Your family just got this adorable puppy and your veterinarian and well-meaning neighbors tell you to keep her safe from disease by not exposing her to any place other than your home and yard. This, in fact, is a mistake and one that can cause more damage than the risk of your puppy contracting a disease!
Even the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior has included in their Position Statement that during the first three months of life “puppies should be exposed to as many new people, animals, stimuli and environments….and to receive such socialization before they are fully vaccinated.”
Read the complete AVSAB Position Statement here:
Position Statement on Puppy Socialization
Although most veterinarians agree with the benefit of early socialization over the risk of contracting disease, some will still recommend keeping new puppies isolated until they’re fully vaccinated at 16 weeks old. However, puppies between the ages of 7 to 16 weeks still carry their mother’s immunity and when coupled with their first round of vaccinations and your good care, makes the risk relatively small especially when compared to the risk of serious behavior problems that inevitably come from little to no socialization during those critical early weeks when pups are completely open to new experiences without fear. Those older puppies who were kept from early social experiences tend to respond to new things with fear. That fear response can then lead to aggressive behaviors and this is what ultimately drives families to relinquishing those adorable puppies to shelters.
You can start your new puppy off right by exposing her to everything in your world short of high traffic dog areas that may not be properly sanitized such as dog stores and parks. Good exposure experiences include new people of different ages and ethnicities, places with different sights, sounds and smells and objects that do different things. Examples can include a trip to a playground or soccer park, a trip to the local hardware store, a walk around the neighborhood on trash day or when the school bus is expected to pass or a visit to the coffee shop on a pretty day.
Yes, it’s true that puppies, like people, come with their own unique personalities but you do have enormous input in shaping her into a social, well-adjusted, easy going member of your family by providing positive social experiences, interactive toys and tunnels, playtime alone, with you, as well as with another good canine role model, handling exercises such as grooming and petting and early crate training which provides a safe and quiet place for downtime which, by the way, also helps establish house training!
For all those new puppy owners, get out there with your whole family, furry four-legs included, and explore, interact, investigate and have most of all have fun not just today but for the whole 2020! Happy New Year!