Puppy Socialization

What Does it Mean to Socialize Your Puppy?

Socializing your puppy is so much more than making sure your dog meets other dogs. Socializing your puppy is the process of getting your puppy accustomed to world around them, which includes a wide array of different things & experiences.

Your puppy’s socialization will start in my home and it’s essential that it is carried on by you. Puppies have what is called “critical socialization period” between 3-16 weeks of age. The puppy’s experiences during this period of learning and development can influence and shape their temperament and behavior as an adult. Providing plenty of opportunities to introduce your puppy to many new sights, sounds, smells, people, places, super friendly (healthy and vaccinated) dogs & animals, and experiences, keeping each interaction short, sweet, and positive– will ensure your puppy will grow into a well adjusted dog. It’s a big responsibility but one that can be fun & will certainly be impactful! Many dog training facilities offer puppy socialization classes to assist you as you seek to take advantage of this critical window of time to properly socialized your puppy.

Here’s an article from the AKC that provides a brief overview on puppy socialization.

Why Should You Socialize Your Dog?

Dogs that are well socialized during their critical socialization period are known to be friendlier, more confident, trusting, relaxed, and overall feel safe. All these qualities are what every family desire in a dog, and what is best for all dogs. Unsocialized dogs are known to be more fearful which can manifest itself in aggressive behaviors. The impact of poor socialization lasts a lifetime, and while improvement are possible, it can be a slow and time consuming process.

Socialization can and should happen at any age, but it becomes much more difficult when the dog is older. With young dogs, you can take advantage of the “socialization window” between 3-16 weeks, when they will most readily accept novel stimuli (which would be anything new or unfamiliar).

While much research is still being done on the benefits of socializing puppies, much of the groundwork was done decades ago. A study from the 1960s gathered information from litters of puppies that were raised in fenced fields, & from those litters some were exposed to and others deprived of human interaction at different ages. Today we can see that such a study has many ethical issues, but nonetheless the results were telling.

The scientists recorded that “unless socialization occurred before 14 weeks of age, withdrawal reactions from humans became so intense that normal relationships could not thereafter be established“.

They also noted that the puppies that weren’t socialized started to withdraw from humans at just 5 weeks of age.

Again, there’s still hope for dogs who aren’t socialized in the critical socialization window, and every dog is an individual and can have different outcomes based on how much or little they have been socialized. However, this study reveals the huge importance of socialization from a young age.

How To Socialize Your Dog

There are two parts to socializing your puppy. One is conditioning your puppy to think of a wide variety of people, animals, smells, things, and experiences as normal and non-threatening. The other part involves helping them to become resilient & be able to handle new and unexpected things like a champ. Once you have exposed your pup to the wide variety of people, animals, and experiences- the second part of socialization becomes easier. In short, if your puppy has had a wide variety of experiences, they will be less likely to be stressed and fearful by the unfamiliar ones.

During the socialization window, you’ll want to expose your puppy to a wide range of people, things, animals, surfaces, sounds, and environments. Prioritize the things that your puppy is likely to encounter throughout their life. Also, consider activities you hope to do with your dog: travel, camping, walks in a park, boating, being around people, taking them to your children’s sport events. Whatever it is that you hope to have your dog by your side, find small positive ways to begin getting them used to the unique things, noises, people, and environments they will encounter as they engage in that activity with you.

Here’s a checklist of different things to introduce your puppy to during the critical socialization period.

What if the Puppy is Fearful

It’s natural for puppies to initially be fearful when you do new things with them, and your task is to show the puppy that they are safe.  With that, here are some tips for socializing your puppy:

Tips for Socializing Your Puppy

Let the puppy set the pace:

Approach new things as the puppy relaxes, retreat a little bit if the puppy is scared. 

Keep Things Short and Sweet:

You don’t want to overwhelm your puppy & it’s super important to make sure their interaction was positive–or it could have the opposite effect!

Use Treats:

Bring treats! Treats always make a new situation for the puppies enjoyable.

Repeat:

Be sure to have your puppies have these different experiences more than once, especially if they were fearful.

