“The primary and most important time for puppy socialization is the first three months of life. During this time puppies should be exposed to as many new people, animals, stimuli and environments as can be achieved safely and without causing overstimulation manifested as excessive fear, withdrawal or avoidance behaviour”
The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behaviour – Position Statement on Puppy Socialization
Congratulations on your new puppy! It is such a fun, exciting and let’s be honest with ourselves it can be quite a tiring time. Puppies can be a lot of work, but the work you put in now will pay off huge in the long run. Did you know that a puppy’s socialization period is between the ages of 3 weeks and about 16 weeks of age? This is arguably one of the most important times in your dog’s life. It is a period where experiences matter.
We can always teach a dog how to sit but we have such a precious time frame to work with where we can set them up for success by teaching them they have choices and the world around them is safe. But how can you teach them the world is safe when they are chewing your favourite shoe and all you want to do is yell at them? Just as much as good experiences have a massive impact, bad experiences do as well. If your puppy has negative experiences with people/places/things at a young age it might set them up for a life of being fearful (and potentially seemingly aggressive) towards that thing.
I would love to work with you and your puppy to help you set your new little friend up for success. After all, you chose to bring them into your home and it is your responsibility to do the best you can for them.
Take a look at the resources below to help your navigate your way through puppy ownership. If you would like to work together on this get in touch here.
The number one priority with a new puppy is not teaching “sit” or “down”, it is taking the little window of opportunity we have now to teach them the world around them is safe. We do this through executing a socialization plan that is in line with where your puppy is now, and where we want them to be.
American Veterinary Society of Animal Behaviour – Position Statement on Puppy Socialization
When you first get a puppy you have such a small window of time to put a socialization plan in place. Their peak socialization period is from 3 weeks of age until about 16 weeks of age, where ALL experiences matter. We can use this to our advantage to teach them positive associations to things they will encounter throughout their lives. It is because of this that AVSAB recommends for it to be that that the standard of care for puppies is to receive such socialization before they are fully vaccinated. Follow the link above to download the full position statement to learn more.
Preventing Destructive Chewing
Puppies go through some pretty relentless teething times and we need to make sure we are ready with back-ups! Giving acceptable alternatives, managing their environment and teaching cues and redirection techniques can all make the experience much more manageable. Take a look at the video above from Fear Free Happy Homes to get some tips and tricks on curbing that behaviour.
Training and Socialization 101
There are a lot of topics we can cover around training and socialization but I am not here to complicate things for you! Check out this video from Free Free Happy Homes. It talks about why animals act the way they do, socialization and how we can help our pets make the “right” choices as a part of our family.
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