A Last Word on Socialization

I posted earlier this week about ideas for socializing your puppy. Here is a link to Dr. Becker's site (one of my favorites) where she talks about WHY puppy socialization is so important. (HINT: poorly socialized puppies become poorly socialized dogs, and poor socialization is the number one reason dogs get euthanized.)

I forgot to mention, too, that even though your puppy needs to be socialized to other dogs, the jury is out as to when it is safe from a communicable disease point of view. Conservative vets (almost all of them) will tell you to wait until the puppy's full set of vaccines is complete. Others, the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior included, recognize that the window of opportunity for good socialization is small (first 16 weeks of life), as is the risk of catching something horrible, and that socialization should take precedence over pretty much EVERYTHING. Read The AVSAB paper HERE.

A happy medium might be to get your puppy into a puppy socialization group that meets regularly, is supervised, and where all the puppies have shown proof of vaccination. Talk you your trainer or puppy school to find out what they offer.