Puppy socialization is an integral part of building a solid foundation for your dog. Puppy socialization isn’t taking your dog to the dog park. We don’t recommend that any of our clients do that. Instead, proper socialization looks like exposing your dog during its first six months to two years to as many novel pictures as possible. Taking your dog to the vet, walking through parks, walking by construction sites, going to your local school, traversing parking lots, walking through the hardware store, and driving your dog around in your vehicle are all forms of socialization.
The more pictures the dog is exposed to at a young age, the more stable and confident the dog will be as an adult. Confidence is derived from experience, so if we want a confident dog, we must show the dog different scenarios that improve its confidence. Every client with a mature dog says they wish they had hired a trainer when they got the dog as a puppy. Just like kids, dogs are impressionable, and if they run around for years pulling on the leash, barking at strangers, and eating food off the table, we’ll wake up one day and realize we taught the dog all the wrong behaviors.
Dog training is like building a house. You need a solid foundation before you can put the roof on. Dog training is 90% structure and 10% leash work. Think about it. Your dog will only wear a leash for less than 10% of its life. If you wait too long to teach it how to find the advantage in desirable behavior, you’ll miss out on the best part of dog ownership: living life to the fullest with your furry best friend!
Get in contact with the team at Dynamic Canine Solutions and schedule a consultation to see what dog training program would work best for you and your dog.
