I knew I was in good hands when Honey’s breeder asked me to read an article on puppy socialization.
Research into dog behavior shows that puppies are at a critical time between 8-12 weeks old for being exposed to new people and experiences. For that reason, we’ve been advised to make sure Honey meets at least 100 people during that time.
I think we hit 100 people in the first 3 days!
Honey comes to work with me so that gives us a regular source of new people. Even better, my office is next to a park filled with people most days.
Since we want different kinds of exposures, we’ve sought out lots of different people and experiences. Here’s a few:
People: children, elderly, teenagers, adults, African American, Latina, Asian, White, with sunglasses, hats, bald, long haired, dreadlocks, with canes, uniformed (postal carrier & UPS delivery person), mildly tipsy
Places: vet’s office, park, business office, shopping mall (today’s pet expo day and dogs are allowed), parking lots, car, SPCA, neighborhood sidewalks
Objects: bicycle, basketball, skateboard, circular saw, vacuum cleaner, dishwasher, shopping cart, phone, answering machine, broom, shifting piles of lumber, shifting piles of stones, backpacks, power drill, typewriter, printer
Sounds: see objects above, firecrackers (at a distance; thank you Cornell students), thunder, recycling buckets being emptied
Animals: squirrels, cats, adult dogs, puppies, birds
I can’t wait to see what I’ve missed–