Socialising

This is a very important part of your new puppy's life. The most sensitive time for "socialising" is between 3 - 14wks of age. If you handle your puppy correctly and put in the hard work you should be greatly rewarded.

Between this period you should be getting your puppy used to:

• Children playing
• Other dogs
• Passing traffic
• General noise Washing machines, the hoover, the doorbell etc
• Countryside noises, animals

Alot of these things you will be able to get your puppy to experience before their vaccinations e.g:

• With a lounge window open the noise of cars travelling past the window.
• Inviting male, female and children visitors around to handle the puppy. Make sure when visitors come to the house you don't praise the dog for jumping up in excitement - instead say "hello" once he/she has calmed down, then you are praising him/her for the calm behaviour rather than for leaping about.
• Getting the puppy used to the postman and milkman is also important. It may sound funny at this stage of the puppies life, but it could prevent either the postman or milkman from getting a nasty nip later in life. When approaching the door, ask them to come and greet the puppy. Maybe go into the garden, moving away from the threshold of the house and the postman/milkman can give your puppy some treats.
• Grooming should start straight away; it is a good way to check your puppies coat for fleas, lumps, cuts, condition etc.
• Another important topic is handling of food at feeding time. When you start to feed your puppy you shouldn't take the bowl away because this is seen as a threat and could encourage aggressive behaviour. You should start by first just walking past while the puppy is eating and add some food to the bowl. Keep doing this for a while. Then you can add more into the bowl by picking it up first and then replacing the bowl, the puppy associates this as a good experience rather than a threat.
• Getting your puppy used to being left for a couple of hours should start from a young age. Some people get their puppies during the summer holidays, take it everywhere with them. Later, when the family return to work and school etc. the bewildered puppy is left all alone. Therefore, right from the word go, you should start to leave the pup for 5-10 mins increasing the time slowly.

If you have any other questions referring to socialisation please do not hesitate to ring the surgery and we will try to help.