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Socializing Your Puppy: What To Remember
About Helping Your Dog Build Confidence
Socialization is a crucial part of training a puppy. Once you bring them into your home, they’re going to be introduced to all kinds of new experiences. From sounds, smells, and sights, to new people, other pets, and weird things that make them want to hide under the bed.
And it’s socialization that both brings these new experiences their way, as well as helps them get used to these things and take them in their stride. All in all, as they grow into a big dog, they’re going to become a lot more confident in facing the world and anything it has to throw at them.
As such, here’s a few things to remember about socializing a puppy and helping them thrive through their puppy months.
Start Small
It’s very easy for puppies to get overwhelmed and overstimulated! Just like you wouldn’t want to be forced to sit at a table with strangers, all of whom keep wanting to pat you on the head and get in your face, your puppy probably isn’t going to enjoy that either! If you want them to meet someone new, try it in a more private, one-on-one situation first.
Give Them Plenty of Opportunities to Meet Other People
You don’t want to socialize your dog in such a way where it seems like they’re comfortable around other people, but only if those people live in the same house as them! And it’s an easy trap to fall into, as your puppy is likely to spend most of their time with you and your partner, your kids, and any other relatives that visit on a regular basis.So you’re going to want to get them out and about a bit more, so they learn that strangers are OK to be around, find their manners for approaching them, and feel at ease when people they don’t know are in the area.
And you can do that by taking your puppy along to dog friendly spaces, such as the park, a local dog friendly bar, and public areas like the beach or your local downtown scene.
Reward the Positives, Respond to the Negatives
When your dog has a positive reaction to something new, make sure you give them plenty of praise and their preferred reward. This is usually either a treat or their favorite toy, but each dog is different. Either way, if they have a good time, you want to encourage that response from them. Reinforcing this lets your puppy know it’s OK to walk into an unknown situation and roll with it. However, if your puppy does get a bit frightened, or shows threatening behaviors to whoever/whatever they’re interacting with, you don’t want to accidentally reinforce this.
Try to avoid approaching with plenty of pets, or giving them a treat as a way of saying ‘well done for trying’. Give them reassurance and a bit of space. When you’re socializing a puppy, start small, get outside, and reinforce the positives.
