If you do nothing else when you bring your puppy home, do this…
Socialize your puppy.
Puppies are busy little chewing, eating, peeing and pooping beasts. They are also funny, adorable, furry, and cute. I’ve often joked in my puppy classes that their cuteness serves an evolutionary function to help them survive until adulthood. I’m only partly kidding. Anyone who has had to clean an unsavory mess from the carpet, or who has been the victim of a puppy gleefully launching its shark teeth at them, knows that raising a puppy is not all unicorns and rainbows. It takes time and energy to ensure the wriggly little beast is fed, clean, sheltered, and kept out of trouble. We typically spend a huge amount of energy focusing on how to make this easier, and we envision that if the puppy would sit still, come when called, and not throw themselves at the end of the leash, among other things, that most or all problems are solved.
There are a billion things to do and react to when a puppy is involved; our lives and schedules revolve around the puppy. And while routines around the house and home are an important piece of socialization, the other piece—getting your puppy out into the broader world—often gets short shrift.
What is socialization, really?
A lot of people think of puppy socials, an organized event where puppies from different homes are brought to play with each other, as the missing piece of the puzzle. If my puppy plays well with other dogs, this will set the stage for a lifetime of success. While this is part of it, experience with other dogs is just one small piece of the story. Socialization in fact comprises a much broader spectrum of experiences – from environmental noises (household gadgets, construction machinery) to diverse people (tall bearded men, active children) to ground surface textures (shiny slick surfaces, metal), moving objects (rolling carts, bicycles, cars), and sensations like the wind blowing and the feeling of being wet. Even being touched – having their collars grabbed, ears examined, paws wiped, is a hugely important area of socialization.
Why is socialization important?
Puppies have a short window in their early lives in which they are impressionable - they soak up different situations and experiences at a faster, more sponge-like rate than if they are exposed to these later in life. Once this window closes, teaching your puppy the world is mostly safe isn’t impossible, but, if that window is missed, it generally takes much longer to get an older dog comfortable with novelty. Your puppy could wind up developing into an adult dog who can’t hop in the car with you to join you on life’s adventures, or can’t cope with random strangers walking into the house to fix the plumbing. In other words, if your pup matures into a dog that is afraid of new experiences, chances are you are in for a lifetime of additional effort managing all these situations in order to avoid triggering your dog. Taking that time now, when your puppy is young, will actually save you more time later on in life.
When should you socialize your Puppy?
Experts debate the exact start and end dates for the so-called “critical period” for socialization. Most agree it starts as early as 4 weeks and ends as late as 14 weeks. Reputable breeders and shelters will keep puppies with their litter until they have safely weaned from the mother, around 8 weeks old. This means that by the time you have any control over what’s happening, their critical period for socialization is already well underway. The bottom line is that it’s never too early to start. The consequences of putting this off are dire, so don’t delay on this time-sensitive responsibility. We understand procrastinating on your taxes, and even filing an extension to do them later. Don’t do it with your puppy’s socialization! There is really no time to waste. We recommend starting the moment your puppy sets paw in your home and prioritizing socialization over everything else, no matter what.
“We understand procrastinating on your taxes, and even filing an extension to do them later. Don’t do it with your puppy’s socialization! ”
Straight talk about socialization
“I heard from some dog trainers that, actually, you shouldn’t socialize your dog because then they’ll learn to be way too hyper and happy when they see people and other dogs and they’ll be so hard to train.”
There is an odd group of people on the internet spawning an anti-socialization movement which I liken to the human anti-vaccination movement. It’s just not based on good science, and certainly not on the huge wealth of research that shows how important this is. So important that The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior has a statement about this. The analogy to anti-vaxxers doesn’t just stop at good vs bad science; poor socialization results in fear, and fear begets aggression. Hundreds of thousands of dogs are euthanized every year in animal shelters, and this doesn’t include those euthanized for behavioral reasons at home with loving families. According to AVSAB research shows that “behavioral issues, not infectious diseases, are the number one cause of death for dogs under three years of age.”
“But I’m still worried about my puppy developing bad habits and poor manners by bounding up to everything under the sun and picking it up or biting it or jumping on it or just being very unruly!”
Technically, you have your pup’s entire lifetime to work on impulse control, and train nice impressive-looking behaviors that show what a polite citizen of the world your dog is. But you only have a finite amount of time to impress upon your puppy that the world is mostly safe. Your puppy’s happiness and confidence is paramount at this age. During your puppy’s formative window for socialization, put all your eggs in that basket. If after socializing you also have time to train, there’s nothing wrong with getting your puppy an early start to learning some nice behaviors. Just don’t forget that socialization is the top priority for starters, and don’t sacrifice it in the name of obedience training. A good puppy training class will remind you of this, while also giving you some fun easy exercises you can practice at home to satisfy the obedience itch.
“You only have a finite amount of time to impress upon your puppy that the world is mostly safe.”
Socialization Doesn’t Mean Throw Your Puppy Into the Deep End
The urgency to socialize your puppy comes with some caveats. Do protect the experiences they have, and ensure that your puppy never feels overwhelmed or frightened. There is evidence to suggest that early negative experiences can be very harmful. And do protect your puppy’s health. Getting your puppy a wide variety of experiences and exposure is not a license to be reckless with taking them places where they could easily contract diseases at this vulnerable age (avoid the dog park, for example, until your puppy is fully vaccinated and your veterinarian says it’s okay).
What does protecting your puppy’s social experiences mean? Some rules of thumb:
Watch your puppy’s body language and notice whether they are comfortable or not. If your puppy looks scared (trembling, tail tucked, cowering, etc.), find a way to decrease the intensity of what they are experiencing. Can you get further away? Lower the volume? Ask one child at a time to offer their hand for sniffs, while the other children wait at some distance for their turn?
It never, ever hurts to use happy talk and treats to intentionally build positive associations. If your puppy turns toward the sound of a public bus changing gears, that’s a great time to remind them that being outside in the city is fun: “so fun so fun here’s a cookie!”
Novel experiences – experiences you know your puppy has never had – are golden opportunities to set the tone that that experience is mostly safe, and helps put money in the bank account to establish that trying a new adventure is enjoyable. In other words, your puppy will develop some resilience to changes in their routines and environments if they learn that doing so is fun. If your pup hasn’t had a bath before, for example, set the stage so that water, or getting wet, is a fun, gentle experience accompanied by loads of great treats and maybe some fun water toys.
A Last Bit, or Note, to Chew On
Socialization isn’t a guarantee. (There are no guarantees in dog training, ever, and anyone who makes promises that your dog will grow up perfect if you follow their methods is selling you snake oil). Dogs can develop new fears at any time, and circumstances beyond your control (adverse events, genetics, developmental or biological changes) might play a role in your dog becoming anxious or fearful of certain triggers over time. But what socialization will do is stack the odds in your favor, and provide your dog with “padding,” should those other circumstances come into play. Going through life, generally speaking, is often a matter of setting up probabilities so the odds are in your favor. The same is true for dogs. By socializing your pup as well as you can to a wide variety of situations, you will vastly increase the likelihood that your pup matures into a well-rounded adult dog who can roll with the punches in life, should they come.
Here’s Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy, Obed, enjoying a California beach! Photography Credit: Kristin Lucey