Here are tips from the Whole Dog Journal on how to keep socialization fun for your puppy:

“Help your pup be relaxed and calm. For a younger pup, hold him in your arms if that is calming. Talk to him in soft and gentle tones. Give him treats. Keep him a little bit away from things so he can watch from a comfortable distance until he is ready to explore. Make sure all exposures and introductions happen on puppy time – that is, when your pup wants to engage.

How do you know if your pup wants to explore something new, meet a new person, or play with another pup? Just watch your pup and you will see. If your pup is curious and moving towards the person, animal, or thing, your pup may be ready to engage.

If your pup is cautious, wait. Let him watch from a distance. Pups don’t have to interact with everything and everyone during socialization. Just being in the world, or hearing noises, or seeing people or animals can help them become familiar.

If your pup is overexcited to the point of being frenetic, he may also be lacking confidence or even a little scared. Try to help your pup build confidence by keeping greetings brief, giving your pup treats, or changing how people or other animals are interacting. For example, if your pup is a little too excited greeting people, have people sit down and let your pup go up to them. Or try moving your pup away and let him watch until he shows more confidence.

What if your pup tucks her tail, tries to move away, or perhaps barks or cries? Please, please, please move your puppy away from whatever scares her. This is critical. Making a puppy stay near something or someone that scares her has the potential to backfire and create a real and lasting fear. It is not a good idea to throw a pup into the deep end, metaphorically speaking. Better to move your pup away, let her experience the scary stimulus from a distance, and give her some chicken or other tasty treats. Wait for her to be ready to explore comfortably.

Puppies do go through fear periods – developmental phases when the world is just a little more overwhelming. If your pup seems suddenly scared of more things than he was previously, take a step back from socialization and provide him with comfort, fun things to do, and gentle experiences. Fear periods often pass in one to two weeks.”

With our Heidi and Ember ready to whelp soon, we have set up our whelping area to have a safe & comfortable place for them to whelp with all the supplies we need close by. My husband graciously gave up his office for the few weeks that the puppies will be upstairs before we move them to the living area on our main level.

Check out this reel on our IG account for a tour of our whelping area!

Finding the Right Spot

First, you need to find a warm, secluded, tucked away area inside your home for your dog to whelp. An extra room or closet will work great. Many breeders will even use their bedrooms. The puppies will stay in this area for 3-4 weeks while they are neonates until they are walking and become more social. I have found that once the puppies can jump out of their whelping box, it’s time for them to move to a larger space where they can be around people more!

Whelping Box

There are many options you can use for a whelping box. Many people build their own or even use a plastic kiddie swimming pool. So explore your options and be sure your whelping box has a pig rail to prevent the mama dog from potentially squishing her puppies

• Whelping Box
• Whelping box liner (I use this type to protect my floor & place 2 smaller pads on top. I have found this type of liner to be sufficient to protect my carpet while the puppies are under 4 weeks old. After that, you will like need to put a piece of vinyl or something similar to protect your floors)
• Large incontinence pads ( large one bigger than whelping box)
• Small incontinence pads (about the size of the whelping box)

Keep in mind, you will go through a lot of whelping pads to ensure the puppies living space stays dry and clean. You will also use these when you move them to their larger space to ensure they aren’t walking on a slippery surface that makes it difficult for them to walk.

Whelping Supplies Checklist

I highly recommend Revival Animal for most of your whelping supplies.

