Our lab Bruce is now nearly 14 weeks old, since getting his injections at 12 weeks we waited a week and started taking him for short walks around the streets near to our house. He was a little hesitant at first and he still is now, but he’s getting there slowly. One thing is that he’s petrified of other dogs it seems, every time he hears a dog barking or sees one in the street he’s instantly scared. We have him booked into a weekly puppy obedience and socialisation class but he’s only starting this weekend. Has anyone else had this experience? Also I’ve been trying to follow the 5 minute rule when taking him out on short walks, but he seems to have a lot more energy to burn sometimes and when we bring him in he still has the “zoomies” for 10-15 mins and runs around the house and gets very excited, will it affect Bruce if we were to maybe add an extra 5-10 minutes to the rule already, if we’re walking him for 20-25 minutes at 14 weeks is that okay? When I say 20-25 minutes it’s probably the equivalent to about 0.7 miles or so in total for each walk, and we do that twice a day. We take him out at 8:30pm on a night to help him settle for bed but he seems to be going to sleep at 9:30 and then waking up around about 4:30 in the morning, so we need to try and push that to about 6:00 if possible because when he wakes up he just barks so we need to come down and let him out his crate. Is this the best time to take him out in order to settle him For the night?
Hmmm... To start taking your puppy out at 13 weeks, is very late. The socialisation period starts to end at 12 weeks and is pretty much closed for sure at 14 weeks. (There is some research suggesting that puppies raised in an optimal and enriched environment have extended socialisation periods up to 16 weeks.) With vaccinations, you only need avoid putting the puppy on the ground and specifically in areas where other dogs may have toileted. That doesn't mean they can't go outdoors. From 8 weeks onwards, my puppies come out with me daily. We take car trips and they ride in my shoulder bag. We go to cafes that allow dogs, DIY stores, pet stores, walk around parks, visit the local police station to meet uniforms, go to a skateboard park and watch bikes and boards, and meet other well-adjusted dogs either at our house or at theirs. You simply can't make up for lost time if you keep a pup indoors until a week after vaccinations have finished and you will affect the dog's personality for life.... Vets really don't realise when they give out this advice to new puppy owners (not to take the puppy out), what they are doing. Far more dogs live miserable lives due to inadequate socialisation early enough, than the tiny tiny number which contract any contagious disease. Their emphasis on germs and keeping pups away from catching things only leads to them receiving inadequate socialisation and developing behavioural issues - which owners and dog then have to live with for the next 12 years... Grr to whatever vet told you this.... It is extremely possible to carry the pup everywhere and thereby expose the pup to almost everything without the risk of contracting any diseases. Anyway... moving on to be more positive about what can be done for Bruce... Be very careful at the socialisation class you have booked, because if he is already scared when he hears or sees a dog, that is quite a high level of fear for you then to be plonking him in the middle of loads of them. My advice really would be not to put him on the ground at all and just hold him in your lap, with a Kong and allow him to watch for a couple of sessions. You want to see more curiosity than fear, before you put him down. Even then - if it is a poorly run class it will have loads of puppies off lead together and little supervision or removing of puppies when they need to be removed. This could all be very overwhelming for him and it could cause him to become even more afraid, reactive (aggressive) or permanently scared. If you see him get pursued by another puppy, or try to move away and not be able to get distance, get in there quickly and pick him up - whatever the trainer says. It would be far better for there to be one or two puppies which themselves are quite timid or cautious, for him to meet. Then they can do 'group cautious puppy sniffing' together and grow in confidence gradually. Instead of adding more physical exercise, I would add more training and mental stimulation to what you're doing. Training and mental stimulation (Kongs, food puzzles) is far more tiring than physical exercise for little puppies. At night, it is really best to take him out as late as possible - as late as you are prepared to stay up. You also don't want to get up in response to his barking, or you will only be training him to bark because you are responding to the noise he is making. Instead, set your alarm clock for 30mins before he usually wakes up to bark, get up before he barks, take him out and put him in the crate. After 2-3 nights, extend the alarm on the alarm clock 30mins later - and so on, until you get right through the night, without teaching him that you will respond when he barks. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
This is so frustrating and confusing. From what I’ve gathered, what jo says is right, and I’m now sooooo glad I’ve been taking buddy to my timber yard. There are cars constantly going by, other dogs walking past, customers, lorries, even the airport gun going off! And he’s been great. We’ve also taken him to the big local pet store and he was great with all the kids and admirers. Now if we listened to the vets, here in the uk, buddy had his first jabs at 8 weeks, many I have read Dont have them until 10 weeks. Then the second lot 2 weeks later, and I got told to wait 3 weeks, so at the very earliest that’s 13 weeks until they can go out! No advice whatsoever about socialising and minimising risk before that time. I’m sorry that this doesn’t really help you, I’m sure things will work out fine for you though with the help that’s available on here. I just wanted to say how confusing it all is
Dont misunderstand, he has been outside and socialised with people and different places during his early puppy weeks, he has no problems with people and different noises and areas. It’s just he is simply weary of other dogs regardless of size. We’ve bumped into two adult labradors on a walk and they bark with excitement seeing Bruce and it just scares him, I think it’s just barking that frightens him because he has sniffed a few dogs he just hasn’t had the chance to really play with any yet due to how careful we were with his vaccinations. Hence why we’ve booked puppy obedience and socialisation classes. We don’t have any friends with dogs that we feel are gentle enough to introduce him to yet cus I wouldn’t want to scare him t a point where he doesn’t want to be with other dogs. However I’m hoping on our walks we bump into as many dogs as we can and hopefully they don’t bark and just play with him for a minute if he gets a chance. I’m not concerned about him having any lasting problems I was just posting to see if anyone else had also been through the same thing and wondering how long it would be before he’s completely comfortable with other dogs! As for the night sleeping, I thibk we’ll try taking him for a walk slightly later and see how he gets on, hopefully he can start to last a little longer through the night. Thanks for your help.
Well even after everything I’ve done I can’t guarantee buddy won’t be like this, and I must admit I’m a bit anxious to see what he’s like when it comes to meeting new dogs up close (though I won’t show it and try to let things happen). He has frequently visited his siblings but I guess that’s a bit different. I’ll let you know how we get on!
But to be meeting his own species for the first time at 13 weeks, is very late. By the age of 13 weeks, we would want a puppy to have met dozens of other dogs, of many different breeds, with different appearances, colours, coat lengths, brachy faces, tails, no tails, big and small... and so on. If all he's done is sniff some noses, it's definitely concerning. Here is a link to what we would want a puppy to have experienced by 12 weeks: http://deesdogs.com/documents/thepuppysruleoftwelve.pdf "Played with 12 different puppies (or safe adult dogs) as much as possible." Assuming these dogs are just bigger or more boisterous (not reactive or aggressive) I would suggest meeting these dogs, and asking their owners to keep them on a leash and (if necessary) to preoccupy them with treats so that Buddy can meet them without feeling overwhelmed. If you want to work on the barking by itself, I'd suggest getting some recordings of dogs barking - you can do this easily online via iTunes or YouTube - and playing them very quietly whilst Buddy is eating a Kong or otherwise preoccupied. If he is still relaxed after a few minutes, then turn the volume up a bit - wait another few minutes... and so on. This may help prepare him for meeting other barking dogs at class...
