Monique Anstee is a nationally ranked obedience competitor and the founder and head trainer at the Naughty Dogge on Vancouver Island. She has distilled over 25 years of dog training experience into her first book, As A Dog Thinketh, in which she shares daily wisdom for all of your dog-related conundrums, including her hard-learned tips on how best to socialize a puppy. Read on for some great advice from a top Canadian trainer.
Dogs need to be socialized. That means that dogs need to see the world and handle it with social grace. We need to teach them the skills and habits necessary for participating within our society.
Unfortunately, socialization is now commonly misunderstood and misinterpreted to mean just interacting and playing with other dogs. While puppies do need to play with other puppies, this is a teeny-tiny piece of their education, but somehow it’s become the only piece that many people focus on.
Here is a list of excellent activities you can do with your puppy to properly socialize him or her. I call it my puppy socialization bucket list, and it’s one of my most sought-after pieces of writing:
Socialization is about teaching life skills to your puppy. I exposed my puppy to every possible skill that she might need to be a functional adult. With all of the exposure and success comes a level of confidence and bravery; they will get to the point where they believe they are invincible. Even when she gets into trouble, she knows I am right there behind her to help her with her difficulties.
When puppies feel overwhelmed or scared, hold them in your arms, rather than leaving them on the floor. They can watch from up high, and then they’ll start wriggling like a mad thing wanting to get down and do it themselves. Rather than asking them to try it, by taking that option away and making them feel safe they have to then demand they be allowed to try it. This is a difference between feeling forced into an experience and choosing an experience. And when they choose the experience, they will be braver.
My last puppy never did have one “bad” experience. Unfortunately, it will happen, and when it does, they know that I am there to protect and help them. As they go on their adventures in the world, both good and bad, we are a team, and I have their back.
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