Puppy socialisation the correct way is one of the key steps to ensuring that you have a well rounded and happy dog that integrates with your family life.
We have created a handy guide below to demonstrate and show the ideal socialisation timescale from birth to a year old. Read on to find out more granular details about the important of socialisation for your puppy/new dog.
Lack of socialisation during the early stages of a puppy’s life can having lasting effects and cause serious behavioural problems. Socialisation should not just be seen as spending time with other puppies, it should include exposures to many different experiences, environments, people, objects, smells and sounds etc.
The developmental period (approx. 3 to 12 weeks of age) is the most influential 9 weeks of your puppy’s life. This period is associated with the development of many social patterns and learning about the environment which will provide a foundation for many adult behaviour patterns.
The below are considered the key phases:
· Neonatal Period (Birth to 12 days)
· Transitional Period (12 to 21 days)
· Primary Socialisation (3 to 5 weeks)
· Secondary Socialisation (6 to 12 weeks)
· Social Dominance (10 to 16 weeks)
· Environmental Adaptation (3 to 16 weeks)
Active socialisation (from approx. 8 weeks and may be subject to puppy jabs being completed depending on the situation) should include a variety of different experiences and exposures to:
New locations (examples below but not limited to):
· Different walking surfaces
· Different sounds (you may want to include a CD of sounds which are not typically heard during day-to-day activities such as fireworks etc, so that you can create a positive association to these vs. them becoming a frightening stimulus in later life)
· Different environments – town vs country vs beach etc (where possible)
· Pub gardens (weather depending) etc.
Social interactions (examples below but not limited to):
· Different people (age, gender, skin tones, etc where possible)
· Different breeds of dogs (in a safe, secure, and controlled environment)
· Introduction to different objects and different textures
· Introduction to body handling exercises (Ability to touch feet, ears, handling of body in preparation for vet type examinations and general health care/checking etc going forwards)
It is essential that attention is paid to the quality of the experiences as well as the quantity. The puppy needs to have good experiences of the above examples and should never be overwhelmed or put in a position where a fear response is demonstrated.
It is also important to note that after the age of about 5 weeks, the puppy may become more fearful about making new contacts and new social experiences (with the peak being about 12 weeks) and therefore it is even more important that during this time when the puppy may be more ‘sensitive’ that the experiences that they encounter are positive (as described above)
Finally, puppies should remain with their litter and/or other dogs until they are at least 6-8 weeks old (typically in the UK/Ireland the puppy leaves it siblings/mum at approx. 8 weeks old). Should the puppy leave the litter early (4-5 weeks) they will often have difficulties and behaviour issues around other dogs when they are adults, they may also demonstrate other behaviour issues such as fear or aggression. This is because puppies need to spend time with other puppies and adult dogs to learn appropriate social interactions in the canine world. The play behaviour allows the puppy to practise and learn both motor and perceptual skills which will be needed in adult canine life.
Do you need help with puppy training/socialisation?
Please reach out to us on 085 757 4185 - we are always happy to help at our secure facility in Co Mayo.
Our most popular puppy classes are below - but we can easily facilitate 1-2-1 classes for you and your dog to ensure that we support you on the aspects that you need to work on. All of our training uses positive training methods, force free, which are scientifically proven to have significantly better results than dominance based training
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