certain breeds that are known to be diggers. The back yard isn’t safe… use a crate or proper kennel when you can’t supervise your pup. I know of puppies that have died being left unsupervised in a back yard… I never even got to meet the pups because they were dead before the lessons even started.

As the weeks progress, your puppy will start to figure out how things work. They will learn to get into cupboards, through doors, around gates, and into blocked-off areas. Your puppy will need extra supervision in these areas so you can distract them into other activities. You don’t want them to develop a habit of getting into dangerous areas.

You are going to get tired. Watch your energy level. If you get too tired, then you will become quick to anger. You might do the wrong thing and improperly correct your puppy. Keep yourself on a schedule to ensure you are eating properly, getting time off (by trading off your duties with another family member), and getting enough sleep. If you are doing the Socialization right, you will get tired! A good trick is to keep the puppy awake for a while, so the puppy will sleep when you sleep. It might be a few weeks or even months before your puppy can sleep the whole night without waking you up.

Be careful of power cords! You’ve got to watch puppies like a hawk! Puppies like to chew on them and can get electrocuted! Say “Out”, and immediately give the puppy a substitute toy. Be persistent!

Expect the puppy to whine and cry the first couple of nights. They might cry in the middle of the night, when you leave the room, or when the family goes to bed. This will pass if you don’t make a big deal about it. IT IS OK TO COMFORT A YOUNG PUP. If your pup doesn’t like the crate, then don’t force them in and make them panic! If you don’t know what to do, then CALL ME AND SET UP A LESSON ON CRATE TRAINING! It is easier to acclimate a young pup to a crate than waiting until the pup is over 16 weeks of age. Don’t postpone this. Pups need to learn to be alone at an early age, otherwise they are too dependant when they get older.

Keep the puppy from becoming afraid of anything or anyone, yet, take the puppy everywhere you can, to as many new places as you can, every day you can. Be careful to not let your puppy get injured running along slippery floors, off ledges and down stairs! It will take a few months for the puppy to develop coordination. A broken shoulder, hip, elbow or ankle is extremely serious!

Food overcomes Fear. Feed the puppy small bits of treats in new places and when meeting new people. Don’t fill the puppy up with treats. Use small, tasty bits, just large enough for the puppy to be interested in them during stressful new experiences. Let the puppy’s appetite be your guide to measuring its Fear level. A Fearful dog won’t eat a treat that it would otherwise gobble and swallow at home. Go only as close to the Feared thing or person so that the puppy will eat the treat at the same time. Eventually, you will be able to get closer and closer to that thing or person.

Avoid confrontations with aggressive dogs. Find other comparably aged puppies, or very friendly and gentle adult dogs to play with. If you have the time, it would be ideal to limit dog Socialization (with other friendly dogs) to no more, and no less, than about 30 minutes a day. Don’t be so polite to people that you ignore what is going on with your puppy. Get out of there if you see another dog bullying or threatening your puppy.

Expect your puppy to get restless, and even start nipping or getting into trouble, if the dog has to defecate! When a puppy has to defecate, they are under pressure. It makes them Irritable. It’s not disobedience (how can they disobey when they don’t know yet how to obey?).

Have your puppy meet 100 friendly strangers, plus all of your friends and family, before the puppy is16 weeks old. Go to clean and disease free areas during this time. Your puppy is still susceptible to certain dog diseases. It’s a tricky balance. You need to Socialize the puppy, but you need to keep your puppy healthy. There isn’t a really good solution. Let the puppy go to the person, not the person to the puppy. You want to encourage approach behaviors, not avoidance behaviors. It is a mistake to make any dog wary of friendly strangers in public, even if the dog is to be used as a professional guard or personal protection dog. You want the dog to be able to distinguish the difference between the behavior of a normal person and an bad person. If the puppy meets lots of normal people, then the adult will know when a person is acting weird, and will be able to alert and protect you. Don’t force the greeting on the puppy. Let the puppy warm up to the stranger. Give the stranger a treat to give the puppy. After the puppy has eaten the treat, then the stranger can pet the puppy on its chest ONLY. This is the least threatening greeting to your puppy.

Find a way to take your puppy to safely explore a forest, desert, grassy plain, mown grass field, and beach. Be sure to supervise your puppy. I would recommend that your puppy drag a long, light cord, attached to its buckle collar, so that you can grab the cord and rescue the puppy if it approaches something dangerous.

