Socializing Golden Retriever Puppies
Puppies of any breed are cute, but Golden puppies are by far the cutest puppies on the planet (no bias here!). The ideal Golden Retriever has a friendly temperament. He loves people, kids, other dogs and cats, and going all kinds of places with his beloved family. In short, he is well socialized.
Teaching Your Puppy Social Skills
Socialization does not happen on its own. Despite the Golden Retriever's reputation for friendliness, genetics alone does not guarantee that your Golden puppy will grow up to be a friendly and sociable adult dog. It is your job as your puppy's guardian to provide numerous and varied social experiences now, while he is still open to learning about new things.
The ideal time to socialize a puppy to people and other dogs is between the ages of seven and eighteen weeks. At this stage in his development, a Golden puppy is completely open to accepting just about anything as part of his normal environment. Even people or animals he seems unsure of at first he will learn to enjoy if you consistently give him lots of good experiences.
Dogs that are given too much freedom too soon are bound to get into trouble and learn to be destructive. Many behaviorists and dog trainers agree that separation anxiety can be triggered by failing to set boundaries and limit freedom when a dog is young. Separation anxiety can also have a genetic component, but a young dog that does not get too much freedom too soon can learn to be alone without becoming destructive.
Puppies need to meet people of all shapes and sizes: young and old; male and female; people in uniform; people of different races; and people doing different things. You need to expose your puppy to lots of different noises and things that move, such as trash cans that bang, cars that backfire, or a schoolyard full of running, screaming children. Your puppy needs to meet all kinds of dogs of all different sizes, breeds, and mixes. He needs to be comfortable around dogs on leash and dogs running free. The more your puppy gets to try out his social skills, the better he will be at being able to get along with all kinds of dogs for his entire lifetime. This doesn't mean that you are done with socializing your dog at eighteen weeks, but it does mean you must start the process early.
Fun Ways to Teach Socialization Skills
Ian Dunbar, D.V.M., a renowned veterinary behaviorist and author, recommends that in order to be socially normal, all puppies should meet at least 100 people — other than those in your family — and at least 100 other dogs before they turn eighteen weeks old. We realize this is a tall order, so get out there and get busy, no matter how old your puppy is now. Teach your Golden that new people, places, and things are fun and exciting, and he will look forward to new things. It's really that simple.
Keep in mind as you introduce your puppy to new places that his vaccination schedule will not be complete until he reaches fourteen to sixteen weeks of age. Until then, he is susceptible to several highly communicable diseases, including the dreaded parvovirus. Doggie diseases are commonly passed in urine and feces, so don't take your young pup to the dog park quite yet, and keep away from areas where you know a lot of other dogs have done their business. His little system isn't quite ready yet to fend off major illnesses by itself.
In the meantime, there are plenty of ways you can show your puppy what a wonderful world it is. Here are a few ideas:
Sign your dog up for doggie day care so he can practice his social skills all day long.
Stand outside a grocery store with treats and let people feed and pet your puppy.
Carry your puppy into the video store next time you get a movie; let the staff love him up.
Take your puppy into the bank and let the clerks give him treats and kisses.
Take your puppy in the car to a full-serve gas station and let the attendant give him a treat.
Sign your puppy up for a well-run puppy kindergarten.
Go to the pet store twice a week and let him meet as many children and adults as he likes.
Take a ride on public transportation with your puppy. In Boston, the subway and buses allow well-behaved dogs to accompany passengers.
Go to the downtown area of your town and sit on a bench or outside a store, and let your puppy watch the world go by.
Sit outside your local library and let your puppy meet whomever comes your way.
Puppy Kindergarten
By far, the best thing you can do for your Golden puppy is sign him up for puppy kindergarten. Even if this is your third puppy and you've been through it all before, there is nothing quite like taking your puppy through a well run puppy kindergarten. Most puppy kindergartens have a group playtime during which your puppy gets to meet lots of different puppies and begins to learn his own language. Training exercises usually take you through the basic obedience exercises of sit, down, stay, come, heel, and leave it, as well as handling and gentling exercises in which your puppy learns to like being handled.
Clicker training classes are a great choice because the method is gentle and teaches your puppy to think. Using a clicker to train your Golden puppy is an exciting introduction to learning how to train a dog, and best of all it builds a strong, healthy relationship that will last a lifetime.
Most puppy kindergarten classes limit the size of their groups to ten to twelve puppies or less. Avoid larger classes. You won't get as much attention, and your puppy will get lost in the shuffle. Make sure if there are more than six puppies in the class that the instructor has an assistant.
The duration of puppy kindergarten varies greatly from trainer to trainer. Six weeks is about the right amount of time for you to learn the basics of dog training, and it's enough for your Golden Retriever puppy to start to understand the exercises you are teaching him. He will need more training, of course, but after the initial six weeks you should be well on your way toward making your Golden puppy a wonderful companion.
