I’ve just got a puppy, he’s a 9 week old black labrador dog. I have read conflicting advice about how to socialise him. Mostly I’m advised that the 8 -> 16 week period is very important and I should let my dog meet and experience as may new things as possible so that he won’t be scared later on (Men with beards, ladies with hats, children with eye patches and what have you). However I’ve also heard that I’m not supposed to allow my dogs into contact with other dogs, or places that other dogs have been until he’s had his inoculations at 12 weeks. It seems impossible for me to know where other dogs might be, so I’m not sure about taking him out the house yet.
I don’t want him to get sick, but I don’t want him to grow up anti social either.
12 weeks is still pretty young–get those innoculations first! You should still have plenty of people handle it though. I took mine out of the apartment prior to that (kinda had to! :)), but , per my vets advice, I kept her away from dog excretia and places where lots of dogs had been (e.g., dog parks).
While you’re waiting for 12 weeks, ask your vet, breeder, or other trusted dog person to recommend a local trainer that runs puppy classes (most of the ones that I’ve worked with do) and ask him or her when to start. You’ll definitively answer this question and you’ll start a relationship with someone whom you can work with over the next couple years as your puppy grows up.
Thanks Metacom, I realise that 12 weeks is still young, but think that because dogs mature so much faster than humans the formative times are much less. I think that I’ll start taking him places where I don’t think that dogs will be then picking him up if any approach.
I socialized my puppy extensively, even before she had all her innoculations.
With Portuguese Water Dogs, you run into a conflict regarding socialization. Portie experts recommend extensive socialization as early as possible; basically, after you get your pup from the breeder, it’s off to the dog park. However, others say you shouldn’t expose your puppy to other dogs until it’s been fully innoculated.
My puppy had one set of shots and then he was off to puppy class. He’s a Shiba Inu and they can turn dog aggressive if not socialized at an early age. I think it was the best thing we ever did with him - PetsMart offers one (they are the only game in town here). Puppy learned invaluable lessons on how to get along with other dogs and people so I think it was worth the risk. We did pick him up and carry him to the lesson area and not let him walk around the store or the grass outside until he’d finished his shots.
Seriously - there’s so much you need to expose your puppy to, I don’t know where to begin. My puppy (19 weeks last Friday) got to meet kids, grown ups, cars, bikes, skateboards, garbagemen, storekeepers… well whatever I could tthink of. This was the 4 weeks prior to innoculation at 12 weeks. Lots of other things: A slamming door, a kitchen drawer full of utensil, the sound of the toilet, a car horn, a person with an umbrella, the sound of the microwave. The earlier a puppy realize that all those sounds, images and people you meet everyday are not dangerous, the better it is. I took him to stand in line at an ATM, just so he’d have a lot of big humans packed together. Scary, but now that’s not a problem.
A few things to remember:
Don’t let the dog strain itself before 14 weeks. That means no long walks.
Try to have the dog without a leash as much as possible during the first weeks. It’s a scary world for a little puppy and the one thing that’s safe right now is you. It will automatically try to stay close to you and this will help a lot in bonding you. Something you will be grateful for when your dog turns 7 months, 1 year, 18 months.
Never let a dog play when on a leash or wearing a collar. Train your puppy early on to put on and off the collar, since the act of pulling something over its head is very dominant. Never let the dog wear its collar indoors.
Have fun. It’s a lot of work but very, very rewarding.
I would ammend that to be that you shouldn’t let your dog wear its training collar indoors. It should always be wearing its ID collar, indoors or out. Should your dog sneak out of your home, you certainly want a stranger to be able to identify it and return it to you.
I’d go with the socialization versus innoculation. I’ve got a lab too. Other dogs have never been a problem, but men have. She enever had a bad experience when I got her, but she was only around one man when she was at the 10 weeks-4 months stage and now she’s squirrely around guys…
I have a Shiba, too, and spent a lot of time socializing him early on. He met other dogs, kids, adults, etc. etc. all the time, and now that he’s an adult (almost 4 now!) he loves everybody and everything. Never have to worry about him with other dogs.
Interestingly enough, I had a friend who got a Shiba puppy around the same time I did. The first 3-4 months we had the puppies they had regular “play dates” and such. However, we moved out of the area, and I don’t think my friend did any other socialization with the dog. She also left him alone for long periods of time, on a small patio. Last I talked to her, the dog hated all other dogs, birds, squirrels, etc.
That’s what socialization, or lack thereof, can do for a dog.
My vet told us not to take our puppy to a dog park or classes until she was immunized, but that interaction with a friend’s dog, or one that we knew for sure was safe and in a safe place was ok. We started classes and trips to the park after immunizing and she is very well socialized and enjoys playing with other dogs.
I will add that we got our dog from a shelter and she came home with a few nasty bugs, so our vet may have been being overly cautious. Having seen how sick she was and the multitude of medications she was on for her first few months though, I will add that dogs can indeed get very sick from other dogs and it is a real concern. You’d be suprised what some dogs are carrying and their owners either don’t notice or don’t care.
This is maybe a legal or cultural thing, but in my part of the world, dogs are marked with a chip or tatoo in their ear. I’d never trust anyone to return $1.200 worth of lovable and trusting puppy to me, just based on tags on the collar. Way to big a market for stolen dogs.
The only time a dog should wear a collar is when on a leash. And that should only be when necessity calls for it - but that’s an old pit debate and I don’t want to re-hash that, suffice to say, the American way of owning a dog seems to differ a lot from the (north) European.