Your puppy will be better off if each family member spends personal time, alone, with the puppy as it is being socialized. Take turns. Supervise the kids from a distance when doing this, to prevent them from doing something foolish.

Take daily, brief car rides with your puppy. Make them happy times. Put down a towel where the puppy will be. Have the puppy on a leash. For the first couple of days, just have the car running and sit in the driveway with the puppy in the car with you. Then, take short trips around the block, driving very slowly, making no sudden starts, stops, or sharp turns. Don’t let the puppy fall off a seat and get hurt. Don’t teach the puppy to ride in your lap, or to put its head out the window. Never put a puppy in the back of a pickup truck! Lots of dogs die that way every year.

For the first week home, hand feed the puppy one of its meals every day. You want your hands to be associated with the delivery of good things. Lots of dogs are “hand shy”, meaning they avoid the owner’s hands, either because they have been hit, or are just wary of them. This is part of the process of teaching your dog to approach and work with you closely. This will help later on in teaching the obedience commands.

You can do some supervised agility work. Take the puppy to a child’s playground at a park or school. Teach the puppy to negotiate over and under obstacles, walk on strange surfaces, go up and down stairs, etc. DON’T EVER LET THE PUPPY OUT OF YOUR SIGHT OR LET YOUR PUPPY GET HURT!

Let your puppy explore and search in safe areas in forests and natural fields. The puppy should be dragging a line so you can rescue the puppy if need be. Be careful of steep drop-offs, rushing rivers, etc. The goal here is to make the puppy comfortable with and used to being outdoors, seeing wild birds and animals, and to teach the puppy to keep an eye on you. Once the puppy becomes bored and too tired to go on, take the puppy home. You want the puppy to learn to not be so excited outdoors that it can’t pay attention to you when teaching basic obedience. Outdoor sights and smells are very distracting to a dog. You need to become more interesting to the puppy than inanimate objects and wild animals. If you are a hunter, then you will reverse this process somewhat, not letting the puppy get bored, building the puppy’s desire to find certain types of game in the field, while still getting the puppy used to being outdoors and keeping an eye on you.

Begin regular grooming and healthcare: Daily teeth cleaning, weekly inspections and cleaning of ears, regular brushing, weekly nail clipping, etc. Many adult dogs won’t let you groom them because they weren’t made comfortable with the process when puppies. I recommend working with a groomer from the very start. I don’t recommend using a vet to do the grooming; they are often too rough with the puppies.

Present the picture of a loving, firm, fair, and kind leader.

Don’t allow the puppy to form habits that you wouldn’t want your adult dog doing. For example, most puppies grow out of nipping and mouthing by the age of 4 to 5 months of age. You can usually stop it by saying “OW” and walking away and ignoring the puppy for a minute every time the puppy nips or bites. They bite to get attention and to satisfy their need to chew. But, you don’t want to encourage a puppy to nip and mouth you, because you’ll really have a monster when the puppy grows up and starts biting you to control you. Never hit a dog for nipping or mouthing you! Hitting is a sure way to turn your dog into a serious hand biter. IF YOU ARE HAVING TROUBLE WITH THE NIPPING AND JUMPING, THEN PLEASE SET UP A PUPPY LESSON.

Redirect nipping and mouthing into and acceptable Chew Toy or into retrieving.

DON’T MAKE YOUR DOG AFRAID OF CARS AND TRUCKS. Walk at a distance away, towards car and truck traffic, with your puppy on your left side. Do not walk very near traffic or let cars come up from behind. I’ve seen a lot of dogs that were made afraid of traffic. It is less scary to have traffic, that you can see, coming at you than it is to have it coming up from behind you, that you cannot see. As the puppy matures, around 6 months of age, then gradually expose the puppy to traffic coming up from behind on your walks.

No attack games! Don’t “sic” the puppy on anyone in play! Don’t encourage people to growl or bark at your dog to get an Aggressive reaction out of your puppy. If you do, you are improperly Teaching the puppy to attack people. ALSO, DON’T LET YOUNG CHILDREN HURT OR HARASS THE PUPPY!!!!!!

Establish a schedule. Dogs love routine. A predictable lifestyle makes for a calmer and more confident adult dog.

COPYRIGHT 2006 All Rights Reserved
By: Sam Basso (602) 708-4531
Dog Trainer and Behaviorist
www.SamTheDogTrainer.com