PUPPY TRAINING

100 Ideas For Socialising Your Puppy

Its not always easy being a dog owner, but those who are facing the biggest challenges are certainly the new puppy owners.

It’s quite a task when it comes to socialising a puppy in the big wide world. You need to make sure that your puppy knows and learns to be comfortable with lots of different things like: people, dogs, all different noises, surfaces etc. But how the hell do you do this? It’s definitely a challenge, Some puppy owners have limited options available to them when it comes to socialising their puppy, so hopefully even though you might be limited, lets turn this in to an advantage.

If you are unable to duplicate the exact exposure your young puppy would have in normal everyday life, so here are 100 different ideas that can help you boost the amount of information your puppy will get whilst being at home. The best thing is that your home will be full of different things that will be perfect for exposing and socialising your puppy.

Patience and Positivity

When it comes to the following these ideas they will need to be presented in a calm and positive setting when you introduce them to your puppy.

You are not going to flood your puppy with any sensations that scare them. Alternatively, you want all socialisation session to be happy and don’t make it a big deal. If your puppy seems to be scared or surprised, then you will need to lower the severity of the stimulus. There also needs to be lots of tasty treats involved in all these activities! Puppies need to eat daily anyhow, so why not use your puppies food to help them look at the world as a playground, and that there is no need to be afraid of it.

Surfaces

Insecurities with different surfaces can be a sign that a puppy has been poorly socialised. If a young puppy isn’t introduced to lots of different surfaces under their paws, they can soon become quite anxious towards any surfaces that they don’t know. A lot of young dogs will refuse to walk on unfamiliar surfaces because they had not been exposed to them during puppyhood, Some dogs won’t even place a paw on the stairs, and some dogs won’t walk on floors that are laminated. Below are a few ideas that you can use to introduce your puppy to different surfaces, you can simply just spread them out on the floor in your living room and let your puppy walk across them, use tasty treats to encouragement them:

• Baking/Parchment paper
• Tin foil
• Cardboard
• Pots and pans
• Bubble wrap (only if your puppy is brave)
• Books
• Towels
• Newspaper crumbled
• Water in a plastic paddling pool (not too deep)
• Cushions

Get Dressed Up

You might be unable to introduce your puppy to lots of different people, but what you can do is expose your puppy to a few different looks! This might be a surprise to you, but your puppy might show some signs of being unsure when they see you in a particular outfit that they haven’t seen before. So try on some different clothes that you might not wear inside on a regular basis, such as:

• Long coats like a trench coat
• Gloves
• Baseball caps
• Motorcycle helmet (If you have)
• Down jackets
• Work boots
• Sunglasses
• Rain coat (these are great for the crinkly sound)
• High visibility jacket
• Dressing gown

Strange Equipment

When it comes to your puppy seeing people with unusual things like a walking stick or a wheelchair, then your puppy might show signs of fear and anxiety. You can teach your puppy that there is really nothing to be worried or scared about, You can help by walking around your house with different items:

• Rucksack
• Suitcases
• Plastic carrier bags
• Open and closed umbrella
• A walking stick (or something that reassembles a cane)
• A push bike
• A mop and bucket
• Yard brush
• A hoover

Everyday Noises

Things might be really quiet at the moment for what ever reason, but your still wanting your puppy to listen and not be scared of lots off different sounds and noises. When it comes to playing different sounds for your puppy then the internet has lots of different sounds that you can play for your puppy in the home. You can use Google or YouTube and put together a playlist for your puppy. Remember to add some sounds that are usually a part of life but might not happen that much, like:

• Children playing and laughing
• Crying babies
• Skateboards
• Crowds of people
• Motorbikes
• Cars
• Lorries
• Thunder storms
• Heavy Rain
• Fireworks including rockets

Animals Noises

If your puppy is an only dog then you especially want to play animal noises, you want your puppy to get used to the sound of other dogs barking and animals out doors, and that they aren’t scary. Include animal sounds of:

• Cats
• Horses
• Cockerels
• Cows
• Pigs
• Birds
• Sheep
• Large dogs barking
• Small dogs barking
• Dogs howling

Noises In Your House

You will have lots of different electrical items around the home that make all kinds of noises. You could use them and introduce them to your puppy . Try using a:

• Sewing machine
• Lawn mover
• Vacuum cleaner
• Drill
• Sander
• Grass strimmer
• Sander
• Carpet cleaner
• Hedge trimmer
• Microwave

Unsteady Ground

A lot of puppies don’t like it when the ground moves under their paws. Once they are allowed to go out they may come across this more often, the floors in our own homes tend to be pretty sturdy. So here’s a few easy ideas for surfaces that are unstable that you can easily set up and show your puppy that there is nothing to be scared of (Always supervise your puppy and make sure they are safe, be there to help your puppy if they lose their balance):

• Pillows or cushions (Start with these as they are the easiest to use)
• Dog beds that are big and fluffy
• Air mattress
• Wobble board
• Pile of blankets or towels
• Gym ball
• baking tray on top of food bowl
• A piece of wood board with a pool noodle under it (Like a mini teeter trotter – be very careful with this)
• Skateboard (for expert puppies!)

Handling

have your puppy used to being handled whilst being happy and relaxed in various different ways, This will be really useful for your home routine as well as any vet visits and grooming appointments. Practice the below:

• Touch paws including between the toes
• Touching ears and look inside
• Touching the tummy
• Touching the tail and looking at the bum
• Nails trimmed
• Putting on a collar on and taking it off again
• Putting a harness on and taking it off
• Putting on a dog coat (if your going to use them)
• Giving a bath or shower
• Drying with a towel
• Drying with a hair dryer
• Brushing your puppy with different brushes
• Weighing your puppy on scales
• Checking your puppies eyes
• Looking at the teeth
• Gently move your puppies legs

Challenges during training

Try to practice your puppy’s training skills like lead walking and going into sit when asked to, do this in various situations so its help your puppy to understand what they have learnt, and give your puppy some challengers to think about. How about these:

• Loose lead walking up and down stairs
• Sitting in the bath or shower
• Loose lead walking in a figure 8 around 2 chairs
• Finding a tasty treat hidden underneath a plastic cup
• Sits and downs using a yoga mat
• Balancing on a wooden board
• Loose lead walking while you are doing 1 leg skipping one leg
• Finding treats hidden in a rolled up towel
• Sitting on a new surface outside like on some wet grass after its been raining
• Find some tasty treats that you hid in a pile of screwed up newspaper

Miscellaneous

Here’s, a few miscellaneous ideas for your puppy and their home-socialising program:

• Have your puppy on one side and pull your general waste bin on the other. A lot of puppies are wary about the sound the bin makes, so why not get them used to it straight away

• If your unable to drive anywhere, you can turn on the engine every day whilst your puppy is sitting in the car. It will teach your puppy that car rides are just a part of a normal everyday thing.

• Accidentally on purpose drop some items like cutlery, maybe your wallet or even a shoe when your puppy is present (Don’t drop them on your puppy). It will help your puppy to learn and not be startled at any sudden noises, make it seem as though they are just happening all the time, and they are no big deal.

• Allow your puppy to spend some time by themselves every day. If your puppy is with you 24/7, but then in a few weeks or months you return back to work, your puppy will be quite shaken and they might even develop severe separation anxiety. Allow your puppy to take a nap in a separate room every day.

Happy training guys!