13/11/2025
Scout is 10 weeks old and right in the middle of his critical phase period. He is showing he is not comfortable in dog interaction which is fine, but we need to be very careful to prevent bad experiences with other dogs whilst building his confidence.
This is why we are a hard NO to dogs we donāt know, or even friends and family with dogs that arenāt going to benefit the puppy in building confidence. Itās also definitely why we would never let the puppy meet a dog on the street on-lead
We move Brian away on lead and Scout is able to move freely so he learns:
āļø Heās safe
āļø He has space
āļø Heās in control of the interaction
We also use a happy positive voice to jolly him along and reassure him the experience is a positive one
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Can you see where if Scout is on-lead and couldnāt move away, this would quickly become a bad experience? This is where the wrong socialisation can create reactivity later on
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āØ Your puppy is better off meeting no dogs than the wrong dog during their critical phase window.
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Dog-to-dog interactions are only a tiny slice of socialisation. Donāt forget: sights, sounds, surfaces, handling, people, environments, other animalsā¦ all just as - if not more - important
