Experience

One of the most important job for puppy parents - a job that gives their puppy the best chance at a future that is happy - is to log in as many different experiences (in a positive, reinforcing way) as they can. There is a very short window when puppies are old enough to be away from their mom and littermates but still young enough that their brain isn't telling them that new/different things are scary.

Just taking a puppy around and "socializing" isn't going to work. In fact if it's not feeling like a positive experience you could actually be teaching the pup that being out and about meeting strange people is scary and uncomfortable.

I don't even really like the word "socialize" any more since so many people misunderstand it. Just getting exposure to people and other dogs isn't enough. Your goal is to squeeze in as many unique experiences as possible, all the while keeping things happy and positive. That means puppies getting to walk on different surfaces - grass, gravel, bark, tarps scratchy rugs.... It means experiencing lots of different sounds - vacuums, garbage trucks, ambulance sirens, doors closing loudly, dogs barking loudly behind fences, drive thrus where voices come out of a box.. And always when they are experiencing these new things it's important that their body language is relaxed and they are enjoying themselves. That means high value treats need to be flowing fast and steady and these new experiences need to be doled out in short but frequent doses. If they aren't relaxed you need to back up and break things down more.

Tate and I recently had our first "experience" outing to help her experience what life in the burbs is like for a dog. I put her in a small crate, belted it into the passenger seat and gave her a bully stick. Yum! She thought that was pretty great. Then off we went.

First stop was a Starbucks drive thru. She watched the screen a bit while it was "talking" and then I started popping little bits of treat into her crate. Yay! It was raining treats. Then up to the window where there was a stranger talking to me and reaching out the window towards our car. More treats and happy talk to her.

Then we were off to our second stop - the pet food store to pick up some puppy kibble. I shop at a small independent pet food store and the employees are great about helping out when I bring in dogs who are working on certain things. Since Tate hasn't had her 2nd puppy vaccination booster yet I couldn't put her on the ground. So instead we practiced just having people come up and say hi and pet her and give her treats. She did great! We bought her puppy kibble and then headed back to the car for home. Two different stops on our first outing was a lot of work.

When we got home she had a potty break and some tearing around time and then it was in the crate to rest up. All those new experiences worked her brain and she was ready to rest.