A few weeks before Sweet Baby L came home, her breeder sent a letter filled with instructions to help us get her settled. I scanned through the document that listed all the suggested supplies and kibbles and my eye settled on one sentence under the socialization section:

Puppies generally go through a fear stage and how we handle that will affect them the rest of their lives.

A quick Google search brought me to the American Kennel Club page about socialization which had a similarly-worded high-stakes stance. “Gently exposing [dogs] to a wide variety of people, places, and situations now makes a huge, permanent difference in their temperament.” 

EEEK.

Helping Sweet Baby L face her fears while getting her acclimated to her new surroundings seemed like the most important thing to master if I wanted to avoid potentially scarring her for life. Our breeder recommended getting out and about with Sweet Baby L as early and as often as possible.

So we did. 

How We Started To Socialize Our Puppy

Armed with the knowledge that we needed to take full advantage of her socialization period, we took her almost everywhere we went!   By nature of living in the city, Sweet Baby L has been exposed to people of all ages since she was very young.  Any time we leave the apartment is an opportunity for her to make a new friend.  Back then, she was a tiny baby puppy who could be lifted into our arms if necessary, so that made it easier.  but the list of places we brought Sweet Baby L included: 

Restaurants
Coffee Shops
Other People’s Homes
Ubers

How We Socialized Our Dog With Other Dogs 

Puppy Playschool

We enrolled Sweet Baby L in a puppy “play and train” class on the advice of her breeder. “Contrary to the old saying, you can teach an old dog a new trick, but you can’t recapture that socialization period,” her breeder said. Several times a week, we’d drop her off training playtime with other pups around her age. The sessions were meant to reinforce some of the training we did with the instructor virtually. The time away from us was good for her independence.  She loved it so much we had to practically drag her outta there. 

Doggy Daycare 

A few months after she graduated from her play and train classes, we knew we’d want to find another environment that let her safely play with other puppies.  Enter doggy daycare. I know some owners aren’t into daycare for dogs. It’s not for everyone and that’s fine. 

We were first introduced to the concept of daycare for dogs by a puppy friend of Sweet Baby L’s. When his owner told me that she was sending him to daycare three days a week, I asked her if he liked it.” 

“Well, I love it,” she said. LOL.  

Not long after that, we decided we’d take Sweet Baby L to check it out. Turns out, she loves it, too. I’m glad she’s able to play nicely with lots of other dogs.  

Walks, Walks, Walks 

I meet a lot of new puppy owners who are hesitant to let their pups out on too many walks in the grubby city streets before they receive all of their vaccinations.  I can understand that, and I was a little concerned at first too. Our vet, however, encouraged us to take her out anyway. Her reasoning, like our breeder,  was that the first few weeks of a puppy’s life are really important for socialization, and that we should take advantage of it. She was less worried about Sweet Baby L potentially picking up a disease that could be treated than she was about her missing out on the opportunity to get socialized.