Socialising Your Puppy

Socialising - taking your puppy out and about to experience new things - is the single most important thing you can do to have a happy, well adjusted member of canine society. Whilst the parents temperaments are, no doubt, of vital importance, just how sociable a dog will be, is ultimately determined by the experiences he has as a puppy, especially those he has before the age of 12 weeks. All our puppies, up until they leave us at eight weeks, will have lived in the house and mixed with all our other dogs, played in the the field on a daily basis - so that they can say hello to the sheep, goats, horses and chickens in the adjoining paddock and played in the garden - so they can press noses with the guinea pigs and rabbits through their runs! We have plenty of visitors throughout the day so a constant variety of human attention is always on hand.

Who you looking at?	Learning to share!

As soon as the puppies are old enough to move around, they will approach anything without fear, as you can see from the picture above of the puppy bounding towards the camera! By the time he reaches about 12 weeks of age, anything new will be approached with caution. Therefore, the critical time for meeting people and other animals, and getting familiar with things in the environment is between 3 and 12 weeks of age.

When they leave us at eight weeks of age it is essential that their education is continued, so we have compiled a guide to help.

Why socialise?

Puppies need know how to relate well to humans as this helps determines their success as pets. Sociable dogs rarely bite and are less likely to be returned to breeders because of aggression. As well as humans, puppies need to be able to interact readily with animals that they may meet in later life, such as other dogs, cats and livestock. Socialising with other dogs at an early age can make the difference between a good pet that can be let off the lead to play and one that has to be taken out in the dead of night so as to avoid all others.

Puppies also need to get used to their living environment and the things we take for granted - hoovers, washing machines, cars, ice cream vans! If this is done when the puppy is really young, he will be happy and confident in any new situations later on and much less prone to developing behaviour problems in later life.

How To Go About It

As your puppy gets older he will gradually be able to take in and retain more and more information. Therefore, it is necessary to begin slowly at a very young age and gradually increase the amount of exposure as the puppy matures. Puppies need to be continually socialised and exposed to different environments up to the age of one year if they are to stay sociable and three or four short sessions per day are better than one long one.

As well as adults of all ages, it is important that puppies meet and have pleasant encounters with children of all ages; toddlers, school-age children and teenagers. All visits will need to be supervised to ensure that the puppies have enjoyable experiences. When puppies have met many different types and ages of people in this way, they tend to generalise and react in a positive way to most people.

Play and handling sessions

During play time - make it fun for your puppy - not just for you! Talk to him, pick him up, handle and play with him bearing in mind you are much bigger! Play toys should be a big part of the session - use soft toys that can easily be carried by the puppy but which are too large to be swallowed. Teaching puppies how take toys and release them when asked at this early stage helps to avoid them learning to play-bite human hands. Take your cue from your puppy when he is tired - if he becomes disinterested or wanders off - take the hint he has had enough and needs a rest!

After play time is an ideal time to teach puppies to accept being handled all over. Gently examine ears, eyes, mouth and tails. He will also need to learn to cope with being restrained, - invaluable during vet visits - hold on when the puppy struggles and let him free gently the second he relaxes, always ensuring that no discomfort is being caused. Your puppy will soon learn that relaxing, not struggling means he will be free to go.

Meeting Others

Bringing in other dogs is not always a good idea unless you are certain of their temperament and health status. If puppies meet and have pleasant encounters with different breeds and sizes of adult dog at a young age, it ensures they will be able to relate well to others in later life. Make sure that all the dogs they meet are healthy, vaccinated, have not recently been walked in areas where other dogs have toileted, and are known to be good with puppies. An ideal place to socialise your puppy is at your local puppy training classes - he will meet many other breeds and sizes in a controlled environment - you can pick up many tips and training skills from professionals which make the early stages far more productive and fun for both you and your puppy. Different Experiences

You should aim for your puppy to have at least one new experience per day. This can range from placing a novel object in with him, to taking him out for short car ride. Choose experiences that are unlikely to overwhelm him early on - such as taking him to meet the children at the school gate - but try to stretch him a little every day. Gradually accustoming your puppy to different experiences will provide an opportunity for them to become familiar with a wide range of different scents, sights and sounds. Remember to imagine how it feels to be that small, vulnerable and inexperienced and try to make your puppy is enjoying the experience and not feeling overwhelmed.

Different Smells

Since a dog’s primary sense is that of smell, part of the socialisation process involves getting used to different scents. This can be achieved by hanging pieces of cloth in different places, such as the veterinary surgery, a kitchen or wiping them on a baby, a man (if only women care for the puppies), cat or another dog. This may not seem very important to us as humans, but it can play a big role in the process of familiarising puppies with the world outside.

Learning to be alone

Your puppy will need to learn to cope with being on his own occassionally - perhaps when you need to go to the shops, pick up the children from school, etc. It is vital your puppy learns to stay happily on his own for a couple of hours at the most as dogs that have never learnt to be left for short periods of time can suffer from separation anxiety, leading to severe stress for your dog and destructive behaviour. Begin this process slowly leaving him in his crate or "bedroom" for a few minutes but able to see and hear you. Gradually increase the time he is left alone until he can cope with an hour on his own. Always ensure your puppy has been to the toilet beforehand and has free access to water. If you are crate training your puppy and his crate is his bedroom for the night, go through your night time routine, snack, drink, trip to the garden and a cuddle before putting him in his crate - your puppy will soon associate that the routine means an extra nap and you will soon be back.

Keep it positive

All encounters and experiences should be enjoyable. If your puppy becomes scared or anxious, it will set back progress. Try to plan ahead so that unpleasant events are avoided and arrange for all encounters to be successful and rewarding. Visitors will need to be supervised and everyone responsible for the pup will need to learn to read their body language so that they will know whether they are enjoying the experience or not. Never overwhelm puppies with too much at once, and always allow them plenty of time for sleep and rest between each encounter.

If your puppy becomes unduly distressed when left alone at any stage, reduce the time he is left for, until he can cope and progress more slowly next time. After a period of isolation, give the puppy plenty of fuss and attention plus a well earned treat!

Vaccination v Socialisation

Keeping puppies isolated until they have developed full immunity can ruin their future character, so a compromise must be reached between the need to protect against disease, and the need to ensure good mental health. As most of the socialisation will be with humans rather than other dogs, such a compromise is feasible and, if the following guidelines are adhered to, it is possible to socialise your puppy and avoid the risk of infection.

Until puppies are fully protected by vaccination they should:

• Not be allowed to mix with dogs of unknown vaccination status.
• Not be taken to parks or walked in other areas which other dogs have fouled
• Be taken out and about often in ‘non-doggy’ areas, carrying them if necessary to allow them to experience new sights and sounds without the risk of contact with disease.