The first three months of your puppy’s life is an important period, because they should be exposed to new situations and experiences. Correct socialization can help your puppy become a well-behaved, well-adjusted adult dog. Our Memorial Villages Animal Hospital team wants to help by explaining why puppy socialization is so important and providing steps to ensure that you socialize your puppy appropriately. 

Puppy socialization stages

Socialization reduces a dog’s fear response to environmental factors by providing experiences that allow the puppy to be afraid, realize their fear is unwarranted, and recover. The more experiences, the more accepting the puppy becomes when faced with situations in their environment. Socialization occurs throughout a dog’s life, but experiences during 5 to 16 weeks of age are more likely to result in positive development. Puppy socialization stages include:

  • Curiosity period — From 5 to 7 weeks of age, puppies are usually fearless and want to explore and investigate everything in their world. As they become increasingly mobile, they are at their most accepting of people, and they bounce back quickly when frightened by a new experience. This is the ideal period to introduce first baths, nail clipping, ear and mouth handling, and trips outside. 
  • Behavioral refinement — From 7 to 9 weeks of age, puppies have a shorter attention span, but anything they learn becomes permanent. Puppies should be trained individually at this age, and taught good habits and rules about boundaries. Consistency is important during these training sessions to prevent confusion.
  • Fear imprint — From 8 to 9 weeks of age, puppies are more cautious and more likely to be fearful of loud noises, strangers, other pets, sudden movements, and discipline from humans or other dogs. Non-socialized puppies who experience fear during this stage frequently respond fearfully to the triggering stimuli throughout their life, unless extensive desensitization is performed.
  • Environmental awareness — From 9 to 12 weeks of age, puppies improve their motor skills, pay more attention to people, and start to learn the right behaviors in a given situation. If the pup is separated from other dogs, the human-animal bond becomes strong, while puppies left with their littermates past this point frequently have separation anxiety issues. 
  • Seniority classification — From 13 to 16 weeks of age, puppies start to test dominance and leadership. Enforcing good behavior during this time is critical to prevent behaviors such as biting and dominating children, and resisting activities, such as leash training and food removal. Puppy classes to help provide discipline and build self-confidence can be beneficial now.

Puppy socialization steps

A puppy should be at least 8 weeks old before you adopt them, so their socialization is already underway when you get them home, and your job is to keep the process going. Puppy socialization steps include:

  • Introducing new experiences — Introduce your puppy to as many new sights, sounds, smells, and situations as possible. Specific recommendations include:
  • People — Introduce your puppy to your friends and family, starting with one person at a time. Have people wear different garments, such as hoods, hats, and sunglasses, and ensure your pet meets children, men, women, and elderly people.
  • Animals — Introduce your puppy to other dogs, pets, and animals such as horses, cows, chickens, and goats. 
  • Surfaces — Let your puppy walk on carpet, hardwood, tile, and linoleum floors, as well as grass, dirt, pavement, and sand.
  • Noises — Expose your puppy to traffic noise, doorbell chimes, the vacuum cleaner, crowd noise, and storms.
  • Experiences — Take your puppy for a ride in the car, handle their feet, ears, and mouth, and introduce grooming activities such as toothbrushing and nail trimming.
  • Making experiences positive — When introducing something new, provide treats and praise to make the experience positive. In addition, stay calm, so your puppy doesn’t pick up on your anxiety. 
  • Involving family and friends — Let your family members and friends help socialize your puppy, so they don’t become anxious when separated from their primary caregiver.
  • Going slowly — Introducing too much at once can be overwhelming for your puppy, and result in a fearful response. Make training sessions short, so your puppy has time to process the experience and recover fully before the next session.
  • Reading your puppy — Ensure you can read your puppy’s body language, so you know when they are afraid or feeling anxious. If they exhibit fear or anxiety, remove them from the situation, and introduce the experience more slowly another time.
  • Going to puppy classes — Once your puppy has started their vaccinations, they can attend puppy classes to meet new dogs and people and learn basic commands.

Puppy socialization safety

A veterinarian specializing in pet pain management, wearing a stethoscope and blue gloves, holds a sleepy golden retriever puppy in a clinic setting.

Many people worry about exposing their puppy to disease before they are fully vaccinated, but puppies aren’t fully vaccinated until they are about 16 weeks of age when the critical socialization period is finished. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) notes that more dogs are relinquished to shelters because of behavioral issues than infectious diseases, and the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) acknowledges that puppies are more at risk for behavioral problems later in life than infectious diseases during puppyhood. Current AVMA recommendations state that puppies can begin puppy socialization classes at 8 weeks of age, so long as they had their first vaccinations at least seven days prior to the first class.

Socializing your puppy appropriately helps ensure they become a confident, happy adult dog. If you need to schedule your puppy’s vaccines before their first puppy class, contact our Memorial Villages Animal Hospital team, so we can meet them and ensure they are ready for socializing.