What is puppy socialization? How should future service dogs be socialized? Find out what it is (and isn’t!), why it’s important to do it right, and get some helpful tips. Plus, find resources for easier, more successful service dog puppy socialization, including a FREE socialization tracking sheet!
We’ll cover these five key takeaways:
- It’s especially important to socialize service dog puppies between ages 8 to 16 weeks (and continue it for life)
- Socialization is making sure your puppy has relaxed, positive experiences around diverse new experiences
- A negative experience during puppyhood can affect a dog for the rest of its life
- Socialization outings should be frequent, but short, with plenty of downtime before and after to process
- If you won’t be able to socialize your puppy to particular environments or situations, have a qualified trainer or assistant socialize your puppy for you
What is Socialization?
Socialization means setting up your puppy to be relaxed and confident in the presence of anything they might experience as adults — sights, sounds, smells, textures, locations, experiences, and especially strangers. This happens through gentle, positive exposures to new people, animals, and other experiences.
What is the “Critical Period” for Socialization?
Dogs are naturally suspicious of new things, but before 16 weeks of age — the “critical period” for socialization — puppies are in a developmental phase when they more easily accept new things as safe and “normal.” Having positive experiences with new things during these first few months of life “inoculates” an adult dog to accept newness. However, this socialization window closes between four and five months (16 to 20 weeks). This means that if you got your puppy at 8 or 9 weeks old, you have less than three months to focus on socialization.
But this does not mean you should rush out and expose your new puppy to as many new things as possible! That can backfire. Read on to understand why.
Initial Fear Period
NOTE: Some puppies go through an initial fear period of three to five days between 8 and 11 weeks old (usually around 9 or 10 weeks). If you notice your normally confident, friendly puppy suddenly seems unsure or skittish, just keep them home and reduce exposures to new things for the next five or six days. Then return to socialization as usual.
Some breeders will keep puppies until they’re 10 weeks old to make sure they don’t go to their new home during a fear period. If that’s the case, no problem. Just start socializing your pup a few days after it comes home.
Positive Associations
Elijah MacCullagh, our board-and-train specialist who helped to raise several guide dog puppies, explains what positive associations mean in the context of raising a service dog puppy:
Have you ever felt yourself relax when you walked into your home? Or found yourself smiling when you heard a song that was playing when you met someone who became a special person in your life? Or smelled someone cooking the dish your grandmother used to make? When sensory experiences connect to happy memories, the good feelings associated with the experience come along. This is classical conditioning. It’s the foundation for service dog socialization. When we socialize a service dog puppy, we don’t necessarily train them to do anything. Instead, we carefully prepare to provide an experience where they will be likely to feel relaxed and confident around something new. It might be people, objects, locations, or animals. Usually just by being near those things, without even interacting with them!
Negative Is Stronger than Positive
Even more important than making positive associations is preventing negative ones! A negative experience during the first two years of life will far outweigh a positive association with the same event or situation. The more positive experiences a puppy has with a particular stimuli, the less impact a bad experience will have.
Since young puppies make fast associations during the critical period — and have so few past experiences to buffer them — a bad experience can alter the puppy’s course irrevocably. Likewise, the earlier the negative experience, the more likely to have an impact.
Negative emotional associations may take unexpected turns. If your dog is sniffing a house plant just as you accidentally drop a metal pan (or yell at your spouse), your pup may avoid plants, or that area of the house, for months — or for life, even though the plant was not the actual cause of the disturbance. I’ve heard from many owners about how their dog fell into a trashcan (or toilet) during puppyhood and has been afraid of trashcans (or bathrooms) since. This is why it’s so important not to scold or jerk your puppy, or even act stressed around your pup, when they’re exploring new things.
TIP: The Difference Between “Happy” and “Excited”
While we want our service dog puppy to have a positive experience, we really mean that we want them to be in a comfortable physical and emotional state — to feel safe and relaxed. A dog that is eating treats and playing is probably having a positive experience. But so is a dog who is calmly chewing a bone or taking a nap. If your pup looks very excited during a socialization outing — ears and tail up, bouncy, or barky — this is actually a little more activated than you want. Your pup may actually be overwhelmed. Try to reduce the intensity of the situation, or, if that’s not possible or doesn’t help, come back another time (or work with a trainer to help you adjust the challenge level).
What about Vaccinations?
“Veterinarians specializing in behavior recommend that owners take advantage of every safe opportunity to expose young puppies to the great variety of stimuli that they will experience in their lives,” says the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior. In fact, the AVSAB puppy socialization position statement urges puppy owners to socialize puppies before vaccinations are complete because dogs are at much greater risk from behavioral euthanasia due to inadequate socialization during their first three months of life than they are to succumbing to puppyhood diseases. This is particularly important for future service dogs, who will be working in such diverse environments. Read on for how to socialize your puppy safely!
Service Dog Socialization Logistics
Where, what, how often, and how long? Eli provides answers below!
Where?
“Socialization is so important for a baby service-dog-in-training,” says At Your Service Dog Training’s puppy raising specialist, Eli MacCullagh. “We have to expose them to new experiences before sixteen weeks.”
