Socializing the Pups

Now that the pups are fully mobile and starting to play, we’re expanding our efforts to teach them that humans can be fun to be around. We start socialization from the first day the pups come into our house. Harriett and I handle each pup a couple of times a day. As they get older we expand the universe of people they come into contact with.

The first eight to twelve weeks are the most critical for time for socialization. If the puppies do not get positive human contact now they will never get past their fear of humans. Our dog, Bella, is a good example.

Bella came from a raid on a dog hoarder in a tiny town near here. She was four months old when she and two littermates were sent to us for foster care. From the same raid we also got four six-week old puppies.

Although the six-week old pups had no human contact, they quickly accepted our handling and by the end of the eighth week they were on track to return to the shelter for adoption.

Bella and her two littermates, though, were a different story. For the first four months of their lives their only contact with humans was when someone threw some food over the fence into their enclosure. They had never been petted, picked up, or handled in any way. They were terrified at the sight of people and would turn to face the corner whenever we entered the puppy room. Without socialization, these dogs were returning to a feral state. Bella was the only one of the three that was able to make the transition to living with people. The other two never got over their terror. Even now, at nine years old, Bella is not comfortable around people that she doesn’t know. The pups will never recover from a bad start.

Learning to accept handling from the earliest time is critical to raising puppies that will become great family companions. Very young pups can’t see or hear us very well, so it’s only natural that they try to protect themselves when they get picked up. But with a calming voice, gentle handling, and lots of repetition the pups soon learn that being handled is not scary and can be quite enjoyable. We spend a lot of time sitting or lying on the floor at their level petting and playing with them.

Our goal is that the puppies will actively seek out contact with anyone who comes into their space. We call this the New Person effect. Whenever a new person comes into the room we want the pups to swarm them and seek out attention. We recruit friends to help socialize the pups. We like to have the pups meet a variety of adults and children so when they go back to the Shelter they will not be fearful of a potential adopter because of their age or gender.

Daisy’s pups are turning out to be a very sociable group. At just under five weeks old they will seek out contact with everyone they meet. If you watch PuppyCam, you may be able to catch the New Person effect in action when one of us goes into the puppy room.