Puppy Socialisation

What does this mean?

There are a lot of opinions on puppy socialisation and many people can think it is purely about puppy to puppy play. This is just one aspect of puppy socialisation!

Gone are the days when puppy owners are handed a huge checklist of everything their puppy must see before 16 weeks. There is actually a lot of research about how this can result in negative associations as this can involve flooding. Flooding is exposing a living being to stimulus which can cause overwhelm, fear, anxiety and even shutdown (think if the survival responses of flight, flight, freeze, fidget).

Think about it this way - 1 negative experience can far outweigh 100 positive experiences.

It is also important to recognise that life happens and unfortunately we cannot protect our puppies from what life throws our way in terms of negative experiences, but we can reduce the likelihood of these negative experience by how we choose to socialise and expose our pups to the world.

Look at it as QUALITY not QUANTITY. Quality experiences for our pups include lots of observing. For example, I would take my little puppy for a drive to a park, we would hang out in the boot of my car with lots of treats while we just observed what was going on in the distance, when he hadn’t received all his puppy vaccinations yet. This meant he was able to watch kids playing, sport, cars along the road all while being at a safe distance so he would not feel overwhelm and not be at risk or catching a disease.

Each dog is different with what they can cope with. You always see puppies being taken through Bunnings in a trolley. While some puppies can cope with this, others can find this extremely worrying, which can result in the puppy forming negative associations - whether that be to busy places or even people.

Some of the MOST important tools we can teach our puppies are the following:

Calmness
Disengagement from environment and engagement with you / relationship bonding
Value in novelty
Optimism
Flexibility & adaptability
Confidence

So, when we talk about socialisation & exposure, we don't want to flood our pups but to carefully think about how we can socialise and expose our puppies to their surrounding environments in a thought out manner so they can gain either positive or neutral experiences during puppyhood.

Also think about what might be involved in their daily life as an adult. Do you have hopes they can attend weekend sport? Maybe you enjoy having guests over and entertaining? Maybe you have young kids in your life? What about car travel and any noises they may encounter such as a vacuum?

Below are some things to consider:

Positive body handling for grooming and vet visits
Unfamiliar people and dogs
Other animals eg, cats, chickens
Different surfaces and sounds
Objects with wheels
Other objects
New environments

It is also important to think about expectations. Sure, you can have hopes you will have a sociable adult dog, but what if it is too much to ask of your dog to attend weekend sport? Some dogs simply won't cope in some situations, are you willing to change your expectations for your dog?

When your pup is not yet fully vaccinated, care will be taken so they aren’t exposed to potential diseases, however you can still start the exposure/socialisation experience, like I mentioned above, taking your puppy to a new environment and hanging out in the car boot is a great way to start to open up their world while being unvaccinated - observation is KEY!

If your pup is now fully vaccinated, you can continue to open up their world by taking them for walks in new environments (provided they are comfortable walking on a harness and lead). This can involve lots of treats and even their favourite toy, walking and keeping distance from other dogs/people/bikes/cars, etc so you can safely mark ‘yes’ and reward them as they learn about all these things, to help build neutral or positive associations. What this is doing, is helping them learn that these things are actually ‘no big deal’.

Distance is also important - a puppy will find it super hard to disengage if the dog is right in front of them, so be aware of your surroundings, if you see a dog and person walking along your path, increase the distance so when they pass, your puppy is able to engage with you.

What I highly recommend is helping pups learn that people and dogs are actually ‘none of their business’ when out walking. We’ve all seen that over-excited adult dog that when he sees another dog/person, he cannot contain himself and this shows in barking, pulling on lead towards and sometimes lunging. So how do we avoid this?

Don’t let them meet dogs and people when out on a walk, have set-up sessions where they can play with dogs, so they do get playtime, but when walking, this is a no go
When they see another dog/person, say ‘yes!’, when they turn to you, give them a treat. This is helping them learn to engage in with you and valuable disengagement skills

In terms of socialising with other puppies and dogs, really think about what you want your puppy to gain. Things like good social skills, learning how to read other dogs, learning that other dogs are not a scary thing and also learning that when you're out walking, other dogs are none of their business!

I recommend NOT taking your puppy to a dog park, this can really cause life long damage to the dog from one negative experience, especially if you might not be confident in reading dog body language. It really is not a safe place for them to learn valuable skills.

Socialisation & exposure sessions should be short and sweet and involve lots of positive reinforcement! Don't linger in new environments as this could again cause overwhelm for your puppy. Also think about play. Play with your puppy in new environments. Play has so many benefits! It releases the feel good dopamine and is a great way for relationship building with your puppy. Play also helps your puppy learn that YOU are the most exciting thing in new environments, not other dogs or people.

It is important to not stress about your puppy's socialisation & exposure! This process should be fun and enriching for the both of you! I LOVED slowly socialising and exposing my puppy to the world. He was (and still is) a very sensitive boy, so his experiences were paired back a lot.

Puppy socialisation is not black and white and should all depend on the puppy in front of you! Just because your friends Golden Retriever was the life of the party and thrived at soccer, doesn't mean your puppy will be the same.

Please reach out if you want guidance during this time, to help set your pup up for success!