Socialization Safety
Puppy Socialisation Safety Guidelines
Early socialization is super important for puppies. It is impossible to stress this too much.
Up until 3-4 months of age your puppy’s brain is open to everything he comes across. This is the so called critical socialization window. After that, a young dog is genetically pre-programmed to become wary of new things. This makes it much harder to shape him into an easygoing, friendly adult dog.
However, young puppies are also incredibly vulnerable to disease. Especially Parvo is every new puppy owner’s worst nightmare. In a matter of days, a perfectly healthy puppy can go from playful and active to fatally ill. Parvo is a highly contagious virus, that spreads easily either by direct contact with an infected dog, or through feces.
Unfortunately, and especially here in Namibia, there are still many unvaccinated dogs out there.
For this reason, some people advocate against socializing young puppies.
However, under-socialised dogs are much more likely to develop behaviour issues, such as fearfulness, separation anxiety and aggression.
Thus, keeping your young puppy home is not the solution.
I made this infographic of 6 simple guidelines for you, to help you keep your puppy safe during the critical socialisation period. Please share the infographic widely.
The dangers of not socializing your puppy early
Socialization is so much more than just puppies playing with other puppies.
Puppies that are not exposed to different people, places and situations at an early age, can develop all sorts of behaviour problems.
They may end up fearful of humans, of other animals, or loud noises. Because they have not learned how to handle situations that they consider stressful, many fearful dogs react defensively to whatever is frightening them.
Dogs with behaviour issues are much more likely to be surrendered to the SPCA.
Do you have a young puppy?Please tell us about your pup in the comments below. I would love to know what you do to socialise him or her.
