Socialising your Puppy

Today I was out walking my young dog Blade, who is 13 months. We were out with my oldest dog (Sparky who is 8 years) and we then bumped into an older dog, Tizzy, who is 10 years old.

I wasn’t worried about Blade being too much for Tizzy and this is because I went out of my way to socialise him with older dogs. I do admit to feeling rather proud though!

Too many dog owners get the wrong idea about socialisation. It isn’t meeting up with other puppies and the dogs having a crazy run around. It is actually the opposite of this. Socialisation is introducing your dog to all the things they are going to encounter in their lifetime, and helping them to feel neutral about them. Notice I say neutral. We don’t want puppies to think everything is amazing and get super excited. We want them to think “that thing is ok, but not as wonderful as my owner”.

Other dogs should be great but, not as exciting as the owner. Other people should be great, but not as exciting as the owner.

If you have a puppy, and you want to give them the very best start, have a look at the Teach Dog Puppy Plan and you won’t go far wrong.