Early Puppy Socialization

A Top Priority for New Puppy Parents

Puppy socialization is the process by which a dog guardian creates positive associations for a puppy with the world around them during the early developmental stages of its life.

Early puppy socialization is an important component of any good foundational puppy training program because it can determine how well your puppy adapts or not to whatever environment they will be living in as they mature.

Studies show that puppies who meet a variety of people, dogs, and other animals, and who are exposed to potentially scary stimuli in new environments in a safe manner turn into more confident dogs, whereas puppies that are sheltered during this time are more likely to develop fear of the unknown and become more aggressive.

The “Socialization Window” for Puppies is Between 3 to 16 Weeks

A puppy is most impressionable between the age of 3 weeks to 4 months of age, which means it is more likely to accept novel stimulus, meaning anything unfamiliar,  as normal and non-threatening during this time period.

Since the sensitive socialization window is relatively short, it’s essential to start safely introducing a young pup to a variety of environments, people, and dogs very early on.

These early exposures help it to adjust to its new life and prevent the development of fear or guarding-based behavior problems—such as unwanted aggression towards other people and dogs—as the puppy grows older. 

This is especially true when living in a big city where a puppy is likely to encounter a variety of ethnicities of people, breeds of dogs, and changing environments, as well as an array of loud moving objects such as skateboarders and motorcyclists, on a regular basis.

How to Safely Socialize a Puppy Before Its Had Its Shots

My puppy hasn’t had all of its shots yet, so how do I socialize them?

Many veterinarians will tell you not to take a puppy outside for walks until it has had all of its shots, yet research shows that puppies that have not been socialized during the early socialization window of 3 weeks to 3-4 months have a tendency to be insecure or on guard in new environments.

That’s because anything unfamiliar to a puppy can register as a potential threat and lead to the development of fear or guarding aggression toward other dogs or people, so all new pup parents need to be aware of this and how to help their puppy acclimate to novel stimuli to prevent future behavioral problems from developing.

So how does a puppy parent safely manage to socialize a puppy during this critical time?

Avoid places where there is risk of infection

The truth is that you are not likely to expose your puppy to any communicable diseases unless you put them on the ground in a place where there is a likelihood of infection like places that dogs or wild animals congregate and leave their waste behind.

Canine Distemper, Canine Influenza, and Parvo can all be transmitted via contact with other dogs and wild animals and their contaminated excrement, so it's best to avoid grassy areas on public sidewalks, dog parks, and hiking trails, where lots of dogs congregate or places where wild animals might leave their droppings like in and around outdoor garbage areas or hiking trails.

You definitely don't want to let your puppy inspect and sniff around where another dog or wild animal may have relieved themselves and therefore a high risk of infection.

Ensure a puppy has fun while having new experiences

The main thing to keep in mind while introducing a puppy to anyone or anything new is to ensure they are having a positive experience.

This can be achieved by allowing the puppy to have fun while exploring and interacting with the environment and meeting other people and dogs, at a pace that is not too overwhelming or too exciting for the puppy which can have the opposite effect (and make a pup more nervous or afraid when introducing it to something new).

This is when it’s important to learn to read your pup’s body language to understand when your puppy may be getting overstimulated or overwhelmed, because this is when they start to rehearse unwanted behaviors like over-aroused barking and whining or even aggression, which you want to discourage as much as possible.

Puppy Body Language

Observing your puppy's body language is the best way to gauge how it feels about the experiences it is having and whether it is having a good time or not.

Keep an eye out for the puppy showing signs of discomfort or fear such as a tucked tail, ears pinned back, shaking, or attempts to hide - these are signs a puppy is getting overwhelmed or afraid and that it is time to give your puppy a break from being handled or played with by other people and dogs.

Keep this in mind if your puppy ever shows signs of aggression, as well. If your puppy starts to freeze, cast off a hard stare, bare its teeth, or growl, those are warning signs your puppy is feeling annoyed, possessive, or competitive around another person or dog and may follow up their threats with an attack. This is a good time to remove them from a situation to prevent the aggression from escalating.

Puppy Parties, Puppy Picnics, Puppy Play Dates, & Puppy Classes

Invite People Over To Meet Your Puppy

A great way to introduce your puppy to a variety of people is by inviting friends, neighbors and family members over to meet your furry bundle of joy in the safety of your home. 

Ask each guest to gently play with your puppy with its favorite toy and to pick it up and handle it so that it gets used to their voice, scent, and how they look. 

