How To Socialize your puppy

A big part of puppy training is socialization. You need your puppy at a very young age to get used to the idea of having other dogs, people, and possibly cats and animals around it. When your dog is older, it is more likely to be prone to aggressiveness towards the things it doesn’t recognize, making socialization far more difficult at a later age. As a puppy, it tends to treat everything like it may be a friend, which is the perfect time to socialize it with others.

Socializing With People

When it comes to enjoying the company of people, socializing is easier. Your puppy is already used to you and your friends and family, so the next step is to simply invite people you know over to play with your puppy, and take your puppy out on the street so that strangers have the opportunity to pet and show affection to your puppy.

• Give your friends and strangers treats to hand your puppy to associate people with good things.

• Tell your friends not to play too rough – if your puppy hurts itself, it may make socialization harder.

Over time, your dog will learn to love people and strangers, and generally ignore those people that ignore your dog.

Socializing With Dogs

Socializing your puppy with other dogs is a little more difficult. You need to make sure your puppy is in a safe place where it will not be harmed by aggressive older and larger dogs. One of the best places to do this is in puppy training class, where you will both learn some techniques for training your puppy as well as give your puppy the opportunity to be around other dogs of the same age and size.

You may also be able to find dog daycares in your area that host events for small dogs and young puppies. In addition, some of the better dog parks have a “small dogs area” which is a great place to bring your growing dog. If you have no other options, bring your puppy to a local dog area and keep it near you, then ask other dog owners if their dog is friendly and put the two dogs together to sniff each other and play.

Even if it is hard to find other dogs in your area, socializing your puppy to as many dogs as possible is very important. A dog that is not used to other dogs will almost always be aggressive towards them, and that is a bad behavior for your dog to exhibit.

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