• Pet Thermometer and Vaseline- a week before your dog’s whelping date, you should begin taking her temperature at least every morning so you can know when her temperature drops. Once her temperature drops, you know your dog will whelp in the next 24 hours (Some dog’s temp won’t drop however). A thermometer will also be needed if you have to tube feed a puppy as it’s important for them to be at a specific temperature before feeding.
• Whelping Record Chart Make sure to have this ready on a clipboard with a pen. You can also find these free online.
• Identification Collars and you can upgrade to these and these as they grow.
• Scale– It’s important to weigh your puppies after being born & to weigh them regularly to ensure they are gaining weight.
• Disposable Gloves
• Puppy pads While whelping, I lay puppy pads down on top of the washable incontinence pads to make clean up easier. I go through a lot of these!
• Trash bag to get rid of the puppy pads
• Laundry basket for soiled incontinence pads
• Bulb Suction
• Delee Mucous Trap – This is a fantastic tool to have if there’s any mucous that you’re not able to get out of the puppy’s mouth with the bulb suction.
• Hanging Water Bowl – Meant to be used so you can hang your dog’s water bowl off the whelping box so the puppies won’t accidentally fall in, but I have found it more helpful to hold essentials in while whelping that I’m prone to misplace (like the bulb suction, surgical scissors. and dental floss).
• Washcloths – Used to dry the puppies after being born.
• Vet Wrap helps to keep your dog’s tail from getting messy while whelping
• Surgical scissors in case mom doesn’t sever a puppy’s umbilical cord herself. Research has shown there are benefits to waiting a few minutes to cut the cord.
• Hemostats in case an umbilical cord is bleeding significantly.
• Unwaxed Dental Floss can also be used if the umbilical cord is bleeding
• Styptic Powder or cornstarch can be used to stop an umbilical cord from bleeding
• Iodine to dip the umbilical cord in to avoid infections
• Oral Cal from Revival to give the mom AFTER she has delivered the first puppy. Learn more about calcium supplements for mama dogs here.
• Doc Roy’s Health Bone Tablets to give mama dog while nursing puppies so her calcium levels don’t become depleted
• OB Lube in case a puppy is stuck
• Nutri-Drops in case you have a struggling puppy. Kao syrup works too.
• Puppy Feeding Tube kit in case mama is unable to feed puppies or you have a puppy that is struggling. This is a video you should watch before whelping to get a general idea on how to tube feed in case you have a puppy who needs you to do this for them.
• Warming Pad in case a puppy is struggling or you need to move the puppies away from the mom as she delivering. Be careful to not put a puppy directly on the pad- put it in a box or basket with blankets on top of it to avoid burning their delicate skin.
• Stethoscope in case you need to determine a puppy’s heart rate.
• Snacks for your mama dog- broth (for hydration), plain yogurt, cottage cheese, their favorite treats, or even vanilla ice cream!
• Pen Light to be able to check the puppy over for deformities
• Stainless steel bowls – to have for water, broth, and food.
• Plenty of towels! I like to make a path or towels and or incontinence pads from our whelping area to the door that we take our dogs outside to potty. Whelping can get messy & potty accidents can happen as you attempt to get your dog outside to potty while whelping.
• Cleaner in case your dog does have an accident or some of the whelping mess gets outside the whelping box. If you don’t use it during whelping, I’m sure you will once the puppies are older.
• Room Thermometer to make sure the area your keeping your puppies is warm enough. If the room is too cold, there are a variety of options to keep things warmer. However, our mama dogs don’t like a room too hot. You will know if your puppies are cold if they are frequently piling up on top of each other.
• Nurture Flora for your puppies. This is a probiotic formulated for newborn puppies that provides essential nutrients and beneficial bacteria for them as they grow.
• Quiet Time Pet Bed for the puppies to cuddle on. Make sure it’s small, light weight, and has the bumpers on the side. This will help the puppies establish a spot for sleeping that they won’t potty on.
• Elevated Dog Bed placed right outside the whelping box so mama dog can have a spot outside of the whelping box that allows her to still be able to see her puppies. You could also place your dog’s bed right outside of it as well.

Other Considerations:

• Be sure to have a dog leash, flashlight, and a towel near where you need to bring your dog outside to potty when whelping. Dogs have been known to deliver while potting so you must go outside with her & be ready with a towel in case she delivers outside.
• Have your vet and an emergency vet’s information ready in case of an emergency. Make sure to have that a box or basket for the puppies ready in case you need to transport mom to the vet.
• Be sure to have a cozy place in the whelping area for you to rest! You may have some long nights ahead of you!
• Also important, have your snacks and meal plan ready before puppies come, especially if you have kids!
• Have resources near. Know ahead of time what to expect and make sure you have a collection of good books, websites, podcast, and YouTube videos to guide you during the whelping process. Better yet, find a mentor who can answer your questions and even assist you! Two resources I recommend: Revival Animal’s YouTube Channel (has a wealth of information on all things whelping and puppies) & Well Bred Vet has great printable (and free!) resources (I particular like their Whelping Flow Chart).

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