What to Consider When Getting a Puppy: Advice from a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, Part 1
So You’re Getting a New Puppy….
There is so much to consider when getting a puppy—it can be very overwhelming. Whether you’ve already brought your puppy home or you’re preparing to adopt, I’m here to help make it easier! Taking on the responsibility of a puppy is a big deal, and feeling a little overwhelmed is normal. I am currently preparing to bring a puppy home, so I know firsthand how stressful it can be to want to do everything right. So, to help elucidate this process for you, I am going to take you along with me on the journey of caring for and training a new puppy!
What is most important? Let’s prioritize.
Step 1: Comforting and Conditioning
Something that people mistakenly prioritize with a new puppy is simple cues like sit, down, and stay. People love to show their freinds how they have taught their dog to sit, and that is lovely and fantastic, but is it the first thing we should be doing? Probably not.
The first thing we need to do when puppy comes to us is to make them feel safe and help them adjust to their new environment. For the first three days, you probably don’t want to do much more than working on establishing a routine and conditioning puppy to the crate if you’re going to use one. Think of what all your puppy has gone through in coming to live with you. They have left their mother, maybe father, their brothers and sisters, and the human caretakers they have come to know. They are in a new home with different sights, smells, and sounds. If you have to travel to get your puppy, like I am going to, your dog may have had a stressful trip to get to your home. My puppy and I are going to take two planes and two car rides to get home. With all of this in mind, I cleared five days on my calendar to have to spend with my puppy when we get home and to do nothing else. I know that might not be completely realistic for everyone, but you can do your own version of that. All you need to do for the first three days is comfort and love your new little buddy.
Step 2: Socialization
After, comforting and letting them settle in, socialization is by far the most important thing to do with your new puppy. In fact, other than starting a house training routine, I am probably going to surprise you by saying you don’t need to do anything else with your puppy for the first several weeks that you have them. A dog can learn sit, down, stay at any point in their lives, so don’t worry about puppy falling behind. That isn’t going to happen. Focus on teaching them how to cope with the world first.
What is socialization? There is a fundamental misunderstanding in our culture about what socialization is. It is, at its core, about exposure. But there is a right way and a wrong way to go about it. The Critical Socialization Window is between 6 and 16 weeks. Some experts believe it ends at closer to 13 weeks of age. This window signifies the period when your puppy is most emotionally flexible. Up until 16 weeks, puppies tend to regard the world with curiosity. After 16 weeks, dogs tend to begin regarding novel stimuli with a more uncertainty and hesitancy. Thus, it is crucial to utilize the critical socialization window to expose your dog to the things they are likely to encounter in their lifetime. That doesn’t mean socialization ends at 16 weeks, but we must prioritize exposure at this time to prevent fearfulness and reactivity developing in the future. Genetics are always going to play a factor in how fearful or reactive a dog turns out to be as an adult, but proper socialization is the best defense we have against these issues.
In preparing a socialization plan, I like to play out my dog’s entire life in my head. This helps me imagine every possible environment my dog might have to contend with, and all the different people, animals, sights, sounds, smells, textures he might encounter. My goal is to expose him to as many of these as possible, while making it a fun and relaxing experience. For example, if I know my dog is likely to encounter other dogs, but I want him to remain relaxed and happy when meeting them, I need to give him that experience as a puppy. However, I don’t necessarily want my dog to think that he has to say hello to every dog we see, so I need to teach him how to remain calm while noticing other dogs as well.
How do you socialize a puppy? Let’s say I want to socialize my dog to be able to spend time at parks. I might take my puppy (in a stroller or wagon or car if they haven’t been fully vaccinated) to a medium to low activity park. I would bring medium to high value treats, like baked chicken or freeze dried liver, as well as some of puppy’s favorite toys. Once at the park, I would let puppy take in the sights, sounds, smells while intermittently feeding him some treats to solidify this as a positive experience. I might incorporate some play time as well to make this stand out as a really fun place to be. I would also work on reinforcing settling behaviors, like sitting and laying down, so that in the future puppy will be more likely to be able to settle in a public environment with lots going on. This is the basic structure you need for any type of socialization.
Another important thing I want to talk about in regards to socialization is the debate about when to introduce your puppy to other dogs. The traditional thinking on this from veterinarians is that you should not let your puppy come into contact with any other animals until two weeks after they have had all three Parvo vaccines. This is an understandable position, as puppies are at risk of dying from disease, and everyone just wants to keep their newest family member safe. However, newer thinking on this is that it is actually a greater risk to the dog’s health to postpone socialization. Recent studies have shown that the number one killer of dogs under three years of age is behavioral issues, not diseases (Yu et al.). This is due to behavioral euthanasias or surrenders resulting in euthanasia. With this is mind, I take the stance that we need to balance keeping our puppies safe from infectious disease with a safe approach to socialization. As already mentioned, you can still take your dog to public places in a stroller or carrier. Furthermore, I will be choosing a couple of dog playmates for my puppy to interact with. These will be dogs I know have wonderful social skills, have been fully vaccinated, and do not frequent high dog traffic areas. Playdates will take place in my backyard or in my house to minimize exposure. That being said, everyone has to make these decisions for themselves, and live with the consequences of those actions. There are risks on both sides. If you are considering getting a puppy, I encourage you to do your own research on these topics, and decide what is the right approach for you and your puppy.
Stay tuned for next month’s blog with more puppy related advice!
Yu, Yan, et al. “Mortality Resulting from Undesirable Behaviours in Dogs Aged Three Years and under Attending Primary-Care Veterinary Practices in Australia.” Animals, vol. 11, no. 2, 13 Feb. 2021, p. 493, https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11020493.
