Rigatoni is a very social boy and loves every person and dog he meets. He has handled every situation we've thrown at him including kayaking, boating, restaurants, parties, walks in the woods, etc.
The entire litter of puppies came over to my husband and I and they were all friendly, roly-poly little babies. You can tell they did a great job getting their puppies acclimated to life in a new home.
My puppy doesn't flinch when he sees and hears things like fire trucks, parades, fireworks, horses, thunder, or anything else. Sometimes he is curious but almost never scared of anything. He's such a good boy!
Let me tell you a story. It will explain a lot of the “why” behind our commitment to superb puppy socialization. (In a hurry? Jump to our socialization process.)
In late 2016, my mom had to say goodbye to her elderly, beloved dog. Unable to stand the emptiness of her home with him gone, she soon reached out to a local rescue agency for a lead on a small lapdog. She excitedly told me that the rescue organization had a little Chihuahua coming in, and she was going to meet him.
It was love at first sight. Heedless of the agency’s cautions that they didn’t know much about his history, she made plans to bring him home, rather than letting them put him in a foster home first. He was small, he was cute, and those big eyes made her heart melt. Her commitment was total.
But very quickly, that commitment was put to the test. She found out that this sweet baby, Shortie, had no idea how to live in a home. He was frightened of everything. He spent most of his time cowering under a blanket. He wouldn’t let anyone pick him up. He had never learned to trust.
People were scary. He didn’t know how to play. Toys were scary. He was completely unable to go outside to eliminate. In came a training pad. He continues to use an indoor bathroom system to this day, as the outdoors is still utterly daunting to him.
Even the squeaky sound of a styrofoam container being opened was petrifying. My mom was heartbroken. This beloved little animal came into her home totally unable to cope with the basics of life.
In hopes of helping, I gifted Mom a series of visits with a qualified pet trainer to work with her and Shortie. After a few home visits, the trainer didn’t have a lot of hope or encouragement to give Mom.
Sadly, Shortie had missed out on vital socialization practices in his formative period, and he just wasn’t going to get much better. Mom consulted with several vets, including her own, who were all working together to try to help Shortie. One of them prescribed a series of different prescriptions to try to help settle Shortie’s anxieties so he might live a more normal life. Some of the prescriptions made him sick, some made him sleepy, none “fixed” him.
Shortie, like all dogs, needs to have his nails trimmed regularly. This was something Mom did herself for all of her dogs prior to this. Not so for Shortie. He would cower, snarl, and lash out, teeth gnashing, if she tried to get near his feet to trim his nails.
Trips to the vet resulted in Shortie defecating all over during the car ride as his overwhelming fear caused him to lose bowel and urinary control. He even bit one of the vet techs.
Although home visits are not part of his service, my mom’s vet finally suggested that he and a tech come to her house regularly in order to trim Shortie’s nails and administer veterinary care. They come to her house, help catch him, sedate him each visit, and take care of his needs. They have told Mom more than once that Shortie is a very lucky dog, as most people would not have stuck with Shortie the way she has.
Mom has continued to love this special little dog, and he has come a long way. He now enjoys running down the hall every morning with his doggie sister Chloe. He will now climb on Mom’s lap, seek attention, and will even lick her face and hands.
But he will never be a “normal” dog. She still uses extreme caution around him, as he can quickly turn nasty and lash out unpredictably. Fear is a powerful thing. This story, which hits all too close to home, is a drastic example of why early socialization is SO IMPORTANT.
In the first 12 weeks of life, a puppy is the most open to new experiences that he or she ever will be. During this time it is absolutely vital that puppies be exposed to as many sounds, sites, smells, and positive doggy-human interactions as possible. It is during this time that they learn that people are friends, but only if someone works with them and teaches them these necessary skills.
Shortie missed out on this exposure, and every day, Mom lives with the consequences of his lack of early socialization. Shortie will never be all that he could have been had someone handled him properly from birth. Although Mom has all the love in the world for her dog, his impoverished early experiences will not be fully overcome.
Socialization Process
We send our puppies home at a minimum of 8 weeks of age, no matter the circumstances. Besides being illegal to sell puppies under 8 weeks of age in NY, puppies absolutely need this time for bonding and social skills from their litter mates. Interactions and nursing with Mama help teach them how to behave. The general tender loving care of our babies is way too important to us to risk their lifelong health, mental stability, and the undue stress caused by being adopted too young.
The puppies live with us in our home where they are around our family every day. You can be sure that your puppy is being carefully handled on a daily basis, being loved, stroked, played with, and trained throughout its first 8 weeks.
They get a bath and blow-dry at least two times while in our care, once at 4 weeks, and again right before going home. They also receive nail-trimming as needed, fur trimming around their eyes to help them see, around their paw-pads as needed to prevent slippage on our hardwood floors, and around their bottoms to keep them clean and sanitary. We brush and comb our puppies on a regular basis so they are used to being on the grooming table.
Along with playtime we built a small staircase sized just right for our pups to learn how to maneuver steps and heights. They love to hide out under it, and play King of the Mountain.
We delight in giving the puppies a chance to run around the house each day in their last few weeks with us, and take joy in knowing this is helping them excel in brain development, as well as advancing their social and behavioral skills. They interact not only with their mama, but also with our other dogs and our family kitties. Our dogs and kitties LOVE puppies!
In addition to our own household, we invite guests over of a variety of ages to expose the puppies to babies, the elderly, etc. Exposure to people in hats, boots, scarves, carrying umbrellas, and normal everyday items all become part of our puppies’ mental image of “normal” and “not scary.”
Puppies are taken on car rides, and older puppies may be carried into stores, to further their exposure to new experiences. While there is no way for us to expose them to everything they might possibly encounter in their lifetime, we give them plenty of opportunities to experience something new, check it out, and learn that they can happily embrace new experiences. This does wonders for building a puppy’s confidence.
Watching my mom live with a dog that was not socialized properly compels us to make a long-lasting difference for our dogs and their families. We do everything we can to socialize puppies at NY Dandy Doodles, ensuring that your puppy story is the finest one it can possibly be. You deserve the best. So does your puppy.
We highly encourage you to continue the socialization and training process we have worked so hard to begin, so that your fur companion will group up to be the very best acclimated, well-mannered, and utterly adored doggie he or she can be.
-Amy Mayne