Puppy Socialisation

Puppy socialisation is key to raising a happy, confident and well-rounded adult dog. The socialisation period begins at around 4 weeks until around 14-16 weeks, depending on the size and breed of your pup. When introducing your pup to new experiences, the key thing is that it’s a positive experience for them. This is particularly true when it comes to meeting other dogs. Far better to meet fewer dogs but they are all positive experiences rather than meet lots of dogs but many of those interactions are stressful for your dog. Whether an experience is positive or stressful is really up to your individual puppy, so you’ll want to keep a close eye on their body language.

Don’t wait until your puppy is fully vaccinated to start socialisation. There are lots of new experiences you can provide your pup to get them accustomed to the world that don’t involve them walking on the street. You can use a puppy carrier or carry your pup around in your arms. 

Planning your puppy socialisation

Something to consider when planning your puppies socialisation experiences is what kind of experiences they’ll likely be around when they are an adult dog. So if you want to be able to take them to the coffee shop with you when they’re older, get them used to it when they’re a puppy. The same goes for the groomers, stables, garden centres and so on. 

This post is not meant to be an exhaustive guide to stimuli you should expose your puppy to in the socialisation period. However, the more of these things you can expose your pup to, in a positive way, the less likely they are to be concerned by them as an adult dog. As you’ll read, socialisation is about much more than meeting other dogs!

People 

To raise a puppy who is calm and confident around lots of different types of people, he or she needs to be exposed to them in the socialisation period. There’s no need to have every person they meet give them a treat-this won’t happen when they’re an adult. People are generally very keen to say hello to an adorable puppy anyway! As well as other adults, you’ll want to try and expose your puppy to the following people in a positive way:

• Babies and toddlers, including those in prams/ buggies
• Older children and teenagers
• Older adults 
• People using a wheelchair, cane, walking stick or other mobility aid
• People of all genders
• People of all ethnicities 
• People wearing hats, glasses, backpacks, carrying luggage, carrying umbrellas
• People wearing PPE

Dogs

A well-run, reward based puppy class can be a great way of socialising your puppy. However, meeting adult dogs is also important for your puppy to learn how to interact with other dogs appropriately. You’ll want to expose your puppy to a range of dog breeds so that they are confident around dogs of all shapes and sizes. These include sighthounds (such as Greyhounds), gundogs (including Spaniels and Labradors), primitive breeds (such as Huskies), very fluffy breeds (such as Poodles) and so on. 

Avoid taking your puppy to the dog park, especially not before they’ve had all their vaccinations. Dog parks can be overwhelming and intimidating for puppies. Remember too that on your first few walks with your puppy, they do not need to meet every dog you come across. Many adult dogs are not very tolerant of bouncy young puppies. To set your puppy up for success, arrange a playdate in your garden with a friend with a friendly, fully vaccinated adult dog. Keep an eye on the body language of both your puppy and the adult dog and intervene if you are concerned one is looking stressed by the interaction.

Noises

You can use youtube to introduce your puppy to a range of noises and sounds at a low volume. There’s even a puppy socialisation playlist on spotify! These are really helpful as you can get your puppy used to these things in a controlled way. You can slowly increase the volume as long as your pup is calm and happy until they are at a more realistic volume. Then when these noises do happen in real life, your puppy is already used to it and unlikely to be worried by it. This is especially important for sounds that commonly stress dogs out, like fireworks and thunder. Don’t wait til fireworks day to see how your puppy responds, get them used to these noises early. Other noises to get your puppy comfortable with in the socialisation period include:

• Sirens 
• Thunder & lightning 
• Heavy rain and wind 
• Loudspeakers 
• Building  
• People shouting
• Pots and pan banging 
• Hoover 
• Dogs barking
• Cats meowing

Environments 

Getting your dog used to a range of different types of environments in the socialisation period is really useful. The more places they visit and learn are safe as a puppy, the more likely they are to be confident and relaxed wherever you take them as an adult. It’s also more fun for all of you to go for walks in a range of different places. Lastly, taking day trips and holidays with your dog is going to be easier if they are confident in new places. Try to visit the following places with your puppy as part of your socialisation plan:

• Forest/Woods
• Beach
• Parks
• Car rides 
• Vet clinic 
• Groomers
• Friend’s homes 
• Public transport 
• Dog friendly shops
• Coffee shops, cafes pubs and restaurants 
• Lifts 
• Places with automatic doors

Surfaces 

As well as environments, you’ll want to expose your puppy to a range of different surfaces in a positive way too. Many of these can be done on your walks or at home. Remember, don’t drag your puppy onto a new surface. Let them explore at their own pace and be sure to provide treats and praise for their efforts! At home, you want to get your puppy used to walking on carpet, rugs and different kinds of mats. Also, you want to expose them to hard flooring such as wood floors and tiles. Here’s some outdoor surfaces you’ll also want to get your puppy comfortable with:

• Foot bridges
• Grates
• Woodchip 
• Grass 
• Gravel 
• Cement 
• Tarmac (not on hot days) 
• Astroturf 
• Mud 
• Icy surfaces

Other animals

Getting your puppy used to other animals might not seem like a big priority if you don’t have any other pets. But it will make life easier when you visit friends with cats or stumble upon a herd of cows on your country walk if your dog was exposed to these animals as a puppy. When it comes to small furries, you can ask friends who own these pets if you can bring your puppy over to meet them. Keep your pup on a lead and let them calmly have a look at the animal. Make sure to reward them with plenty of tasty treats for staying calm and intervene if your puppy or the other animal is getting stressed.

