From the second you get your puppy, you will probably hear people start talking about socialization. From the breeder or rescue or shelter where you get the puppy, to the vet, to your friends and family, to strangers on the internet, everyone agrees that proper puppy socialization is important, but very few people will agree on how best to do it.
Do you take your puppy everywhere, and meet every person and dog they see? Do you go everywhere and meet no one? Do you host puppy play parties at your house? Do you start right away, or do you wait for puppy shots to be done? Can you do socialization at home, or does it have to be done out in the world? These questions and more will come up when you start trying to figure out how best to socialize your puppy, so today we are going to answer some basic questions about puppy socialization so you can start off on the right paw with your new best friend.
What is puppy socialization?
Puppy socialization refers to exposing or introducing a young puppy to new experiences in order to help them become happy, confident, friendly adult dogs. It is about teaching the puppy that the world is not a scary place, and that they can trust you to guide them through it. There are hundreds of different things, from activities to objects to surfaces, that can fall under this umbrella of of socialization, and we will go into more specifics farther down.
Will socialization be effective at any age?
The short answer is no, your efforts to socialize your puppy will not be as effective at any age. To understand why socialization when a puppy is young is important, we need to talk a bit about puppy development stages. The first 20 days of puppy development are the neonatal stage, and the transitional stage. In this time, the puppy goes from helpless blob to a seeing, hearing, tiny dog who can now experience the world. And once the puppy is ready to experience the world, the third developmental stage, the Socialization Stage, begins.
The Socialization Stage is a unique time in a puppy's life, where new experiences are not only more likely to be good, but the puppy is more likely to remember them. This is because of two aspects of their babyhood are fading, but not yet gone; neophilia and generalization. From birth, a puppy is what is called "neophilic" which means that they love new experiences. This keeps them from stressing themselves to death when the experience any of the hundreds of changes that happen in their early life, like a change of bedding or temperature, being picked up, or stumbling when they first try to walk. Generalization means that a puppy can have one experience, and assume that all similar experiences will be the same. Once again, this goes back to being a helpless newborn. If mom gets up and leaves the babies, then comes back, she'll always come back. If humans pick them up and handle them nicely, then humans will be nice. If siblings like to roughhouse and play, then siblings are fun. While both of these instincts keep very young puppies safe, they also endanger adult dogs, so they both fade away as the dog ages. By the end of the Socialization Stage, a puppy will be neophobic (fearful of new things) and by the time a dog is two or three, they will all but loose the ability to generalize.
The Socialization Stage lasts from the third week of life until around the twelfth week of life, but some breeds will end this stage early (around eight weeks) and some will end a bit later (around fourteen weeks). Considering puppies need to stay with their mothers and littermates for at least the first eight weeks of their life, that does not give new puppy families much time to start with their socializing, so it is incredibly important to start socializing right away.
Why is puppy socialization important?
Like we discussed, puppies not only love new experiences at the start of their Socialization Stage, but they will assume that similar experiences are also going to be good. Their Socialization Stage ends when their neophilia fades to neophobia, somewhere around 12 weeks. So positive exposure to as many things as possible before that point is essential.
I have been lucky enough to be involved with a number of litters of puppies, so let me give you an actual example of two littermates, Cash and Yuma, who went to different homes, and how they turned out. These two puppies had essentially identical lives for their first eight weeks, where they had their every need met, had early socialization with their litter and their mother, and had the same sire. The differences in their temperaments when they got older was largely because one was correctly socialized, and the other was not. Both puppies had children and an older dog in their new homes. Puppy number one, Cash, had days that consisted of learning the house rules, getting used to his new family, and exploring his yard. There was very little change in his routine, and he adapted very quickly to his new life. When puppy number, Yuma, two went to his new home, his days were always different. Each day, for about two months, he had a new experience, new textures to walk on, new smells to explore, new sounds, new people, dogs, or other animals to see, or new places to visit. Each day offered something new, and his humans took care to be sure his new experiences are always fun. They started taking the time to teach him new things as well. He adapted not only to his new life in his new home, but he also to the new things he was introduced to each day, and started to learn basic manners.
