I will have my puppy in late December and been reading a lot about the importance of socialization. How do you socialize a pup in the winter that has not received all of its vaccine. Not like I know 100 people that can come to my house. I also read you should not (cannot ) take your pup to places where there are other dogs, like pet stores, training classes. What would be the best way to do this? Thank you.
How exciting for you! We carried Bailey everywhere we went - shops, town, at the rugby club. He met everyone and also I arranged play dates with three dogs that I knew were vaccinated - my sisters boy who is 10 weeks older than Bailey and my friends two dogs, again older than my boy but small dogs. We went into town and carried him to a seat in the main street (or an outside café area) so he could people watch. This probably will not be an option on wet days for you but taking them out is all part and parcel of getting our pups used to the big wide world. Some puppy training classes do allow pups after their first vaccination and they take all necessary precautions - I know my vets did a puppy socialisation class, it was just on a night that we couldn't make so never attended. Taking your pup outside of your home is important so that they get used to traffic, other people, the sights and sounds of the big wide world outside the front door. Just short trips, even if it is to the bottom of your road to watch some traffic for a minute or two. Good luck and looking forward to seeing some pictures of your pup
We carry our pups until they are fully vaccinated. Remember they don’t have to greet other dogs, just see and experience them. Here is an excellent article - https://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-socialise-your-labrador-puppy/ “Your objective is to expose your dog to a wide variety of normal everyday occurrences that he would not be exposed to if he spent his first sixteen weeks alone at home with you. The easiest way to achieve this is to list the main categories for socialization, and ‘check off’ as each one is encountered and accepted by the puppy. Some things, which he finds scary, will need to be revisited until he is comfortable with them. Socialization can be divided into two phases: pre-vaccination, and post-vaccination. You should work through all the categories possible in the pre-vaccination phase with the puppy in your arms and then repeat the procedure with the puppy on the lead during the post-vaccination phase.” .
Thank you for the article, this is great. Hope it will not be minus 20 by January because I will be the one needing socialization in this cold. Its unfotunate that, motorcycle and any summer activities will not be available.
Yes, it's worth reiterating socialisation is not about meeting every person and dog. It's far more about experiencing different sights, sounds, smells, textures. And, if your dog is super confident, teaching them not to meet other people and dogs, too.
Ask your Vet, your breeder too if near you, about disease incidence reports for your area. Dogs you know who are vaccinated and do not visit dog parks, or areas heavily used by dogs, are probably ok to meet with but ask your Vet.. Douible ditto @snowbunny. Apparently the proper word is Habituation for non alive things like surfaces, sights, smells etc. Funny hats and people of different skin colour are good to see early on to avoid potential embarassment for you later on. It was -20 C and colder for us in January. One place we went was the ski resort parking lot - smells, sounds (not just cars but the loud music piped outside for skiers too) lots of funny hats and shouting, laughing people. With permission we went into the foyer, boy do those big clunky downhill ski boots make a lot of noise. My Aunt's nursing home was also a great spot.
Yup. We don't get many black people in the village where we live. The first time my dogs saw someone with very dark skin, they had a bit of a meltdown
Not strictly true; "Habituation can be described as the process whereby an animal becomes accustomed to non-threatening environmental stimuli and learns to ignore them." (APBC UK). So strictly it can include 'animate objects' like children, people in funny hats etc. Socialisation " can be described as the process whereby an animal learns how to recognise and interact with the species with which it cohabits. In the wild this is likely to be limited to the animal’s own species, but for the domestic dog it includes other species such as man and cats. By learning how to interact with these the socialised dog develops communication skills which enable it to recognise, amongst other things, whether or not it is being threatened and how to recognise and respond to the intentions of others." (APBC UK) An excellent article can be found here http://www.apbc.org.uk/articles/puppysocialisation1
I carried my pup in a rucksack on my front. We went to lots of places suggested in Pippas upper book. Pet store was a good place for different sights and sounds, we also went to B&Q, Costa Coffee (in store as no one noticed her in the bag), garden centres, shoe shops. At every place she got so much attention as an 8 - 14 week puppy is so cute! It’s actually very enjoyable. Winter will be a good time to socialise transport (to keep in the warm), car rides, bus into town.
