Believe it or not, Spring is the time of year when many people become new dog owners and so, I feel that it’s my duty to encourage my readers to spread the word about this very important e-word: EXPOSURE! That means exposing your new puppy to your world, otherwise known as socialization.

So many people are told by trusted friends and even professionals to keep their puppy at home until s/he is fully vaccinated. Unfortunately, puppies do not get fully vaccinated until 16 weeks old. By then, the critical age between 3 to 12 weeks have passed! It’s during this critical age that puppies are completely open and receptive to experiencing everything in our world that we often take for granted. It’s during this critical period in a pup’s development when they’re interest in new stimuli, people, experiences and other animals far outweigh any fear or anxiety toward them.

Even the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior believes “that it should be the standard of care for puppies to receive such socialization before they’re fully vaccinated”. Read more about AVSAB’s mission statement here: http://noriusuns.lt/images/puppy_socialization.pdf

So, if you know someone with a new puppy aged 3 to 12 weeks, be sure to pass this important information on. These pups should be taken out on leash at times of day when they will encounter school buses, garbage trucks, traffic, and children playing and be exposed to water and water hoses, lawn mowers, bicycles, skateboards, garden flags, manholes and drains, vacuum cleaners and brooms and the list goes on and on!

Be sure to encourage any self-confidence or curiosity you pup exhibits toward this new experience or thing with exuberance and praise! But, if your pup wants nothing to do with it, please don’t force him toward the thing or experience in question. Rather, motivate him by you, yourself, showing curiosity for it. You can even entice him with a treat by leading or luring the treat from his nose to whatever it may be.

However, if your pup shows fear or anxiety toward this new thing, be sure not to pet or pick him up or worse, baby talk the fear away. We humans want to make any anxiety better by sharing affection as we would to another human. However, the fact of the matter is. that if you pet your pup at the time he’s anxious, then you’re effectively telling him to keep being anxious. Remember, you get what you pet! That means if you pet a calm mind, you’ll get more of a calm mind. And, you guessed it, if you pet a fearful mind, you’ll get more fearfulness.

So, when your friend delivers the good news that a new pup will be joining his family, remember that important e-word: EXPOSURE! Early exposure or socialization will set their pup up for success and you’ll have done a great service by sharing this information!

Dog Tip: Always ask the owner for permission to pet their dog before reaching your hand to the dog.

Upcoming Summer Pack Walk for Graduate Dogs Only: Saturday, June 2^nd @ 10:00 am, Downtown Cary. Space limited. Please rsvp no later than May 26^th.