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Ask Yvette

Dear Yvette,

At what age should we begin taking our puppy out for socializing?

Tammy

There is a huge world out there. Socialization is about creating an animal feels safe and secure in our world, and reduces many fear-based behaviors. With any animal, you want to practice safe socializing. There are steps you can take that can get you started early without compromising the health of your puppy.

When you bring a puppy or kitten into your home, plan to have many visitors. Guests should hand feed your puppy their kibble at the door to help create a positive association. You can even go the extra mile and ask that your guests feed your puppy when four paws are on the floor.

If you know people who have friendly, healthy and vaccinated animals, you can arrange play dates at home, or areas that are free from possible disease contamination. Potential playmates need to be adjusted and trustworthy. If friends have cats that enjoy dogs, see if you can set up a play date. Take safety precautions and have your puppy on a leash until you know how they will react.

Even in your own home, you can be creative and expose your puppy to novel objects. Expose your puppy to hats, sunglasses, costumes, winter clothing, and assistance devices such as canes. If you don't happen to have some of these items, they can be purchased inexpensively at dollar stores, or second hand shops.

By downloading various sounds, or purchasing CD's you can find a wide range of noises. Many relaxation CD's have thunderstorms, and you can probably find construction sounds on many children's sites. Dogs barking, cats meowing, birds chirping, babies crying – the sounds are literally endless.

Car rides can be a good way to show your unvaccinated puppy the world. But do everyone a favor and have a helper in the vehicle so one person can drive, and the other can hold the animal. You can also purchase safety devices such as seatbelts for when you are going solo. Keep trips short, supervise your puppy the whole time, and make it positive. You can also carry a small puppy outside and show them the world.

When you have done all of this, remember you are just getting warmed up. Talk to your veterinarian and ask for a firm date for when your puppy can begin classes and go on excursions. Classes offer the benefit of puppy-to-puppy interaction under close supervision, and preventative exercises for other behavior issues. Getting out into the world means that your puppy can see it all. Young people, seniors, different skin colors, people with physical limitations, wheelchairs, bikes, skateboards, wide open fields, busy traffic, buses, trucks, other species of animals, and different walking surfaces – the list literally has no limit.

Vaccination schedules can often depend on when the puppy might have been weaned, the breed of the animal and other health issues. Your veterinarian is the best judge of when this should happen, and most, if not all, are happy to hear you ask.

Yvette is an award winning pet writer and pet behavior columnist. She also is the author of Meeting Milo, a North American dog bite prevention program to reduce the approximately 2 million children bit by dogs annually. She is the owner of AwesomeDogs.ca and works as a behavior consultant in London, Ontario.

This column was originally featured in The Londoner
See more of Yvette... www.awesomedogs.ca
www.meetingmilo.com

Yvette has 2 dogs of her own, KIKI and KAYA. Take a look...

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