Socialisation.
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In bringing your puppy home at eight weeks old it will already be in its fourth critical development period. Within this period your puppy must be well socialised with humans. After all, human company is predominately the main company your puppy will keep. Not just you but with other humans as well, girls, boys, young and old. Your puppy should be taken for walks in public and should be allowed to meet people and be allowed to play supervised with children. Socialisation is the act of exposing your puppy to everything you require him to be comfortable with throughout his life, people, places, situations and other animals included. This is especially important if your have other family pets. Behavioural problems in dogs are becoming more common and it can be said that nervous, aggressive or shy behaviour in adult dogs is due to the lack of adequate socialisation as a puppy. There really is very little time to socialise a puppy. The first 16 weeks of your puppies life are the most crucial and what is learnt in these first four months (good or bad) will shape your puppy for the rest of its life. What your puppy learns in this period will never be forgotten and therefore it is important that puppy is allowed and encouraged to explore the world around them.
Unfortunately it seems it is now common place to assume it is dangerous to a puppy’s health to take him out and about before two weeks after his last inoculation. Personally I find the real danger is that of an anti social dog that could end up in a rescue or even be put to sleep because of a biting incident as a result of poor socialisation.
If you did not let a small child leave the house until three years of age would it surprise you to find that child was scared of every new situation that was encountered? It would not, but that is the equivalent of keeping your puppy confined indoors until 12-14 weeks old, the age your puppy would be if you wait until two weeks after the second vaccination. The key to a happy, well balanced dog is to expose them to as many different situations as possible in the short time available. Take your puppy out and about with you as soon as you get home. In the car, visiting friends, meeting other dogs that have been fully vaccinated, other animals. Let people stop, talk and fuss your puppy, travel with your puppy on public transport. Show your puppy the outside world, the world in which we expected them to live. This does not mean your puppy should be placed on the pavement or allowed to visit areas of high dog traffic. Pick up and carry your puppy on these first little adventures and when fully vaccinated allow your puppy to continue on their own four paws.
A well socialised dog is a pleasure to own, one that is not can be difficult.
Unfortunately it seems it is now common place to assume it is dangerous to a puppy’s health to take him out and about before two weeks after his last inoculation. Personally I find the real danger is that of an anti social dog that could end up in a rescue or even be put to sleep because of a biting incident as a result of poor socialisation.
If you did not let a small child leave the house until three years of age would it surprise you to find that child was scared of every new situation that was encountered? It would not, but that is the equivalent of keeping your puppy confined indoors until 12-14 weeks old, the age your puppy would be if you wait until two weeks after the second vaccination. The key to a happy, well balanced dog is to expose them to as many different situations as possible in the short time available. Take your puppy out and about with you as soon as you get home. In the car, visiting friends, meeting other dogs that have been fully vaccinated, other animals. Let people stop, talk and fuss your puppy, travel with your puppy on public transport. Show your puppy the outside world, the world in which we expected them to live. This does not mean your puppy should be placed on the pavement or allowed to visit areas of high dog traffic. Pick up and carry your puppy on these first little adventures and when fully vaccinated allow your puppy to continue on their own four paws.
A well socialised dog is a pleasure to own, one that is not can be difficult.
