Socialization is the term breeders use to describe the process of preparing a puppy to enjoy interactions and be comfortable with a variety of people, places, and activities. Ideally, socialization should begin during the "sensitive period" which is between 3 and 14 weeks of age for puppies. Our early socialization program and a structured curriculum that allows our puppies to experience ample interations with people or all ages. Our puppies are well socialized with children, teens, adults, and seniors! They are used to normal household sights, sounds, smells because they are born at our home and grow up as a part of our family so they can smoothly transition to yours. Continue reading to learn more about our socialization process!
In order for our puppies to leave as well rounded puppies with a wide variety of experiences, outdoor play is a crutial part of their early socialization. After our puppies are mobile, we make sure that they spend short, supervised periods of time outside in our yard to that they can learn about their natural world! Grass, leaves, twigs, dirt, and sunshine are all very interesting to pups this age. Puppies learn through touch, taste, smell, sight and need to become comfortable with playing in both an indoor and outdoor environment!
Being exposed to different surfaces allows puppies to experience a variety of textures and helps them understand that different places will beel differently on their paws and that it is normal. Allowing puppies to spend time on leaves, tile floors, carpeting, gravel, grass, and wood helps build their balance and orientation.
One on one play is equally as important as group play because puppies are forced to communicate with other puppies using body language and vocalizations, where as in a larger group setting they can bounce from game to game and have more freedom when it comes to interacting with littermates. Pup-to-pup play allows time for conflect resolution, communication, and bonding, but puppies need guidance to build these skills.
Puppy Pairing is a practice reputable breeders use to support the social and emotional growth of a puppy by placing them in structured playtime with another puppy whose personality strengths help support the first pup's weakness. At this age puppies are using their experiences to build their identity which will shape who they will become as an adult dog. While all future experiences will continue to influence their, an experienced breeder can identify an area of weakness within a puppy and build positive experiences into their socialization program's curriculum to help them become a well rounded dog. As you can see with the above video, placing a more uncertain puppy with a very outgoing and confident puppy allows the more submissive puppy to come out of their shell. Just look how far our chocolate boy Colton came in only a few minutes with his sister Samantha!
Because of this it is crutial that puppies remain with their mother until they are 8 weeks old. Spending group time and and one-on-one time with their mother allows them to learn how to express themselves through body language. We call it learning to speak dog, the mother shows them everything they need to know to be a well balanced and calm canine companion when they are in the company of another dog. Through play she will show them how to play with toys, how to make a toy out of something cool you find (which is why we supervise), and how to share. She shows her puppies that it is ok to fall down and get back up, its ok to be yourself, and how to play nice! Our puppies spend one on one time and group time with their mother and sometimes another calm assertive adult dog who can gently model the behaviors that are exceptable when it comes to canine interactions.