When socializing a puppy, what should you not do?
Sarah Mann
2025-08-05 02:48:19
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Socialisation involves having pleasant social interactions with adults, children, vets, adult dogs and other animals, as well as careful exposure to different situations in the environment, like traffic, crowds, travelling in the car, vacuum cleaners and any sights and sounds your dog will have to cope with in life. It is so important that this is done thoroughly and correctly when your puppy is still young enough to happily accept new things. Every single thing a puppy sees, hears, feels, smells and tastes, every meeting they have and every new thing they discover produces literally trillions of new brain connections in those first 16 weeks, and they will last for life. They are learning what things are a part of their new life and their new family, what is safe and who is in their social group.
Lynn Hagenes
2025-08-05 01:33:42
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Please don’t over socialize your pup. With other dogs or with people. Play dates should only be 20 minutes long and there should be several breaks. Letting your pup play longer than this could cause them to find other dogs more fun than you, leading to reactivity and lack of attention to the handler. Believe me specially if you have a big breed you don’t want a 50 + lbs puppy dragging you down the street because they’re too excited to see another dog. When I let my puppy play with the dog that lives with us every day he became obsessed. It took months of training and hard work to be able to get his attention around other dogs and for him to stop barking and demanding to meet dogs when we passed them in the street. You should be the most fun thing for your pup not other dogs.
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