What Age to Socialize a Puppy
Socializing your puppy is the key to ensuring you have a confident, and well-adjusted dog. Let’s review the best time for puppy socialization and why it is important.
Socialization Starts with Mom and Littermates
When you buy a puppy from a responsible breeder, the socialization process starts before you even bring your pet home. Gentle handling by the breeder in the first several weeks of your puppy’s life and interactions with mom and littermates are essential in the development of a friendly, confident dog. A knowledgeable breeder who encourages a positive experience with people – adults and children — is crucial to help shape the puppy’s adult behavior. As the puppies develop, good breeders allow them to experience safe indoor and outdoor environments including car rides, crates, handling, playing, but also different sounds and smells.
When to Socialize Your Puppy
Puppies enter their socialization stage at about 3 weeks and remain in it until about 18 weeks. During this first three months of their life, their experiences will permanently shape their future personality and how they will react to their environment as an adult dog. Gently exposing them to a wide variety of people, places, and situations now makes a huge, permanent difference in their temperament.
Power of First and Early Experiences for Your Puppy
First and early experiences carry an enormous weight on if your dog will view something as harmless or scary. While in the socialization period, you will want to get your puppy as many new experiences as possible, but always be ready to remove them from the situation if they get overwhelmed. Remember your puppy looks to you for guidance, it’s important to maintain a calm and reassuring presence.
However, one exposure to a particular new experience is not nearly enough. Repetition is important to ensure that the puppy views different things on the puppy socialization checklist as harmless, or even fun! Bad experiences inevitably will happen, but if your pup has had many positive experiences, it will help overcome any fear that may develop.
Is your puppy already past 18 weeks old?
It’s still important to continue your efforts with socialization tasks! Despite that the extra preparedness time has lapsed, your puppy will still be taking in all their new life has to offer. Puppy socialization is all about preparation and prevention. We want to use this period of your puppy’s life to prepare them for the many life experiences they’ll encounter as a family dog and do all we can to prevent serious behavior problems in the future that stem from fear.
Trust the Professionals
Dogs come in all sorts of temperaments, personalities, and abilities. Always constant a professional trainer if you are having difficulty training your dog. Early intervention is key to lifelong success for you and your pup. Contact Puppy Play and Stay to set up training or get information about boarding, daycare, and grooming.
