How to Successfully Socialize Your Puppy

So, you’ve adopted a puppy and you’ve been told how important it is to socialize them. But where do you start, and how can you make the most of this key period in their life? Here are some practical tips to guide you through the process.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIALIZATION

There are a number of different stages your dog goes through during their development. If your puppy is between eight and sixteen weeks old, they’re the perfect age to be socialized. This is called the socialization period because it’s when your puppy acquires their social skills. That’s why it’s important to introduce them to as many new things as possible (other animals, children, noises, etc.) and create positive associations with them. They’ll remember these positive experiences for the rest of their lives! Unfortunately, that also means that the opposite is true, and traumatic experiences will stick with them as well. Your pup will keep on learning after this period, of course, but it’s a lot easier at this stage.

BASIC RULES FOR PROPER SOCIALIZATION

1. Try to expose your puppy to as many positive experiences as possible while they’re eight to sixteen weeks old. But remember—quality is a lot more important than quantity! That means it’s better for your pet to have fewer experiences that are all positive.
   Quantity: You introduce Fido to a bunch of dogs at the same time at the park, which makes supervision difficult and unfortunately, your pup has some negative encounters.
   Quality: Your puppy meets a dog and everything goes well. The next day, he meet another dog and has another positive experience. At the end of the socialization period, your pup might not have met as many dogs, but all of their experiences were positive.
2. Spread out the new experiences over multiple days and weeks. Introduce your puppy to one or two new things a day.
3. Let them see, smell, and hear the new thing and then give them some treats or a toy to associate the new thing with something pleasant.
4. Make sure your puppy is comfortable throughout the encounter.
   – Their body is relaxed and their tail is up
   – They’re curious and approach the new object on their own
   – They eat the treats you offer them
   – They’re happy and playful
5. During these exercises, always start with a low intensity level and gradually ramp it up if your pet is comfortable. For example, if you’re introducing your puppy to a noise, start at a low volume and turn it up a little at a time. When introducing your puppy to new people, start farther apart and gradually move closer.
6. If your puppy seems scared, back away from the new thing and reassure your pup. Once they’re comfortable again, reintroduce them to the new thing but with less intensity.

INTRODUCING YOUR PUPPY TO NEW THINGS DURING LOCKDOWN

People

Your new furry companion should meet all kinds of people right now! Babies, children, teenagers, adults, elderly people, in different outfits (cycling gear, firefighter uniforms, in a wheelchair, with a cane, etc.), of different heights, appearances, and so on! If opportunities are limited, here are some ideas:

• Play sounds of babies playing and crying, as well as sounds of young children having fun.YouTube will become your best ally in this project!
  • Babies crying
  • Children laughing
• Dress up! Disguise yourself with a hat, sunglasses, a cane, a big coat, a bike helmet, or whatever else you might have lying around. Try different postures, strange walks, or even change your voice. If you have kids, you can make it a fun game!
• During walks, take advantage of everyone you see to create a socialization moment by offering treats to your puppy. Let them look at and listen to people, as socialization can also happen at a distance.
• Let your puppy hear the voices of the people you talk to during video calls with loved ones. Why not let them look at the screen too? You might be surprised by a curious, attentive puppy!

Dogs and other animals (cats, rodents, birds, horses, etc.)

• Let your dog hear different animal sounds
  • Cats
  • Birds
  • Horses
  • Squirrels
• On walks, when encountering animals, create positive associations. If your puppy pulls on the leash to approach an animal, grab their attention with a favorite treat. Use this opportunity to start practicing focus, which will be very useful in the long term during walks.

Cars

• Put blankets and cushions in your car to make it comfortable for your dog.
• Start with short drives.
• Gradually increase the duration of the rides.

For more tips on how to take a safe and comfortable drive with your dog, read our blog post.

Different environments

• Let your puppy experience a variety of surfaces, such as tiles, wood, carpet, grass, sand, snow, dirt, pavement, asphalt, etc.
• Explore different environments like parks, forests, downtown areas, alleys, beaches, or bike paths.
• At home (or in your yard), ride a bike, skateboard, or rollerblade. Start at a distance and get closer if your puppy is comfortable! This helps recreate varied situations at home for them to get used to these movements.
• Place different textures on the floor and invite them to walk on them (bubble wrap, cushions, cardboard, wooden planks, foam mats, etc.). Always respect their pace!

Sounds

• Expose your pet to various noisy objects in your environment like your hairdryer and the vacuum.
• When out on walks you can help them get used to ambient outdoor noises like sirens, church bells, and car noises.
• Try to expose them to different sounds they will hear throughout their lives, such as thunder, fireworks, airplanes, and crowds. You can find compilations online to help with this. Here is one example and another one.

Objects

• Put your dog’s collar, harness, or vest on with the leash attached and have them wear it for gradually longer periods of time.
• Expose your dog to objects in your home (umbrellas, strollers, etc.) and tools you need to groom them (clippers, brushes, etc.) by placing the items on the ground and encouraging them to investigate.
• Turn on appliances like your vacuum for a few seconds at a time and start a reasonable distance away.

A Little Reminder! At all times, when exposing your pet to these new things, whether sounds, objects, people, don’t forget to offer treats so they associate them positively.

EVEN MORE THINGS YOU CAN DO

The tips below are not directly related to socialization but are rather important lessons to teach at a young age due to your puppy’s immense capacity to absorb new information. It’s well worth the effort to focus on these exercises, as they will save you many troubles in the future!

Learning to be alone

Your puppy will eventually need to get used to being alone. Use this period to gradually and positively introduce them to the crate. Additionally, make sure that your pet spends some time each day alone in their crate, both without seeing you (out of sight) and without you physically being in the house.

What can you do to make these moments positive for your pet? How should you manage the moment you leave, your absence itself, and your return? Check out this page for all the tips.

Getting used to being touched

It’s never too early to start thinking about your dog’s hygiene and tasks you will have to carry out such as clipping their nails and brushing their teeth. Before all of that, your dog needs to being comfortable being touched. As soon as you can, start getting your dog used to being handled. You’ll find all the information you need about how to do this in our blog.

THE THEORY BEHIND OUR RECOMMENDATIONS¹

Brain development

• The brain is made up of millions of neurons. A developing brain makes connections between these neurons based on environmental stimuli. In other words, the more elements are present in an environment, the more connections your puppy’s brain will make!
• How these connections are organized is not set in stone — it’s what’s called plasticity. Certain sensitive periods when brain plasticity is high are particularly important times to establish connections between neurons. Your pup can learn a lot during these periods!
• Any number of circuits can be created, but they need to be reinforced and stabilized with environmental stimuli, because only stimulated synapses (part of a neuron) will remain in the brain. In other words, puppies that have repeated positive exposures will store those experiences and the emotions associated with them for their entire lives. For example, if a puppy is exposed to a cat a number of times and has a pleasant experience each time, they will store that information in their brain and learn that cats are safe and familiar.

Nature vs. nurture

• Each species has genes that give them a specific anatomy, physiology, and repertoire of expected behaviours. However, the environment animals grow up in and the experiences they have during their development are unique to each animal and help to further determine their behaviour.
• Although it’s hard to determine what influences certain behaviours, we know that an animal’s behaviour is the result of a combination of genetics and their environment.

¹CLOUTIER, Danielle. Comportement du chien et du chat, Observer comprendre modifier

Article published November 26th 2021, updated on December 31, 2024