Look for puppy socialization classes–these are often held at vets’ offices, or other sterile areas. Socialization is a big, big, big important part of a growing pup’s development, so don’t skimp! You are very correct that this is a crucial age for new experiences. While older pups can learn to enjoy new and different things, it’s a much longer row to hoe than if it’s properly done at the right age. If I were you, I’d avoid places like parks, dog parks, and pet stores (in other words, high dog-traffic areas) until you’ve got at least one parvo shot into him (some would argue you don’t need much more than that), but do socialize him as much as possible. One thing that’s really great is to invite as many people as possible to your own house, to drop by one at a time or in small groups to visit the puppy. It’s a good way to both socialize him with people, and to work on house-guest manners–no attention until either the butt or all four feet are on the floor! Here’s a link you might find interesting–hard to believe what’s already been missed out on by eight or nine weeks! Yet another of the myriad of reasons to buy a pup from a reputable breeder.
Thanks for all your info on this, I took him to the vets today for his first jab, and the vet admitted that this was a tricky area. I’ll start taking him to puppy socialization classes as as soon as I find some, and take him round to friends houses that don’t have dogs. Also my sister has cats, rabbits, hamsters ect and lives next to a farm.
One thing that I’m confused about, though, is the collar stuff. I’ve bought him a collar that a lead clips to, and he wears that (the collar) all the time, is that wrong ?
The Gaspode has provided good advice about the chip. It’s inserted under the skin with what’s basically a syringe. It’s a transponder that contains an ID number that appears on the scanner used to activate the chip. The ID number is registered to you. Around here the pounds and most vets scan any dogs brought in.
First, no dogpark until the dog has had it’s rabies shot, around 16 weeks. You should get into a puppy socialization class asap. The classes at Pet Smart are just fine. The other pups will have started on their shots already, so your pup will be safe.
We’re quickly approaching IM(not so)HO territory, but I say yes, it’s wrong. Some people think it doesn’t matter, but I’ve seen too much not to have a very strong opinion. Puppies (and to an extent adult dogs, depending on breed) play. It can get pretty rough at times, but that’s OK. Part of growing up to be a dog is finding out where you fit with the pack. Letting your puppy meet other dogs is part of this. Adult bitches will discipline most puppies that try to fool around near them. They have little or no patience for puppies, especially not their own. They also have quite a temper when they get unwanted attraction from adult males.
Puppies play by (mock) fighting. They establish hierarchy this way and first time dog owners tend to get upset at what often looks like a terrible fight.
In 99% of the cases (more anon), the dogs are fine and settle things among themselves. They are supposed to do this. However, if one dog has a collar, or is on a leash, accidents, really bad accidents, can happen. A tooth getting stuck, a paw pulling at the collar, injuring the neck of the opponent. I had a real big row with a woman having here dog on one of those leashes that extends (I hate them), who walked her dog on the designated area in town where dogs are allowed to run around without leashes, all year around. The leash is basically a thin wire, and the dog, wanting to play with my puppy, ran around him, getting the leash around Buster’s neck, like a noose. He could have been strangled.
Another thing: Never, ever pick up your puppy to protect it, or let it hide around your legs. This is a perfect recipie to get a disobidient and potentially aggressive dog. The puppy learns very quickly that it can get away with doing naughty things to other dogs, and then get protection from its owner.
In short and Gaspode’s dog axiom: A dog should be on a leash for its own safety, or when laws require it, and at no other times. Having the dog on a leash for your own comfort, using all those strange contraptions to controll the dog, is just a way of showing that you and the puppy haven’t bonded and that the puppy doesn’t obey you - in short, it controlls you, not the other way around.
So what if that playfight gets really serious? How can you tell? Three signs: Tail stops wagging, the hair on the neck and back stands on its end, and the dog is pulling back its lips, showing the teeth. Growling and barking is just part of normal behaviour. It’s a dog’s way of flaunting how big and strong and brave it is. Growling combined with bared teeth and hair on its end spells bad news. Break up as soon as possible. I manage to do this with my voice 9/10. The tenth time, I try to lift him away by grabbing the skin of his neck. But dogs have sharp teeth, and as it gets bigger, they get harder to lift. So then you just grab its hind legs and pull it away. Hopefully the other dog has an owner close by, who takes care of the other dog, but your responsibility is to get your dog away, right now
> This is maybe a legal or cultural thing, but in my part of the world,
> dogs are marked with a chip or tatoo in their ear.
That is available here in the US as well. Both my dogs have the chips. They also have collars and tags.
> I’d never trust anyone to return $1.200 worth of lovable and
> trusting puppy to me, just based on tags on the collar.
True. But then, not everybody knows how to read a subcutaneous ID chip. So, if your neighbor finds the dog, they’ll have no choice but to call the dog catcher. This will cost you a fee to retrieve your dog. If it had a physical ID collar, you could have your dog back with one phone call and no fees (except a boquet of flowers from the garden for the finder). At least, that’s the way things work most of the time in the US.
> the American way of owning a dog seems to differ a lot from the (north) European.
True. In most urban areas here, dogs are not allowed outside their yard except on a leash. So, if you see a dog walking around, something’s wrong. Usually, the dog escaped from its yard. I’ve returned 3-4 escaped dogs per year simply because the dogs had ID tags that I could read. And, every 2-3 years, I have one returned in this way.
Ah, but here it’s mandatory to register your dog with the Swedish Kennel Club. Each dog is assigned a unique id number and all vets, police stations ASF have scanners. Many people opt for a tatoo. The breeder is responsible for getting the dog its license, put in the chip or get the tatoo, and the owner pays a one time fee of about $20. When my dog is grown, I’ll get him a tatoo too, but they tend to get ugly when the dog grows.
