Puppy socialization and vaccinations....

[keller27]

It's really hard for new owners when they outweigh the socializing and the vaccinations. Ian Dunbar said that we should socialize our puppies to 100 different people by the time they are 12 weeks old. My breeder and vet said not to socialize until 11 weeks old when they have had their 3rd series of shots.

Khori is now 12 weeks old today, and at 20.7 lbs. The breeder gave him his shots at 6 weeks, 8 weeks, and then he had them last weekend. I work at Petsmart, so after his 11 week shot, I brought him to the store for 1/2 the day and then brought him home. I have an office, and he has 2 crates to go into too, one in the office and the other one in the training area. I am now bringing him full day now.

I took him this weekend at Petsmart again, and also took him to PetCo on my way home. Tomorrow I will probably just take him out in the neighborhood. He loves children, and if I see them, we go over to say hi.

They have such a bad wrap that the socializing is so important to me because he will be my demo dog for classes, and I don't want him to scare anyone when he is bigger. I have only had one weird look from a lady when she asked me what breed of puppy he was. He plays well with other puppies.

I tell my customers who have the Dobermans, Rotties, Pitbulls to wait til the 3rd set of shots to come to class, and the first class is without the dogs too.

[BostonRott]

Well, Petsmart is not on my list of "safe" stores for a puppy who is not fully vaccinated yet either. I agree with your comment to not bring puppies to class there until they're fully vaccinated. Too many of the general public are completely clueless about canine health and miss early signs of illness, then proceed to take their dogs everywhere.

Dunbar is right, there is a window that closes at 12 weeks, and part of the process of socializing is continual desensitization........not meeting 100 people in a few days. Thus, the importance of getting puppies out to safe places.

[StephanieandToby]

When Toby was just a baby (8-16 wks) I got together with a few friends "safe" dogs in their garden. I pulled him there in a Radio Flyer red wagon.He also went everywhere with me....as many new experiences a I could think of...now he's basically bombproof. LOVES watching fireworks, Hallowe'en, haunted houses,bonfires,camping river rafting,semi-trucks,police cars, playgrounds,Dragon dances in Chinatown,parades (even the clowns!eek!)etc..etc...

[panda]

Hi, and congratulations on your new pup,well you can socialise your pup before his course of jabs has finished, you can carry him everywhere!!, so he gets used to as many different situations as possible, on the footpath, where you will find countless people wanting to see him, get him used to the car immeidiately, around noisy roads, take him to parks so he can see other dogs, and get to know other dog people you may wish to walk with later etc etc, just dont let his paws touch the ground, its a bit of an effort but well worth it. Good Luck

Anne and JoJo

[SonnyRott]

Originally Posted by StephanieandToby

When Toby was just a baby (8-16 wks) I got together with a few friends "safe" dogs in their garden. I pulled him there in a Radio Flyer red wagon.He also went everywhere with me....as many new experiences a I could think of...now he's basically bombproof. LOVES watching fireworks, Hallowe'en, haunted houses,bonfires,camping river rafting,semi-trucks,police cars, playgrounds,Dragon dances in Chinatown,parades (even the clowns!eek!)etc..etc...

Sounds like my dog!

We didn't ride in the little red wagon though. But how cute that must have been!

[StephanieandToby]

Originally Posted by SonnyRott

Sounds like my dog!

We didn't ride in the little red wagon though. But how cute that must have been!

It was hard to get him to stay in the wagon at first...I put him in a little harness and attached him to the wagon so he couldn't jump out!!I was detrmined not to let those little paws touch the filthy ground! We couldn't go 50 feet without someone stopping or pulling their car over just to say "Hi". He met soooo many people in those first few weeks....