How to Socialize a Puppy to Become a Well Behaved Dog

Socialization is key to growing a puppy into a happy, healthy, fun dog. Unfortunately, many people, sometimes even veterinarians, do not realize the importance of socialization, or do not understand how to accomplish it.
Lack of proper socialization can lead to many problems, including aggression and shyness. It's time to shed some light on this important and overlooked matter.
Socialization is best begun at birth, and continued throughout your dog's life. The crucial socialization period, however, is between 5 and 12 weeks of age. From 5 weeks to 7 weeks the puppies are primarily socialized to other dogs. That's why it is so important for puppies to stay with their mother and siblings until they are fully 7 weeks old. (There are sometimes exceptions, but that's another article.) This is the time the puppy is learning all the doggy traits that make it easy for you to train him later: following the leader, bite inhibition (which is learned through playing with and biting the other puppies and Mom), canine body language, etc. Once the pup is 7-8 weeks old, it is ready for you to begin socializing it to life with humans.

The first thing to understand is that simply being raised with children, raised in the house, or around the cats, is NOT proper socialization but only one portion of the overall process.
All you need is time, patience, and commitment to having your puppy grow up to be the best dog he can be.
Here are the steps:

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• puppy
• leash and collar
• places to go
• people to see
• interesting objects, noises, sights
• animals to visit
• vehicle

1. Take puppy with you to as many places as you can, and encourage as many people as possible to pet him and talk to him, but in a calm, orderly, gentle way.

2. 

   Get your puppy used to riding in cars, but keep in mind that most puppies go through a developmental stage that can cause them to become car sick, around 3-4 months old, so take her for as many rides as possible before that stage hits, and then gradually reintroduce riding in the car once the car sickness seems to be subsiding. Keep necessary rides as short and gentle as possible during the time your puppy is 3-4 months old.

3. Introduce your puppy to as many household and city noises as possible: vacuum cleaners, dishwashers, power tools, crying babies, buses, trains, anything the pup might have to live around or visit during his lifetime.

4. 
   Dogs need toys!

   Give the puppy a variety of toys to play with of different textures, sounds, sizes, materials. Think of his play time and toys as a discovery time for him.

5. 
   Good dogs sit before being petted.

   Never “put the puppy away” when visitors arrive. Instead, teach him manners and obedience commands so that people will be willing to meet him.

6. 
   Introduce your puppy to new friends!

   Don't forget to introduce puppy to different animals: other dogs of all sizes, cats, birds, small animals, bicycles, wagons, skateboards.

7. Remember, the more things, places, people, animals you can expose your puppy to in positive, happy ways, the better socialized she will be, meaning the better she will be adapted to living in our human world – and to changes later on in your life.

Tips & Warnings

• A puppy that starts life getting lots of opportunities to learn and adapt to this life we share will be able to continue to add new things to her repertoire for the rest of her life. But a puppy that is deprived of all but basic stimulation and social experiences will begin to shut down and become very shy as early as 12 weeks of age.
• Also, remember that puppies need a lot of sleep and though they may play wildly, their energy goes quickly and she will need a nap; don't try to squeeze all her socialization into one day, or even one week. Recognize when she is too tired or just completely overwhelmed.
• Keep in mind that you want all these experiences to be very positive. Although the puppy might sometimes be scared your job is to support him without babying him. Never coddle him while he is acting scared or pulling back, but at the same time, don't force too much on him. Request that he “come see” and praise him, give a little treat, celebrate when he approaches.
• As important as early socialization is, you can't forget to balance it with proper medical prevention. Puppies need a series of vaccinations up through the age of 16 weeks, and during this time they are still very susceptible to diseases. You MUST keep up the vaccinations schedule. Also they are young, small, and easily injured. So it is imperative that you choose your socialization experiences and locations carefully. It is not a good idea to take a young puppy into a dog park, or other area where large numbers of dogs visit. You also don't want to allow your pup to play with just any dog that walks up. Choose dogs that you know are healthy, up to date on vaccinations and other medical care, and tolerant of young pups. If you take your pup into a pet store, it is best to carry the pup the entire time, since many, many dogs walk on the floors, and even have accidents on the floors, and your puppy could be exposed to a disease or parasite. The same is true of going to the vet -- keep the pup on your lap or in a crate if at all possible, until the entire series of vaccinations is completed.
• Some adult dogs just do not tolerate a young pup's antics, and you don't want your pup to be scarred by a bad experience. The best adult dog for your puppy is one that is tolerant and seems to enjoy pups, but will also properly discipline the pup if needed. Yep, there are some dogs that are pushovers, like some people, and they will put up with everything the puppy dishes out, never raising a paw in objection -- it's OK for the pup to play with such dogs, but balance it with playtimes with dogs who know how to discipline the pup without hurting it.

Resources

• Learn about dog behavior, training, best products.
• Choose the right dog.

[Alrady]

on 4/20/2009 great tips.. we socialize at petsmart and lowes and anywhere we can. SO important.

[LouisJeffries]

on 1/3/2009 I really like this article and am planning on getting a puppy soon. thanks

[Cougar1002]

on 12/31/2008 5 stars from me. Linking it to mine. :)

[Butterfli]

on 12/28/2008 Very helpful information for anyone getting a new puppy! Thanks! 5*

[pianistic]

on 9/16/2008 Great!~