With livestock, horses and prey animals, keep your puppy on a lead and let them calmly observe from a safe distance. We want your puppy to have no reaction to these animals, just to learn that they’re another thing in the world. If you’re concerned by the puppy’s reaction to other animals, seek the help of a force free trainer or behaviourist. 

In the home

Many adult dogs are worried by noises and everyday stimuli around the home and noises. You can help prevent this by socialising your puppy to these things early on. At this age, your puppy is like a learning sponge. So teach them now that the doorbell is a predictor of food arriving for them, rather than someone coming to the door. This will save you a lot of work later on. Other household noises and events to get them used to early on include:

• Phone ringing
• Loud music
• Television (you’d be surprised how many dogs bark at the TV!)
• Hair dryer
• Hoover
• Kettle
• Dishwasher
• Washing machine and tumble dryer
• Printer and other home office equipment 
• Sweeping and mopping
• Delivery people
• Repair/Trades people in the home
• Holiday sights such as Christmas and Halloween decorations

Alone time 

Now this one is a biggie! Your puppy will likely have never been left alone before so starting small is key here. If your puppy is happy in their crate you can start getting them used to being left with them in there. You can read our post about crate training here. Alternatively, you can have a room that is puppy-proofed. Or, create an enclosed area with an x-pen or flexi baby gate. Before leaving your puppy alone, start building a positive association with this area by feeding them their meals in this space. Place toys and a comfortable area for them to rest in there too. 

You’ll want to get them comfortable with you out of sight and in other rooms before you start leaving them alone. To begin, place them in their crate or puppy area. Then walk out the room and immediately come back. You don’t need to give them any kind of cue that you’re leaving or ask them to stay. You also don’t need to reward them with food when you return. Practise intermittently throughout the day, gradually increasing the amount of time you’re out of sight for in seconds. If your puppy starts to become distressed, go back to shorter periods of time. 

Dogs are social animals and most dogs would prefer to be with their people than left alone. Getting them used to being alone early on is important for helping to prevent separation anxiety. Once your puppy is comfortable being left alone in a room for a few minutes, you can then build up to leaving them whilst you leave the house. Having a camera set up so you can see how your puppy is doing is really useful, we like the Furbo. Again, go slowly and build the time up in minutes. Even if they are comfortable with it, young puppies shouldn’t be left for longer than 1.5-2 hours. You are likely to see a regression in their toilet training if left for too long too.

Grooming and Handling

You’ll want to get your puppy used to various grooming and handling procedures they’ll experience throughout their lives. This is particularly important for long coat breeds that will need regular grooming. Many groomers offer a puppy groom service which can be a nice introduction to going to the groomers. You should also get your puppy used to checking their body at this age. This should include checking their ears, teeth, paws and tail. Take it slowly and teach your dog that you lifting their paw and feeling their paw pads means good things will happen ie. treats! Aim for short sessions of just a couple of minutes when your puppy is relaxed. 

The same goes for introducing your puppy’s harness, collar and lead. You don’t want this to be a rushed and stressful experience. So, practise putting on their walking equipment when you don’t actually need to go out. Many puppies can be a bit worried by having a harness going over their heads so break it down into small steps. Check out this video to see how. 

Bathing and drying

Lastly, get your puppy comfortable with baths and drying. In your first session, start by just putting them in the bath or shower without actually washing them. To start building a positive association with this area, you can get a Lickimat with suction pads to stick to the side of the bath. Put something really tasty on this like soft cheese, peanut butter or pate. Let them eat that, then take them out of the bath. In your next session, just rinse them over with the shower head. Next time, you can shampoo them. In every session make sure they’ve got something tasty on the lickimat to work through and keep an eye on their body language. 

Then practise towelling them down and using a hair dryer. To introduce the hair dryer, give your puppy something fun to do, like a snuffle mat, then turn on the hair dryer on the other side of the room. This builds a positive association with the noise of the hair dryer. You can then build up to blow drying them whilst they work on the snuffle mat. If they are unsure, just put the hairdryer on them for a couple of seconds then give them a treat. You can build up to longer periods and fully drying them as they get more comfortable with it. Go slow now and drying your dog as an adult will be an easy and relaxed process for both of you. 

What next?

• Looking for more help with your reactive dog? Contact us to arrange in person or online training.
• Read more blog posts here.
• Perfect Recall: Teaching your dog to come back when called every time. Our guide is free to download when you join our email list- sign up here.