OT dog owners: Question on balancing puppy socialization and health

quote:

---

OT dog owners, how did you balance socializing your puppy with keeping him healthy?

---

they have a lot of puppy online dating sites you and dog can visit.

After my puppy was vaccinated, I used to take her to basically any store that allowed her to come in. That is how you end up with a German Shepherd that is as friendly as a golden retriever

great looking pup.

There are a few neighborhoods in my city that are insanely dog friendly, and I wish I lived in one of them. I'd bring mine everywhere if I could.

I socialized mine at 3 months, as soon I got her. She still needed some shots. But because I adopted her in New Orleans, guess which breed she is. So socialization was my absolute #1 concern.

I brought her to the dog park 3+ times a week. Animal aggression is a concern for pits, so I wanted her around other animals as often as possible during the first year. It worked out great. She's a total beta, and loves pretty much any animal she meets.


For human socialization, I recommend bringing your pup everywhere possible for the first several months. I'm talking bars, restaurants, music festivals (an incredible socialization opportunity, and puppies make it easy to meet women), etc. The bigger the crowd, the better. I wanted thousands of hands in her face as early as possible. I also wanted to put her in situations where she'd see a very wide variety of human behaviors. Most dogs bite because of fear aggression. By exposing her to every type of behavior possible, she won't be scared as an adult when she sees it again.

Bust your arse socializing at every opportunity. After that, the next decade will be much easier.

owner of a 5 month old vizsla puppy (Penny).

what you are describing is the exact same thing we went thru. It's a tough period for the puppy and the owner. Because you want to take them every where and do everything with them from the get go, but you're limited to basically your residence.

So, we had an older dog (retired greyhound, 4 years old). We made sure she was up to date on shots before the puppy came home. But trust me, it took weeks before the older dog and her were friends

Another thing is to find neighbors or friends with similar sized dogs to bring over to socialize them with a time or two a week. Our neighbor's had a mid aged english bulldog. The other neighbor's had a chihuaha. My future MIL/FIL had 2 full sized poodles. So, she learned from the get go to be confident around dogs of all sizes.

I also would take her on rides in my truck thru the neighborhood. My g/f would hold her. We'd drive 5-10 mph and let her hang her head out the window, smell new smells, see other people walking their dogs, look at cats and squirrels in the neighborhood, etc. She loved it.

Another thing is. Never start petting them on top of their head at this stage. And don't let other people do it either. They need to learn to let people scratch their chin's, so they develop confidence when approaching someone new.

But mainly we used that time to work really hard with her on training. We practiced leash walking in our backyard and house from Week 1 with her. She had sit, wait, lay down, kennel, bed, high five within 2 weeks. Potty training took a bit longer than expected, but she's a champ at it now. So by the time we could take her anywhere and she had all her shots, she was already accustomed to the leash and was disciplined. We also started tread mill training her at about 10 weeks old, something we wanted to cold or rainy days so she could get her energy out. There are youtube tutorial videos on how to train them to run on a treadmill. So yeah, this next 8 weeks kind of sucks for them and you, but it ends eventually and if you work with them and socialize them a bit now, it'll pay off in the long run.

quote:

---

Before she walked away she said "if they were giving out dog awards here, Frankie would win Miss Congeniality."

---

I have a lab/pit mix rescue named Frankie.

quote:

---

I have a lab/pit mix rescue named Frankie

---

Hell yeah. Great minds think alike.

I named her after the song Frankie and Johnny. So I better not "do her wrong."

quote:

---

Yeah, if I had a knock on our vizsla puppy regarding socializing with other dogs, it's: sometimes she doesn't know when play time is over or when a dog wants to just chill.

---

I'm in the exact boat. She's almost 3, and is finally starting to mature. That's when her being a beta comes in handy. If another dog snaps at her, she cowers, regardless of size.

Dogs that aren't socialized properly are usually due to the owners' reactions during socialization opportunities. Then again some dogs are just assholes.

Know what you want the outcome to be and be consistent. You can't expect the dog to know if you dont. Exposure in general is a good thing. Walks, car rides, family and friends' homes, etc. Go to a dog park if you want to find out what not to do; there are always plenty of examples and it only takes one dog to ruin a good time.

What kind of dog is it? I highly recommend Smartworks or Total Retriever Training for your obidence training. Get a regular collar, pinch coolar, regular leash, and a 15' check cord (all less than $100). Also crate train.