Puppy Socialisation
It is important to allow your puppy to settle in for several days after you first bring them home. There are many thoughts on how best to start socialising your puppy, but we like to do it gradually and in a positive calm way.
Let your puppy settle in - Once your puppy has settled in for several days, start to gradually expose them to different things around the home. This could be other animals and those sounds they will hear daily, such as the washing machine, vacuum cleaner, and dishwasher etc.
This is best done on a lead, so accustom your puppy to a collar and lead first, using a positive association. Fit a secure fitting collar and test that it's not too tight allowing you to fit two fingers under it. Check this daily, as your puppy grows quickly and adjust it as necessary. To create a positive experience of the lead, clip it onto the collar just as you are about to feed your puppy, as this associates the positive experience of food and having the lead clipped to the collar.
It is important to be patient and not to overwhelm them, as bad experiences they have as a puppy can stay with them forever.
During the first sixteen weeks of their life, your puppy is learning to associate what they experience as good things or bad things, so it’s important not to frighten them or force them to do something. Gently coerce and praise but persist until they stop overacting. Reward and praise their good choices and calm behaviour.
Socialising your puppy with people and other dogs - The best way to accustom your puppy to strangers is to just sit with them on a lead or on your lap and have visitors enter the room and just sit down. They must not stare at the puppy or do the high-pitched squealing and ‘over the top’ greeting that some people like to do when they see a puppy. All this will do is encourage your puppy to be hyper and boisterous, and they will associate, seeing people means hyper time. Just sit and chat to the visitors and let your puppy chill out.
They need to be calm and avoid direct eye contact, or touch and pat the puppy. After a while and when your puppy is settled, they can drop some treats, and you can let the puppy go get them. This allows your puppy to associate visitors with positive experiences and allows them to scent the visitors and check them out. Again, it's important to just let the puppy scent the visitors in their own time and to not reach out or startle the puppy.
Your puppy must instigate any patting - The visitors must not make the first move to touch the puppy, that must be the puppy’s choice. No puppy should be forced to make friends with the visitors as this could just make them fearful people.
Important to know - If your puppy approaches visitors or people to scent them, this is NOT an invitation for the visitors to touch the puppy. So be sure to ask visitors and strangers not to try to touch your puppy. Its just your puppy trying to sniff and assess who they are.
It’s the puppy's body language following the scenting, that will indicate what your puppy wants to do. If your puppy wags its tail and looks to engage the visitors, then they want to be friends, and the visitors can gently pat the puppy.
However, if your puppy sniffs them and walks away, they are not ready or willing to make friends at this point, or don’t yet have the confidence. Be patient and have visitors drop some treats and relax. If the puppy is willing, it will be no time at all before they give the signal that it's okay to pat them.
Remember, all puppies have different personalities. Some are confident and some are nervous or frightened. Never judge your puppy by what other puppies do.
Socialising and Dog Parks - Your puppy needs to learn to cope with other dogs, so don’t rush out to a park or area where there are lots of other dogs.
We don’t recommend going to a dog park for puppies and dogs under 12 months of age, and not at all for dogs that can’t cope with the dynamics of a dog park. Not all dogs are 'party animals'.
We much prefer to socialise our puppies with a friend’s calm, well behaved dog, or dogs that will not overwhelm the puppy, rather than dogs that might discipline them or become aggressive to them. This could send them the wrong signal from an early age, that dogs are to be feared or avoided, and it will create lots of problems in later life.
Make the whole experience of socialisation a positive process. You could use a treat from a stranger to make the meeting process an enjoyable event for them.
Remember, to develop a well-balance and calm puppy, don't overwhelm them and try to make their introductions to new things a positive experience, and not a traumatic or scary event.