Socialisation

Socialisation is the process of your dog learning to interact with other dogs, animals, people and situations, I cannot stress as to how important this is to a dogs life. It's at this stage they learn about who and what they are,plus they learn behaviour skills through playing. During the first seven months puppies learn more easily as they are more receptive, the next stage they are going through chemical changes in their physiological make up and this can lead to reduced obedience.

A very good reason for you to socialise you dog is that dogs have innate behaviour which has evolved as a survival mechanism in the wild, and this the way they react to fear. Their natural response is to attack or run away, in the wild this is a survival technique but not a healthy behaviour for your family pet. Socialisation helps your dog be more confident and not fearful at first response. Fear can be triggered by the unknown.......a new person,dog or situation, this is why socialisation is a great way to teach your pets not to be afraid, therefore a well socialised dog is more confident, happy and a lot easier to train as they will learn faster.
The best ways to socialise a puppy or young dog is to take them to Puppy Parties before you go your dog must be vaccinated.Socialisation happens every day when you both experience new situations both in the home and outside, it is good to let your dog socialise with different types of dogs all ages and sizes under a controlled situation as a bad experience can be very harmfull for a young pup. They need to be introduced to adults and children and other animals as well, try walking into town and maybe take a bus on your return journey, infact all the things which you normally do you should experience with your puppy. don't do everything at once start off gently with with short walks and gradually increase. Good Luck.

Tips for sucess:

Don't let your puppy/dog pull towards people wait until they are calm then they can approach.
Prevent your puppy from jumping up as this is a ban habit which can be difficult to break.
Use food, toys to help break the ice with strangers, especially if your puppy is shy, this type of pup needs time to overcome their fears so ask your visitor not to approach the puppy and let him go to them when he is ready.
Try to find a few children each week to meet the puppy if you have children in the family their friends are a great choice also standing at the school gate is a great way of new pups meeting children.