How to Socialize a Puppy

Socializing your puppy will help him later in life with new situations, experiences and people. This can help prevent behavioral problems as the puppy ages. The critical time frame for socialization is from around 8 to 16 weeks of age. Socialization can be a fun experience for both you and your puppy.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Invite a range of people and friendly, healthy pets to visit your home and visit their homes with your puppy. Have people of all ages, including children, interact with your puppy. You can have visitors, mail carriers and delivery people give your puppy a treat to make the experience positive.
2. Enroll your puppy in a puppy training class or kindergarten. Your puppy will be exposed to a new environment, people and other dogs in a positive, rewarding manner. Look for a class where the focus is on having fun and praising your puppy for doing well.
3. Introduce your puppy to noises that she'll encounter throughout life. Run the vacuum, dishwasher and other machines in your puppy's presence. You may need to ease into this as your focus must be on keeping the experience one that doesn't scare the puppy.
4. Take your puppy to the vet's office on occasion, even if you don't have an appointment. Letting your puppy view the vet's office positively, with no poking or prodding, can make future visits more pleasant for everyone involved. Introduce your puppy to ear cleaning, baths and nail clipping in non-frightening ways.
5. Put unusual items in your home and make common items look different. Lay a chair on its side, put a box in your living room or put up an ironing board. Introduce your puppy to things like umbrellas, wheelchairs, bikes, baby carriers and bags if at all possible. Include anything that you want your puppy to be comfortable with.
6. Carry your puppy into places like pet supply stores, playgrounds and shopping areas so that she'll get experience in a wide variety of places, meet different people and hear new noises. Take your puppy for short car rides to get her accustomed to them.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep all socialization experiences positive and fun if at all possible. This will help create a dog who is not fearful of unknown circumstances or people.
• Go slow with the socialization. Going slow will help keep the experiences positive and your puppy from feeling overwhelmed.
• Avoid letting your young puppy play in areas where unknown or potentially sick animals have been. Go for slow exposure to these areas as your puppy ages.
• Don't reward the fearful behavior that your puppy may show to new experiences, places or people. It's normal for puppies to be apprehensive in new situations, but as long as the situation isn't dangerous or too negative, let your puppy find his way through it on his own without jumping in to "save" him.