Do you know how to socialize a puppy? Why is it so important to make sure a puppy is properly socialized? These are questions we are going to answer today. Olivia is very busy being socialized now to make her a better hound down the road. Socialization is one of the more important things one needs to do with a young puppy.
We are not professional dog trainers, but we do know a bit about socializing puppies, and we are sharing what we know with you. Socializing doesn’t mean taking a puppy to a party, it means getting a puppy used to the world we live in. It is a large task but one that can easily be done. Things puppies see and experience in a positive way will be seen as normal later on in life.
Puppies also learn really well from other dogs in the house. If it works, take them out and about with a well socialized older dog to teach them the world is a safe and fun place.
Simple Ways To Socialize A Puppy
My mom tries to get Olivia a new experience at least one to two times a day. Experiences don’t have to be anything extraordinary. Some easy new experiences for puppies around your home/neighborhood would be:
- Let the puppy sniff around street grates, obviously very carefully, but they should learn not to fear such a surface.
- Mow the lawn with the puppy at a safe distance from the mower.
- Vacuum the house.
- Put your big trash bins in or out and take puppy along on a leash.
- Stand near a street with lots of loud traffic including big, noisy trucks.
- Visit a crowded playground so puppy learns not to fear kids.
- Greet neighbors, large, small, male, female, different races, people on crutches, or in wheel chairs.
- Walk near someone pushing a stroller.
This is a short list of things that may be frightening to a puppy at first, but if you praise them, bring treats along, and get them used to these things now, they won’t be afraid later in life.
Socialize A Puppy In New Places
Olivia gets around a lot. Mom takes her to as many places as she can so she learns that new spots are fun. For most puppies even different flooring can be scary, so expose them to all types of flooring by visiting different places. Some ideas for this part of socialization are:
- A puppy class.
- Puppy can tag along with your other dog to a class or dog sports competition.
- Take a trip to a pet store.
- Visit the homes of friends and relatives.
- Riding in the car.
- Go to dog friendly stores.
- Find dog friendly restaurants and patios to take your puppy.
- Let someone else take your puppy to places so they learn some independence from you.
Watch For The Fear Periods
Puppies have two basic fear periods, the first is around six months of age, the second around eighteen months. Each of these periods will last just a couple weeks. You will notice your happy confident puppy is suddenly terrified of a stranger or a car. Don’t make a big deal out of it, be happy, and positive. You don’t want a dog to experience trauma during these fear periods as it is very hard to remove from their minds.
How To Socialize A Puppy – Conclusions
The goal of good socialization is to have a well rounded puppy later in life. Obviously, you can’t get a puppy to experience everything, or have only positive experiences, but the more they see and find to be positive the better. Olivia is on the go all the time learning about new things and places. Even a big beach ball is scary for a puppy, but with encouragement, their curiosity comes out and they learn to play with it. Do as much as you can, it will pay off in the future.
What fabulous advice! We are working on socialization with Puffin. Yesterday she went to the horse ranch – I went too. We did not go near the horsies, but we did get to run free. I liked the advice about 6 months and 18 months. Puffin will start school in September when the next class starts in the school we want her to attend. Have a wonderful weekend! XOXO, Sparkle
Glad she is getting out and experiencing the world. It is important.
Excellent tips. Getting them use to all kinds of things, certainly helps down the line.
Especially if your dog will be out and about a lot.
yes… they learn a lot from other dogs in the house… like da nelly who picked phenny as his teacher LOL
And we pick up on the bad things much faster than the good things, right?
Joy, I love reading your posts! You are such an informed and creative mom. This topic is very near and dear to my heart, as my work with therapy dogs would not be possible if they were not well socialized.
Thank you. It is so important for all dogs to be well socialized and it really doesn’t have to be hard to do.
Excellent tips! I sometimes wish I’d done a better job of socializing Ducky when she first came to live with us. But hindsight is always 20/20, isn’t it. Anyway, when/if we get another Golden puppy, I’ll be sure to refer to this post to be sure I don’t forget something.
Mom says she can’t be perfect, and every puppy she gets seems to have a better start than the last. It is a learning curve.
I like your points about the 6 month and 18 month fear periods. Great information.
We have seen puppies where those fear periods are very real, and one needs to be very careful during that time.
You do such a terrific job socializing your crew and yes, it sure does pay off!
Mom tries her best. We are definitely out and about a lot.
Such great advice. You can always tell when a pup/dog hasn’t been socialized. It’s not very attractive.
Have a woof woof day and weekend. My best to your peeps. ♥
Humans are almost the same. Kids who are exposed to lots of things when they are young are better off later in their lives.
What great advice! I remember the first time I had to share the sidewalk with a stroller at age 6 and I wanted to run away. You have a very smart mom, Olivia!
Strollers and wheelchairs are super scary for most of us dogs, so we need to start early with seeing them and understanding they are alright.
Thanks for sharing the great advice. We see a lot of stuff on here I could do if I get a new puppy. There is plenty of stuff on here to help for new pet owners. Have a great day.
Thank you. We are not experts, but we have a lot of experience.
Such wonderful advice!!
xoxo,
Rosy, Jakey & Arty
It’s pretty important stuff for puppies.
Smart advice! My daughter socialized her German shepherd pup very well, and Coda is a happy dog and not afraid fo people, pets, or places. The neighbor got a German shepherd pup about a week later, and Diamond was not well socialized. She barks a lot and will not come near anyone who is not a member of her family.
It’s important to do it right!
It really does make a big difference.
It is so important – and I’m glad that you’re doing it. Have fun with it!
It’s really easy to do, and a lot of fun too. We are bummed so many people really don’t make the effort.
Socialization is important – I wuz scared of the front yard and crossing the street at first, but now I lead the walks!
We were all scared of cars at first as we hadn’t really been near a road before, but we quickly got over that.
We have 2 rescue dogs, and boy, can we tell one wasn’t socialized as a puppy! He is afraid of just about everything! We are working with a trainer to try to get him over as many of his fears as possible. This is a fantastic post. Thanks! Love you all so much!
I hope the one can learn to adapt to the world. Socializing isn’t very hard to do, so it’s sad many people don’t do it.
Great ways to socialize a puppy. Everyone should do these things even with young or older dogs.
Training never stops!
Those are all such important tips! Pierre still hates the vacuum cleaner though! BOL!
Like people, dogs have some fears, but socializing minimizes the amount of things a dog is scared of.
We never thought too much about it with our first dogs, and they were all well adjusted and social. But with Luke I was very aware of what I needed to do. Some illnesses when he was young didn’t help, but we still did all we could. But none of it worked! He just got worse as he got older, so at this point I’m not sure what we could have done differently; maybe we just didn’t do enough. But at times it seemed like the more I did, the worse he got. Some dogs just aren’t social I guess, but we’ll still try whenever we get the next ones! Great post and tips.
Who knows what he went through in the first weeks of life, if he was removed from his mom too early, all that makes a big difference and is hard to change. He is a lucky boy to have you to work with him.