Getting a puppy is an exiting time and all owners hope that their puppy will grow into a happy, well behaved and friendly adult dog. Without a doubt, appropriate puppy education is the single most important factor to ensure this is what happens.

Socialisation is one of the most important roles of a new puppy owner and it is a unique window of time that will have an impact on the puppy for life. The early stages in a dog’s life are critical for his development into a happy, safe, and loving pet. Fears and aversions developed during puppyhood can be altered, but never completely obliterated, in adulthood. Socialisation is the process of becoming familiar with all kinds of animals, people, places, and things; as well as learning how to behave in society. To be beneficial, these experiences need to be enjoyable and fun. All puppies need socialisation regardless of breed or temperament. This should not be taken for granted, even breeds that have a very good reputation for loving people such as the Golden Retriever, need to be thoroughly socialised as puppies. Puppies that are well socialised are more confident adults, that reach their full potential.

The nature of socialisation and training changes has puppies develop. The following chart provides general guidelines for the stages of development. Depending on breed and individual dog, stages may be longer or shorter and may take place earlier or later.

For descriptive ease, scientists divide development into separate stages. However, dogs do not abruptly leave one stage and enter another, rather the progression is smooth and the stages overlap. In reality, a dog's behaviour and temperament are always in a state of change. For example, adolescence is not a precise point separating puppyhood from adulthood but rather, it is an ongoing period of social as well as sexual maturation, starting as early as 16 weeks and lasting until three years of age in a large breed such as the Golden Retriever. Socialisation is an ongoing process that must start very early and should begin in the breeder’s home. Even before a puppy can hear or see, “puppy enrichment” can begin by focusing on the fully developed senses the puppy does have (those of touch and smell). Before 8 weeks of age at the breeders home neonatal handling, safe socialisation with people, errorless housetraining and chew toy training are vital. As a rule of thumb, before they are eight weeks old, puppies need to meet and be handled by at least a hundred people — especially men and children. Then the very first day your

puppy comes home the clock is ticking. All aspects of puppy training and behaviour modification will only get harder as your puppy gets older, so don’t wait, start training as soon as your puppy comes home! Puppies must be safely socialised to people and taught to enjoy being hugged and handled (restrained and examined) before they are three months old. This is the crucial developmental stage during which puppies learn to accept and enjoy the company of other dogs and people. Thus your puppy needs to be socialised to people by the time he is twelve weeks old otherwise, during adolescence they will likely become wary and fearful about strangers especially children and men. These fears can escalate into defensive and aggressive behaviour leading to a generally unhappy and stressed dog. Most bites occur because a dog is fearful and unsure, not because he is “dominant” or “protective” Puppies have very sharp teeth and even fairly gentle bites can hurt. However, puppy biting behaviour and periodic painful (yet non-harmful) bites are essential for a puppy to ultimately develop a soft mouth as an adult dog. Puppies learn from their litter mates that play-fighting and play-biting are fun, but that painful bites bring an abrupt end to the play session. Thus, the more puppies are allowed to play and bite, the quicker the painful bites decrease in frequency. Puppies must learn to control the pressure of their biting and mouthing when playing with other dogs and when playing with humans before they develop the strength to cause serious harm. Therefore, we must teach puppies proper bite inhibition before they get too old. Bite inhibition must be taught during puppyhood. As your pup grows older and is able to go out into the world, you must continue socialisation outside the home, puppy classes are great for your pup to learn how to play appropriately with other pups and further develop their bite inhibition, but also you should be actively incorporating positive training into all aspects of your dog’s life. By training on your walks, in the car, when making a cup of tea and at the park, etc… you will raise a dog that is confident and relaxed in all situations. Unfortunately, far too many owners underestimate the crucial importance of teaching bite inhibition and socialising their young puppy. Not teaching bite inhibition is both foolish and potentially dangerous. Not sufficiently socialising a puppy is inhumane; as an adult, the poor dog will forever feel stressed, anxious and edgy around people, which isn’t fair. Is there such a thing as too much socialisation and training? Yes studies have shown that by the time they are eight-weeks old, puppies require three times the amount of downtime (usually sleeping) than they spend exploring, playing and socialising. Sufficient downtime is essential for the puppy’s brain to “process” experiences and learning. Needless to say, during socialisation, owners should be patient, handling should be gentle and basic manners taught using food/toy lures and rewards, i.e., no

grabbing, forcibly restraining, pushing, pulling, squishing and squashing. Training session should be fun and frequent but very short — just a minute or two at a time. Even though early socialisation is critical, in reality, the period of socialisation never ends. When socialisation continues, dogs become even more socialised, whereas when socialisation is discontinued (e.g., when dogs are isolated, or not walked regularly), dogs gradually de-socialise until eventually they may become fearful, asocial, or even antisocial.