Any Experience With Puppy Socials?

[vmillls]

I've been taking Simon (17 weeks) to a puppy social at a local dog training facility. It's 45 minutes of playing with other puppies under supervision.

At first, he would not interact with other puppies and spent time looking for treats and greeting humans (he's Mr. Wiggles).

By the second social, he starting playing with other puppies, most twice his size. But at least he's interacting and seemingly enjoying himself.

I think he's making progress.

I can't see any downside to this experience. Even the price is right - $10 a social.

Anyone disagree?

[That_girl]

Sounds like a fabulous idea. Wish I could come. :)

[Husky06]

Being supervised, it seems like a good idea. This is good for dogs to learn as puppies so they don't fear them later on, and so they develop good social skills. The first social if he sniffed around looking for things in the environment then thats alright. It's natural for them to check out the environment first.

[special]

It sounds terrific.

Just one thing....is there a vaccination/health type requirement? You don't want him mixing with a pup carrying something.....

[alcoth]

I've been tossing around the idea of doing this with Keira. It sounded like fun to me, and it is good to hear of a positive experience.

[pipsie71]

We went to a puppy socialisation class held at our vets, and then onto puppy training classes, both of which were invaluable to Tilly's social skills and basic obedience. I would recommend this type of thing to anyone.
But I agree with special's point about making sure they check that all the other pups are vaccinated. Have fun! Pip

[vmillls]

It sounds terrific.

Just one thing....is there a vaccination/health type requirement? You don't want him mixing with a pup carrying something.....

Sorry, I omitted this important issue. I had to prove (vet and breeder records) what vaccinations Simon has had.

[MandyPug]

I prefer more structure than just putting a bunch of puppies in a room to play. I'd rather do a walk first together with some playtime afterwards, that way the dogs still view me as their god even around other dogs but are still getting used to the idea that other dogs are not a threat. Even with supervision i can see a particularly dominant and a particularly submissive pup meeting and possibly making the submissive pup even more submissive which could cause a myriad of other problems down the line.

So personally if you didn't have that set of friends that have the many type of dogs for you to take walks with, then I'd go more the route of completing a puppy training class first with other dogs then doing "puppy socials" on the side. That way it's helping you cement the idea to your dog first and foremost that you are it's one and only and it must listen to you at all times, then in a group situation you can let them socialize but also know if anything is going on that you want to maybe stop or prevent then you'll be able to have control of your dog and not risking the dogs forming bonds with each other over yourself.

[pwrca]

Puppy socialization is so important, nothing worse than a dog who is not social. I prefer a structured setting, most obedient classes allow a social/playtime for the dogs to interact. This also allows them to interact with other people, which is also very valuable with the added benefit of some obedience training. My hope for my dog is to have him pass the good neighbor test, which is highly recommended by our trainer.