Setting Your Puppy Up for Success

The most critical time in a dog’s life is during puppyhood

As a pet parent, you want your dog to enjoy everything life has to offer, such as going for walks around the city, meeting new people, and enjoying their veterinarian visits. How can you help your dog understand how to interact with the world around them? With socialization.

Socialization refers to the process of exposing a dog to different people, animals, environments, and situations in a positive and controlled way. It’s best to start this process as early as possible – especially during puppyhood. When done correctly, socialization can help dogs develop into well-adjusted, confident, and friendly animals. Well-socialized dogs are less likely to develop unwanted behaviours such as fear, aggression, or separation anxiety.

The most critical socialization period for a dog occurs between 3 to 14 weeks of age. During this period, puppies are more open to learning experiences and are less likely to develop fear or anxiety about new things. However, socialization should not stop after this critical period. Continuing socialization exercises with your dog throughout their life will help them to continue to build their confidence and strengthen your humananimal bond.

Here are 6 tips that you can implement when socializing with your dog.

1. Make it Positive

Socialization should be a positive experience for your dog, so use treats, praise, and positive reinforcement to make it enjoyable for them.

2. Expose Your Dog to Various Experiences

Start with small, manageable experiences, and gradually increase the level of difficulty.

3. Expose Your Dog to Different People, Animals, and Environments

This will help them learn how to interact with the world around them in a safe and controlled way.

4. Use Positive Training Methods

Positive training methods, such as clicker training, can help your dog learn new behaviours and cues in a positive way.

5. Be Consistent

Consistency is key when socializing with your dog, so make sure to expose them to different experiences regularly.

6. Enroll in a Puppy Socialization Class

Toronto Humane Society offers a Puppy Manners and Socialization training class and Puppy Playgroups. The Puppy Manners and Socialization training class consists of 4 modules that focuses on puppy manners, socialization experiences, and solutions for common challenges that new puppy parents may experience.

The Puppy Playgroups offer a safe space for puppies to burn off energy while learning how to appropriately interact with other puppies. Pet parents are taught how to interpret body language and positive reinforcement methods from a certified trainer who leads the class.

If you’d like to learn more about our puppy classes, visit www.torontohumanesociety.com/training.

Daisy Learns How to Play Appropriately

Daisy is a sweet girl who attended a weekly Puppy Playgroup. As you can see, Daisy is a big pup and needed some guidance on how to play nicely with other pups. By attending Toronto Humane Society’s Puppy Playgroups, she was able to interact with dogs of all sizes. It was a learning curve for Daisy, but with support from her pet parent and the certified trainer, she made a few canine pals, improved her social skills, and now understands how to play and interact like a gentle giant.