When the pups were about eight months old, the differences between them were startling. Puppy one, Cash, was happy in his home with his family, but if anything different happens he was vocal, and uncomfortable. He barked at people who came over, then jumped on them, and occasionally mouthed them. He startled at loud noises like fireworks, and construction sounds. He pulled franticly on his leash wherever the family took him, he barked at people and dogs, he did not listen to his people, and often seemed to not even hear them. Meanwhile his brother, Yuma, was almost bomb proof. He was friendly with everyone he met, greeted guests calmly, was social with other dogs, and unfazed by loud or unexpected noises. Even at eight months old, he was well behaved in public, and could accompany his family anywhere.
These dogs are now three years old. Cash has improved in his behavior with training, but he is not comfortable in new situations like his brother is. He is still easily startled, and wary around strangers still, though he no longer barks at people. Yuma, on the other hand, is still a happy dog that gets to enjoy his life to the fullest with his family. He has had virtually no behavior issues, and continues to thrive accompanying his family to kids sports games, on camping trips, and just about anywhere else dogs are allowed.
The moral of this story is this: when your puppy gets home to you at eight weeks or so, do not wait to start doing things with them. If you are worried about puppy shots, there are many different things you can do in your home, or other safe environments that will help to socialize your puppy, without you needing to risk their health.
How do you properly socialize a puppy?
The short answer is give your pup as many different positive experiences as possible. Puppies, because of their lingering neophilia, will be predisposed to like new things, but that does not mean that they will automatically like everything we throw at them. Add in their ability to generalize, and it will only take a few bad experiences for them to start to heavily mistrust the world, which is the opposite of what we want.
Really, good socialization comes down to building trust. Building in trust in you that you are not going to put them in a situation that they can't handle, building trust in other people and dogs that they are not scary or mean, building trust in the world in general, that it is a safe place, full of fun. Prioritize positive experiences over many experiences, meaning if you are unsure if you can make an experience positive, skip it, even if it is not something you know you will get to try later.
Start by building trust in you; make all your interactions with your puppy positive. Feed them, give them treats, play with them, praise them when they go potty outside. The other part of building trust is to be sure that you never put the pup in a situation they aren't ready for, and to remove them immediately if you do. If your puppy can trust you to keep them safe, then they will be more comfortable in the world. This then helps them trust the world to not be a scary place, but a fun one.
What sort of experiences should a puppy have?
There are really too many to list, but here's some ideas that you can do in your own home. The golden rule here is no forced interaction. Let your puppy explore at their own pace, and do what you can to make them enjoy the experience.
Introduce your puppy to trusted people, either in your home or in their homes.
Allow puppy safe dogs to meet the puppy in your home, or the dog's home.
Take the puppy around dogs and people that it is not allowed to meet.
Let the puppy meet friendly animals of other species, especially any that it is going to be living with.
Start puppy training
Let your puppy observe strange children playing, even if you have children in the home. Build a fort of household items for the puppy to climb on, and under, and through.
Change the toys in the puppy's area every few days, and make sure they have different texture and materials.
Crate train your puppy
Give the puppy food toys or food puzzles
Take the puppy as many places as you feel comfortable, but NEVER take them to dog parks, pet stores, or other places with lots of strange dogs. The risk of disease and injury by another dog is much higher than any possible reward.
Drive the puppy through a carwash and a drive thru
Play loud sounds that simulate fireworks, constructions noise, city streets, animals sounds, and other loud noises
Give your puppy lots of chances to practice climbing on and off things, in and out of things, over and under things, and around things.
Practice alone time
Rotate their toys every couple days
Give them access to ground/flooring with different textures
Introduce bath time, and blow drying
Get them used to appliances, including the dreaded vacuum
Spend a day in a big city
Go for a hike in the woods or mountains or on the beach
This is far from an exhaustive list, but it is enough to get you started. Remember, never force the puppy to interact with anything, and always try to make every experience positive. If there is anything you can see being a part of your puppy's life, make an effort to introduce your puppy to it before they are twelve weeks old. It will make you both happier that you did.
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