I wrote recently about the huge puppy boom due to coronavirus. Buying a puppy is just one small step. You need to raise them properly for them to become the great companion you dreamed of.
“You must socialise your puppy” “A good socialisation programme means you’re giving your puppy the best chance to grow up into a great family pet.”
Both very true statements.
But I want to let you into a secret. Puppy socialisation and puppy training are really all about preparing your puppy and yourself for the freewheeling chaos of adolescence. The great Ian Dunbar has been preaching for many years that we are not doing enough to prevent problems. It’s one reason why our rescue centres are full to overflowing. (I dread to see what the next few months will bring.)
Ian warns that owners are not doing one tenth of the training or one hundredth of the socialisation needed to provide puppies with the manners, confidence and social savvy necessary to successfully negotiate adolescence.
He believes we’re not even close to capitalising on the opportunities of early puppyhood. Owners are repeatedly shocked when their cuddly puppies grow into gangly adolescents and develop predictable and preventable problems, such as house-soiling, destructive chewing, excessive barking, fearfulness, hyperactivity, lack of attention, poor obedience and even aggression to people.
These things keep me employed as a behaviourist, but my dream is that all new owners get the help they need to socialise and start training their puppies before the crucial age of 18 weeks.
Don’t store up problems that can so easily be prevented.
Keep training and keep safe,
Carol