and gentle handling from the breeder. These encounters, while seemingly insignificant, are beginning to shape and form the personality and social skills he will possess throughout his life.
Around fourteen days of age, a puppy’s ears and eyes are functioning, and puppies need continued handling and exposure to help process sight and sound. Like human babies, puppies need plenty of rest and quiet time, but when the puppies are awake, most savvy breeders will expose them to adequate visual and audio stimulation to help with neurological development.
Around four weeks of age, a puppy’s needs are still provided by his canine mom, but as he and his littermates grow and become stronger and more adventurous, they begin playing and tussling. At this stage, the breeder can provide safe toys and “obstacles,” such as tunnels, boxes, and wobble boards, for the puppies to figure out, climb on and through, and investigate. Such activities help provide environmental enrichment, which, again, help puppies learn to cope with stress as they develop.
During the fifth through seventh weeks, a puppy is growing rapidly and becoming more coordinated and adept at walking, running, playing, and escaping his puppy pen. At forty-nine days of age, a puppy’s brain is neurologically complete: he emits the brain waves of an adult dog, yet his brain is still a blank slate, minimally affected by experience and learning.
By the time your puppy is ready to begin his new life at your home, usually between seven and ten weeks, the process of socialization has already begun. A responsible breeder will have seen your puppy through the neonatal period (approximately zero to thirteen days) and transitional period (approximately thirteen to twenty days), and halfway through the critical socialization period (approximately three to twelve to sixteen weeks).
If you did not acquire your puppy from a good breeder, he may not have received adequate socialization. Many breeders understand the importance of environmental enrichment, which they probably started right away. Puppies who are whelped and grow up in a breeder’s home are naturally exposed to a variety of sounds, such as telephones ringing, pots clanging, televisions blaring, and so forth. Furthermore, many breeders continue socializing their puppies until the puppies go to their new homes around eight to ten weeks of age.
Socialization and Vaccinations
While vaccinations are important to your puppy, so too is socialization. A hotly debated topic is the perceived risk of exposing a puppy to other dogs prior to completing the puppy’s full complement of vaccinations at around sixteen weeks. Some veterinarians adamantly oppose socialization to other dogs and in public places before sixteen weeks of age due to the puppy’s risk of contracting an infectious disease, such as parvovirus. A 2013 study published in the Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association (JAAHA) indicated that “vaccinated puppies attending socialization classes were at no greater risk of CPV infection than vaccinated puppies that did not attend those classes.”
The decision is a personal one and should always be made in conjunction with your veterinarian. Plenty of opportunities exist to safely socialize your puppy, but until he is fully vaccinated, avoid those public places where the risk of encountering infected dogs is high, such as dog parks, pet-supply stores, and crowded puppy or obedience classes.
Eight Weeks and Beyond: Your Job of Socialization
Once your puppy comes to live with you, it is your job to keep up the breeder’s good work. While some puppies may need a few days to adjust to their new environments, your job ideally begins on the day you bring your puppy home. Your puppy must keep learning important socialization skills until he is sixteen weeks of age. Your window of opportunity is small, so you will need to use your time wisely.
Squandering your opportunities during this critical time means that your puppy may suffer in the long run. You run the risk of having your puppy develop bad habits and negative associations that are difficult, if not impossible, to correct later in life. Thankfully, it is not difficult to find lots of places and ways to socialize your growing puppy.
If your puppy came from a less than ideal environment, he may already avoid people, become easily fearful, act timid much of the time, or show signs of aggression. If this is the case, you have no time to lose. You may want to enlist the help of a smart trainer or behaviorist to help make up for lost time.
You want your puppy's association with his world—everything and anything he is likely to encounter as an adult dog—to be positive so that he grows up thinking that life is good and safe. This point cannot be stressed enough. Taking your puppy to the park and allowing him to be bombarded by other animals, strange sights, weird noises, and screaming, rambunctious kids is not a positive experience. Likewise, taking him to a puppy class and allowing him to be mauled, bullied, or sent yelping by bigger, bossier, more dominant puppies is not a positive experience, either. Granted, some puppies may not be affected, but the majority of them will suffer in the long run. These types of negative experiences can permanently traumatize a puppy.
As soon as your puppy is fully vaccinated, you should take your puppy for plenty of introductions and treats everywhere that is safe and dog-friendly, such as:
•parks and recreation sites
•outdoor cafés
•shopping centers
•hardware stores
•pet-supply stores
•farmers’ markets
•the veterinarian’s office
Expose him to a wide variety of people, including toddlers, teenagers, people in wheelchairs, and people in uniform. Expose him to other animals, such as cats, birds, horses, goats, and chickens. Let him hear the clapping of hands, the jingling of keys, and the clatter of dog bowls. Let him walk and play on different surfaces, such as gravelly driveways, grassy lawns, sandy beaches, and vinyl and tile floors. Walk across bridges with planks of wood or metal.
This Frenchie puppy is looking to make new friends at the beach. Socializing your puppy in new places can help to make your puppy more well rounded. (Don’t forget the sunscreen and umbrella!)
Puppies should be exposed to open stairs, closed stairs, steep stairs, narrow stairs, wooden stairs, and grated stairs (watch his toes and be careful that he doesn’t fall). Expose him to elevators, honking horns, garden hoses, sprinklers, and wind chimes. Let your puppy play in and around empty boxes and buckets. Allow him to investigate trees, rocks, bushes, branches, leaves, and acorns. Take him to the beach and let him climb on driftwood and dig in the sand. Go for a hike in the woods and let him climb on and over fallen trees. Take him to a farm where he can sniff all of the animal odors. Walk him on city sidewalks so he can see and hear the hustle and bustle.
Attend a small puppy class—preferably with no more than three or four other puppies—or invite friends and neighborhood kids over for supervised play. Remember, positive is the key to success.
Balancing Act
Socializing your puppy is a balancing act. You must expose him to the world around him while protecting him from potentially harmful or fearful situations and never encouraging or rewarding fearful behavior. You want to find the right amount of exposure and stimulation while still providing a safe, stress-free environment. Understanding canine body language is especially handy during this time. You will need to read his signs by observing his reactions to different situations. Here are a few examples:
•If your puppy is afraid of the vacuum cleaner, remove the vacuum and turn it on in another room.
