New Puppy socialization skills are important to help your puppy get started off on the right paw. Some people look at socialization for puppies as opportunities for the puppy to learn to “play” with other puppies, it goes much deeper than that.
Puppies are a blank slate. Literally everything is new to them and they are curious about everything. Proper socialization does more than teach your dog how to play well with other dogs. It helps lay a foundation to curb bad behaviors that must be addressed later after they have become an ingrained habit.
A huge mistake we see from many puppy owners is they take the recommendation for their puppy to not be around other dogs or environments too literally for the first 16 weeks or until their last round of shots.
These first 16 weeks of your puppy’s life are a crucial learning period and curtailing them sets your puppy up to potentially have developmental and self-confidence issues when they become an adult.
gOne of the most severe cases of human aggression with a dog was not caused by any traumatic event. It was caused solely by the fact that the owner was terrified they puppy would get parvo in the first 4 months, so they NEVER took their German Shepherd dog anywhere until after the last round of shots. Once they did take him out in the world he reacted negatively to all these new and scary humans he was seeing which only intensified over time until he was brought in for us to help him get past the reaction to attack humans.
A good puppy class in the Dallas Fort Worth Texas area should provide a learning environment for both you and your puppy that is lead by a professional dog trainer in a controlled and safe environment for you pup.
Your puppy should be given an opportunity to be around other puppies and people and learn how to have casual interactions but also the skill of being able to ignore them when you need them to ignore distractions.
Good puppy classes also start laying a foundation of basic obedience commands such as Name Recognition, Look at You, Sit, Come and Stay. A great puppy class provides a variety of distractions and what we refer to as environmental changes, so they become more at ease in new situations as they grow older.
We want to expose puppies to noises, unfamiliar or uneven surfaces. They should learn how to confident around different objects and shapes and be desensitized to different humans touching them for this helps prepare them for future Vet visits and not be so anxious or fearful.
If you are looking for a fun and engaging puppy class in the Dallas Metroplex, K-9 Culture’s Dog Training Puppy Class is conducted in our 47,000 Square Foot Indoor Dog Training Facility in Carrollton, TX and we’d love to help your puppy get started out on the right paw.
The K-9 Culture Family
Comments