How to Socialize your Puppy
Socializing your puppy is a crucial, yet often-overlooked, aspect of training. Successful socialization can go a long way toward preventing the stress, fear, and anxiety that can lead to behavioral and health problems—and it can promote dog-human bonding.
Puppy socialization doesn’t just refer to meeting other people and dogs, letting friends and strangers coo over your newest family member, and scheduling puppy playdates. Rather, socialization is the process of introducing your puppy to a wide range of the experiences, people, places, animals, stimuli, and sensations that they’re likely to encounter throughout their lifetime.
The goal is to create positive associations with these new experiences to help your puppy become a happy, confident dog who can handle unfamiliar situations.
The process can be overwhelming for both dog and human, so we put together a guide to why, how, and when to socialize to ensure your puppy is ready to (politely) take on the world.
When to start socializing your puppy
A growing body of research shows that the golden “window of socialization” for dogs happens between birth and approximately 16 weeks of age, when they’re still relatively cognitively flexible.
That means socialization should start immediately to maximize the positive effects.
Research shows that dogs who experience early socialization that begins “within a few days of birth” and continues into adulthood are “less likely to exhibit behavioral problems as adults, including aggression and fearfulness” and they’re more likely to engage positively with humans.
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, waiting until 7 weeks of age to start the socialization process can cause wariness and even active avoidance of strangers in a puppy. Ideally, your puppy will be with their mother and original family for the first 8-12 weeks of their life. Any reputable person or organization adopting out puppies will have comprehensive socialization plans in place, so make sure to ask about this during the adoption process. Be prepared to start a full socialization program as soon as you bring your newest family member home.
Safe socialization is possible by following a few general guidelines:
- Limit interactions to dogs you can confirm are fully vaccinated
- Look for puppy classes that require proof of vaccination
- Carry your puppy anywhere there may have been a lot of dogs, such as pet stores, hardware stores, and even the grass at popular parks to prevent exposure to airborne particles, water, or waste that could spread infections
- Take your puppy to a local park and let them watch people and dogs from the safety of a blanket or a play pen
How to socialize mindfully
To prevent sensory overload that can lead to fear responses, illness, and injury, take a mindful approach to introductions, ensuring you can control the environment around your puppy and successfully leverage positive reinforcement.
To guarantee success, start small and build steadily.
Where do I start?
Given how many things a well-socialized dog should be exposed to in a short period of time, you might be overwhelmed and unsure of where to start or how to ensure you’re being thorough.
The best way to start socializing your pup is to begin in the home.
Think of socialization as a ripple effect. You—and your home—are the center of your dog’s world, and with each new socialization task, you want to move out from your home base, spreading your dog’s understanding of the world wider and wider.
From the moment they come home, introduce people, animals, household items, and stimuli that can be found in their new safe space. Check out our socialization checklist below—it seems like a lot of things! But the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine recommends introducing about “90 different situations that are associated with pleasurable experiences” by the time a puppy is 14 weeks old.
Start small by giving them a small area in which to play and potty train, and expand from there.