Meet Marty he is here to give you some tips on how to socialise your puppy.
Correct socialisation is very important for your puppy to grow into a happy, well behaved family member.
The aim is for your puppy to have fun experiences with lots of different people, animals, noises and places.
Very young puppies are more likely to accept new and different things.
As your puppy grows she will start to show distrust, and new things may be scary to her.
1. Invite everyone you know to meet your puppy and have them show her a good time with toys, food treats, happy voices, and gentle handling.
Your puppy will soon think that all people are good fun, keep it short – no more than three minutes at a time to start with – and stop before puppy becomes tired and grumpy.
2. Sometimes puppies may be scared when they meet new people or dogs. You need to make sure that the person or dog stays back until your puppy is ready to come and say hello.
This means the other dog should be on lead so that it can be stopped from scaring your puppy.
You may have to spend some time waiting until the puppy is ready to say hello.
3. Play with your puppy. Games of ball and tug are one of the greatest ways of becoming best friends with your puppy and to teach her some manners.
4. Enrol your puppy in a good school. What is a good puppy school?
- The instructor is a qualified Puppy Class Instructor
- The instructor’s own dog is calm and well behaved
- The puppies stay on lead to ensure all puppies have a fun time
- Food treats are used to train the puppy lessons such as sit
- Puppies learn the rules of playing tug
- The puppies are all 8-16 weeks of age at commencement of classes
5. Train your puppy, set it up so that she can get it right, then praise and reward her.
6. Notice when your puppy is scared and take her to a distance where she feels safe.
When she looks at the thing she is scared of, say good in a happy confident voice and give her something she likes such as a food treat or game.
Your puppy will start to think that the thing she was scared of is actually a good thing because it means she gets a treat or game.
When she is no longer scared, take her a little bit closer, and once again say good when she looks at the scary thing and give her a treat or game.
Keep doing this, moving a little closer each time.
7. Make sure your puppy is comfortable with some of the strange things that might happen to her at the Vet or Groomers.
Start by slightly lifting her lip and then say good and give her a food treat. Once she is looking for the food treat you can hold her lip for slightly longer before saying good and giving a food treat. By taking small steps in this way, your puppy will start to want people to look in her mouth and at her teeth.
8. Like babies, puppies need lots of sleep. Tired puppies can be grumpy puppies. Make it a rule in your house that no-one is allowed to go near the puppy when she decides to go to bed.
In all seriousness…… if your puppy has had a bad scare, or is not willing to explore the world or meet new people, you must make contact with a qualified professional dog trainer NOW!
Don’t wait! He won’t necessarily grow out of it.
And by the way, if you don’t already know, off lead parks are not a good place for puppies.
Recommended Dog Trainers
Ann Harris
Vicki Austin
Steve Austin