The optimal socialisation development learning stage is the first 4 months of your puppy’s life. If done right, your puppy will learn to accept new people, locations, activities, and smells positively and grow into a well-rounded, confident adult dog. This article will give tips on how to socialise your puppy like a pro.
Socialisation is safe after your puppy’s vaccination course.
Socialising Your Puppy
The term socialising your puppy is more than letting them meet new people and dogs. Socialising your puppy means teaching them the life skills they need to function daily in our human-focused world with little or no stress. Learning about things they will encounter daily and how to react calmly to them and unexpected occurrences.
This involves teaching them how to meet new people, other dogs and animals, new environments, smells and objects. Done positively, your puppy will learn not to become anxious when new or unexpected things happen. Your puppy will grow into a calm and confident adult dog.
Start Slow
Each new experience for your puppy should be done in a controlled manner. You want each new encounter to be as positive for your puppy as possible. The less anxious your puppy is, the easier the next encounter will be. Gradual and positive should be the socialisation mantra.
Don’t rush your puppy. Allow it to investigate at its own pace; ensure it always has the opportunity to move away from the new encounter. Start in low-distraction environments to allow your puppy to adjust to the new stimulus at its own pace. Gradually increase distractions as your puppy becomes more confident.
Observe your puppy’s body language closely, and if it starts displaying signs of stress or anxiety, end the encounter or move away from the stressor. Allow your puppy to calm down, and retry another day.
There is no rush; your aim for socialisation is to teach your puppy that new experiences are not scary. Each experience should be positive and calm for your puppy.
Sweeten The Deal
Always praise and reward your puppy for success. This equates to your puppy remaining comfortable when encountering something new. If your puppy investigates something new and is happy about the experience, sweeten the deal by giving praise and a small tasty reward. Success breeds confidence, and confidence is necessary to try new things.
If your puppy is worried or gets stressed about a new experience, remove it from the stressor and allow it to calm down. Once calm, then praise and reward the puppy. You will reinforce that being calm is a positive and rewarding behaviour for your puppy.
Receiving praise and a reward will also mean your puppy’s entire experience wasn’t negative. You always want to set your puppy up for success.
Allow Your Puppy Some Distance
The key to successful socialisation is introducing new stimuli to your puppy and ensuring it remains comfortable or unworried throughout the experience. Sometimes, this will mean a gradual introduction from a distance. The key aim is to ensure your puppy stays calm and consistently praise and reward this calmness.
Allow your puppy to gradually move towards the new stimuli when it feels ready to, and only if it remains comfortable. Rushing your puppy will have a negative impact on its socialisation development and may cause your puppy to have anxiety throughout its life.
Use Lots of Praise
The importance of praise backed up by a small tasty reward cannot be emphasised enough. Using lots of positive reinforcement makes a huge difference to your puppy’s confidence and encourages them to want to learn more. Using praise and a reward assures your puppy that it is doing the right thing and that you are happy with it.
Reinforcing calm behaviour teaches your puppy this is the correct response method. If the puppy finds the behaviour rewarding, it will repeat it. Repeating a behaviour is how it becomes a habit.
Be Your Puppy’s Advocate
Dogs can’t speak our language, so you must speak up for them. If your puppy finds an interaction or experience uncomfortable, remove your puppy. Most people will understand if you say you are training or your puppy is overwhelmed. You are allowed to remove yourself and your puppy from situations that you find uncomfortable.
Have Fun With Your Puppy
The more relaxed and positive you are in situations, the more relaxed and confident your puppy will be. Dogs are finely attuned to our emotions through our facial expressions, body language and tone of voice. If you are feeling unsure, your puppy will pick up on it. But if you are feeling happy and confident, your puppy will feel reassured that there’s nothing to worry about.
Make this a time for fun, praise and rewards. It’s very satisfying when you successfully teach your puppy a new skill. Embrace it, and have fun with it. If one strategy doesn’t work, step back and try something different. Enjoy spending time with your puppy. You are teaching essential life skills and building a trusting relationship with them in the process.
Good luck, and enjoy the puppy experience. You might find these articles helpful:
Leave a Reply