Socializing Your Pup
When I first heard about “socializing dogs,” I imagined a few poodles sitting around a table with some tea, always using the right fork, and having impeccable manners.
As a breeder though, I’ve learned that this isn’t some term for high society- socializing your puppies is key to them growing into confident, resilient, and friendly dogs.
Why socialize your dogs?
No one wants their furry friend to shake with fear on the fourth of July when the big-sky-booms shake the house, or to bark when the strange-man-with-hair-on-face comes to visit, or whine when they go on road trips in the big-metal-crate-with-wheels. It sure is annoying for us humans, and leads to a lot of unnecessary negative emotions for the dogs.
Properly socializing pups during their critical period of development helps them realize that all these strange human things are normal parts of life that they don’t need to worry too much about. Who knows, the facial-hair-man may even bring a tasty treat when he comes around!
So let’s dive into what counts as proper socialization at each stage of a puppy’s life.
What does “proper” socialization mean?
Safety, safety, safety!
Instead of tea parties, socializing involves introducing puppies to new situations, like new sights and sounds. However, simply throwing them into new situations won’t do much good! Make sure to keep the following in mind to ensure a healthy development process for your pup.
Before puppies are fully vaccinated, socialization needs to be kept off the ground and distant from new friends. Unvaccinated pups are vulnerable to viruses like parvo, so puppy’s paws shouldn’t touch the ground in new places, and the pups should stay away from any unvaccinated dogs or unwashed hands until they are protected by being fully vaccinated.
Dog owners should always take care to avoid overstimulation. While we want to expose puppies to the world around them, every dog has their limits (just like you and me!). Socialization should be stopped before a puppy shuts down or retreats too far inward in fear.
There are signs to look out for to prevent this from happening, like watching for a puppy yawning a lot, licking their lips, or crouching low to the ground and walking away from the stimulus.
Positive reinforcement goes a long way in keeping your puppy from being overstimulated, and through time you will become more aware of their limits.
Knowing where your dog is at developmentally, both mentally and physically, can help keep socialization a safe and positive experience.
How to help puppies that seem scared
Please keep in mind, after introducing new things to our puppies, we don’t expect the puppies to handle the stress all on their own. We use encouraging words, show them how to play with the toys, and use our hands to guide them forward.
For example, our magic “puppy, puppy, puppy!” phrase that we teach to all of our bernedoodle pups has positive associations in our puppy’s minds. Saying this in an upbeat, positive tone while calling your puppy forward towards the source of the fear will encourage them to try new things and feel safe in an unfamiliar environment.
Also, even though it seems counter intuitive, never pick up or pet a fearful puppy. With dogs, comfort during times of stress reinforces their behavior and makes them think they should be afraid in that situation.
Instead, try sitting calmly beside your pup and demonstrating calm confidence. If after waiting a while your puppy is still overly fearful, then you can pick them up and remove them from the situation with no extra affection given.
Before puppies go home (birth - 8 weeks)
When our bernedoodle puppies are still under our care at Olive Branch Bernedoodles, we start daily socialization practice at about four weeks of age.
The process starts slowly and gently with steps like adding new toys into their pen (wait, those giant circle things can move?), and introducing them to new surroundings (oh no, there’s no way I’m walking through that rainbow tunnel).
After a little over a week of this, the new toys get a little more advanced. For example, they play with things with wheels, or toys that move on their own.
Around day 42, after puppies have built some confidence, we have some really fun activities planned for them, like water day, first car ride, and puppy social days..
We always monitor the puppies during new activities and stimulations to ensure they are feeling safe and continue learning, not getting overwhelmed.
First few weeks at home (8 weeks - vaccines)
Time for you to get creative! There are lots of different categories of things to expose your puppies to at this age. Just remember, no paws on the floor outside your home yet!
People
Luckily, this one shouldn’t be too hard, because everyone loves meeting new puppies! You want as much of a variety of people to meet your pup as possible. We are talking different ages, skin colors, hair colors, genders, heights, and senses of style. Besides looks, puppies should also meet people with different personalities. We all have that one… louder friend. Go ahead, invite them over!
Sounds
Boom, clap! Did we drive our puppies to a storm to hear thunder for the first time? No! We pulled out our phones, headed to Youtube, and turned the volume up. Works like a charm, and you can do it in the comfort of your own home where puppies are less likely to be overstimulated.
Try exposing them to different sounds like traffic, garage doors opening, sirens, and vacuums.
Places
This one is a little trickier pre-vaccines, but anywhere that you can hold your dog or keep them in a stroller is fair game. Try going to a local cafe, observing at a park, or going up and down in an elevator.
Sights
There’s so much to see! Guinea pigs, wheelchairs, garbage trucks, and new furry friends will all be new and healthy experiences for your dog to have at a young age. The list is endless, so many opportunities!
Handling
Most dogs are comfortable with you petting their backs (and hopefully their bellies), but you want to make sure your dog will also be comfortable if someone touches their paw, or tail, or mouth. Sometimes this will be necessary, like during vet check ups, and sometimes someone like a small child will touch without making sure a dog is comfortable. Therefore, touch exercises are important to keep implementing after your puppy goes home to keep everyone, including your puppy, safe.
Final stretch of critical period (vaccines - 16 weeks)
Keep doing everything we talked about above, but hooray, puppies can go on the floor! Now they can play at the dog park, go on hikes with you, try walking on something slippery, or go and meet the neighborhood friends.
Remember, even if your puppy is comfortable with some sounds, or people, or places, new experiences can still be more novel to them than you might anticipate. Be patient with your pup and remember that all of this is a vital part of their development.
If socialization is taken seriously at a young age, the rest of their adult lives will be full of comfortable adventure and exciting experiences. They will also likely have less behavioral problems than their unsocialized peers.
It may seem like a long to do list, but with a little effort every day, your pup is sure to be ready to tackle the world by your side!