07/31/2022
Grooming is an important thing to add to the socialization list. Especially if they are a breed that will require regular lifetime grooming.
Socialization of a puppy is so misunderstood sometimes, and even though you’ve seen me talk about it again and again, I repeat it with every puppy you see me raise because I really want to highlight that it doesn’t matter what the breed or size of the dog is, this information is critical for humans raising a dog.
The socialization period - which used to be called the “critical period” - is a period of time in which your puppy is most accepting of new things. It’s when they are gathering all the information they can about their surroundings and the environment they will exist in for the rest of their lives. Things that are familiar and exposed to them in this period buffer them against them developing extreme fear or anxiety from them later on. It DOESNT prevent behavior issues completely, but it absolutely can lessen their severity. The period length varies based on the individual dog, but also we’ve discovered different breeds have different lengths of this period which is super important to be aware of when choosing your dog. It typically ends by 12-14 weeks, but can go as long as 16 or be as short as 10.
Think about everything we want our dogs to do with us in society today. Beach walks, walks downtown, restaurants, shopping trips, car rides, etc etc. it’s a lot more than we used to ask of dogs, so as a result, our socialization efforts need to be more than it used to be too. 150 years ago we didn’t worry so much about our dogs needing to be okay with the sounds of blenders, or motorcycles or understanding what the Amazon prime van meant, but that’s all changed now. So if we want our dogs comfortable with the world we live in today, we have to show them what it’s all about early, positively and frequently.
That means when raising my puppies, my goal is to expose them to all of this world, and all the things they are probably going to see, hear, feel and watch at least once. No, it’s not about taking them to the dog park, or letting kids climb all over them, it’s about showing them that shiny floors exist, school buses make loud noises, and joggers may run by them quickly sometimes.
Playing and meeting other dogs is absolutely part of it too, but in carefully structured ways, and with supervision. Just because my puppy has dogs at home to play with, doesn’t mean they don’t need to meet lots and lots of other dogs to learn about all the various ways they play, and communicate.
But it doesn’t just have to be meeting dogs. It can be just watching them too. Yes, other dogs will walk past you and that’s okay. Same with people carrying bags or pushing strollers. This is all my job in teaching my puppy that the world is big and has lots to see and explore.
Genetics play a role in the success of socialization also: it is NOT all in how you raise a puppy, they have predispositions and personalities as individual as we do, BUT even if I’m working with a shy puppy, or a confident puppy, the goal is still the same. I may just go at a different pace and change my tactics a little. This goes for breeds too, dog breeds I know who have a likelihood of developing strange danger (ahem, Aslan/joker) I may handle how I expose them to new people as a puppy differently than let’s say a breed that wants to be the town mayor (ahem, winter)
At 10.5 weeks old and 2 weeks home, here’s a list of places Corduroy has already gone and been exposed to at least once-
Home Depot
The Beach
Downtown concord
Rollins park
Campground
The Camper
Marshall’s
Sandys
NMBDT
The barn
Puppy play and train
Day training
Tjmaxx
Playground
Basketball court
He has seen bicycles, boats, strollers. He has heard motorcycles and kids screaming and dogs barking and basketballs bouncing. He has walked on shiny floors and sand and wood chips and tarps. He has met close to 100 new dogs and even more people. This exposure will continue at a heavy pace until he is about 12-14 weeks old, where the socialization period will likely start to close, then it will be about maintenance and continuing positive associations but also being prepared for the adolescent crazy phase to begin.
Every puppy I do this with teaches me something new, and Corduroy is no exception, but I can tell you from raising not only my own dogs, but also the boarding puppies and shelter puppies I do this with too, that is worth every extra hour I need to put in.
If you want more help on learning about socializing your puppy, take our perfect puppy starter workshop - we hold it monthly via zoom and go over all this and more!