As an extra precaution, you can ask your guests to take their shoes off when they enter to avoid tracking anything on their shoes through the house.

Carry Your Puppy Places

There are lots of places where you can carry your puppy where it can meet other people and where there’s little to no risk of exposing it to communicable diseases.

We recommend using something like an over-the-shoulder pet sling, pet backpack, or soft-sided pet carrier to make carting your puppy around easier.

Some fun places to go with your puppy are:

• Dog-friendly cafes and restaurants

• Outdoor walking malls

• Grocery stores with outdoor seating

• Hardware stores like Home Depot

• The post office

• A fast food drive-thru

Walking malls tend to power wash the premises on a daily basis so there’s little to no risk of exposing a puppy to a contractable virus or infectious bacteria at one.

Taking your puppy to a grocery store with outdoor seating is also a very low-risk setting where you are unlikely to expose it to any form of contamination.

Many stores like Home Depot will let you bring your puppy inside where you can push it around inside a shopping cart and allow it to meet fellow shoppers.

Lastly, you’re sure to be a hit standing in line with a puppy in your arms at neighborhood spots like the post office or a coffee shop, where you are also unlikely to come across any communicable diseases.

Take Your Puppy for a Picnic

You can take your puppy to the park if you keep it on a leash and bring a big blanket or two to sit on.

Simply pack a picnic along with your pup’s lunch and use their food to play puppy training games with them while sitting on the blanket and watching the world go by.

This a great way to expose your puppy to potentially scary human stimuli like skateboarders, bikers, and joggers passing by, plus an array of everyday sights and sounds that might get your puppy charged up like seeing other dogs and prey animals scurrying like squirrels and birds scurrying around.

For safe measure, it’s a good idea to stash the blankets in a bag for transport home and wash them afterward to make sure no germs get tracked home from the park.

Puppy Socialization Playgroups & Training Classes

Many veterinarians, daycare facilities, and dog trainers offer puppy training classes and puppy socialization playgroups where puppies can safely meet other puppies in a sterilized and controlled environment.

This gives a puppy a chance to meet other puppies of different breeds and an opportunity to learn how to interpret canine communication signals from other dogs.

It also helps a puppy to learn boundaries like bite inhibition and how to play nicely. with other puppies, as well as providing much-needed playtime with their own kind.

One on One Puppy Playdates

Asking friends, family members, and neighbors if your puppy can play with their dog or puppy one-on-one is a great way to socialize your puppy while letting it burn off some energy.

One-on-one playdates also make it easier to supervise and moderate interactions between puppies and other dogs since each puppy or dog is managed by its respective guardian or chaperone.

A puppy guardian simply stands by to facilitate that their puppy gets along with the other dog or pup but notices if it gets fearful, overwhelmed, or too rambunctious - a sign to remove the puppies from the interaction and give them some time to calm down before allowing them to resume playing.

If you don’t know anyone with a puppy, working with a personal puppy trainer near you that can organize one-on-one playdates for you with other puppies can be really advantageous.

Don’t Wait to Socialize Your Puppy!

Puppy Socialization is Equally as Important as Puppy Obedience Training

Waiting to socialize a puppy until it has all of its rounds of shots can have serious consequences when you live in a city.

The chances of a puppy becoming fearful or aggressive towards people and other dogs skyrockets if you don’t facilitate introducing your puppy to the world at large during the early socialization window of 3 to 16 weeks of age.

The best way to help a puppy to grow up to be a well-adjusted dog that feels confident and comfortable everywhere and with everyone is to take them out and about in a safe manner (by avoiding high-risk spots) and to invite human and canine friends over to meet your puppy in your home environment.

It’s a good idea to ask your vet what diseases your puppy is at risk for and where they are likely to come across them to get a better idea of how you can safely socialize your puppy.

If you’d like more information on the communicable diseases your puppy is at risk for before they’ve had all of their shots, please visit the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) website at www.avma.org.

RELATED POST: The 5 Biggest Mistakes New Puppy Parents Make

Los Angeles dog trainer Alexandra Bassett is the owner and lead trainer at Dog Savvy Los Angeles, a dog training company that specializes in game-based dog training and solving problem dog behavior like dog separation anxiety, leash reactivity, and various forms of dog aggression. She is certified as Knowledge Assessed by the Council of Professional Dog Trainers (CPDT-KA) and is available for online dog training sessions via Skype.