With a little creativity, and with a good understanding of subtle signs of puppy body language and how to work at their level, you can do a lot of positive socialization in your own home, such as putting your kitchen colander or ladle on the floor. Start with the broom or vacuum cleaner just sitting or lying still on the ground before you move them or turn them on.
“This is one of the valuable aspects of our PEARL DISC course. It really focuses on handler skills like learning your dog’s body language and how to create the right level of challenge within your own home.” Below, watch a video of Eli creating some socialization experiences for his puppy.
In addition, it’s important to get your puppy out to places that look and smell different from your home, yard, or neighborhood.
“I take puppies I’m raising and training to places where dogs are allowed, BUT where it is unlikely there have been a lot of adult dogs whose vaccination status is unknown. While I wouldn’t take a young puppy into a pet store or dog park, I routinely take them to dog friendly stores like Michael’s, Barnes & Noble, or LL Bean. Outdoor spaces like playgrounds and parking lots also provide a lot of novelty for pups to explore.”
What Should Puppies Be Socialized To?
Keep a list of the types of new experiences your puppy has had (see tips below) as well as things like time of day, type of flooring or outdoor surfaces, and how your puppy felt about it all. Anything that was challenging should be flagged to work on again — slowly, carefully, and positively.
How Often?
Take your puppy on a SHORT socialization field trip about every other day (three times a week). The day off between trips helps your pup assimilate the new experience. Do fun, reward-based training exercises at home on the days off.
How Long?
For young puppies (8 to 12 weeks), keep initial outings to ten minutes or less. Puppies get tired quickly when exposed to new things. End on a positive note, before your pup gets irritable (or needs to potty).
After your puppy has had one or two easy, positive experiences in a new environment, you can make the next outing longer. For more sedentary outings (such as coming to your office or visiting a friend), bring your pup’s bed or crate and a chew toy. A nice, relaxing chew and a nap is a great way to get comfortable in a new environment.
What Does Your Service Dog Puppy Need to be Socialized to?
Anything she’ll encounter later in life…
- All kinds of people — all genders, ages, sizes, shapes, and colors. Dogs may be innately more likely to be afraid of men, people with facial hair, large or loud people, people who move unpredictably or jerkily (which may include children and elderly people), and anyone who looks different than the people in their family. Try to give your puppy positive experiences with a variety of people, especially people different from their family.
- Things people wear and carry. Hoods, big puffy parkas, hats, sunglasses, umbrellas, canes, wheeled luggage, and backpacks. Dogs seem to be spooked sometimes if a person’s silhouette looks different than what they’re used to. If you have a summer puppy, take out the parkas and snow shovels. If you have a winter puppy, bring out the sunglasses and umbrellas.
- Dogs. There are dogs at the vet, groomer, and for service dogs, everywhere they may go. Your puppy does not have to play or be friends with a lot of other dogs. The best service dog socialization actually teaches your puppy that other dogs are no big deal, but that you’ll reward attention and training in the presence of other dogs and puppies.
Special Considerations for Socializing Service Dogs
The basics of puppy socialization are the same for all dogs who live in a human world, whether they will be pet dogs, service dogs, emotional support animals, or therapy dogs. However, for service dogs, there is a greater imperative for the dog to be socialized to all the possible types of environments the dog will work in as an adult. There are two reasons for this need for “super socialization” for service dog puppies.
- Service dogs must be in a relaxed, working state-of-mind in distracting or potentially stressful environments that most pets would rarely experience or be expected to behave well in. To work in these situations, service dogs must be completely comfortable.
- The more positive exposures to new things a puppy experiences during its critical socialization period, the more it learns that new things in general are “no big deal.” Lots of effective, positive socialization “inoculates” a puppy to “neophobia” (fear of new things) in adulthood.
Environments
Keep a list of all the places or things your puppy is exposed to. If your pup seems nervous or overexcited about anyone or anything, make a note to revisit those, starting with a less intense interaction — e.g., have your puppy further away, ask the person to be more low-key, make the sound quieter. Copy our free Service Dog Puppy Socialization Log to keep track. To get one for yourself…
- Click HERE
- Click “Make a copy”
- Rename the document and edit as desired
Where do you want your adult service dog to work?
What will he see, hear, feel on his way to, and in, that environment? What will be moving, making noise, or smell tempting? Make it a priority to socialize your puppy to these things.
Train both “settle” and “work” in exciting environments
Service dogs have two job requirements: 1. performing trained service or obedience tasks, and 2. lying around relaxing when they’re not working. Make sure your socialization includes both!
- To train your puppy to work around distractions, bring high-value treats. Ask your pup to perform simple skills such as responding to their name, hand targeting (touching his nose to your hand), or sitting.
- Equally important is to sometimes ask your puppy to settle away from home. Do this on walks, at a friend’s house, or at a dog-friendly store or office. Bring a mat or towel and quiet activities for both of you. Put the mat down, tell her to settle, give her a chew, and read your book or check your email. Every once in a while, quietly place a treat between her paws so that she learns that settling will be unpredictably rewarded. If she gets up, tell her to settle again. Start with five minute settles in more familiar environments and increase in time to longer periods in totally new places. When this is going well, hand the leash to a trusted friend and go out of sight for at least five minutes so your pup can settle in strange places without you, too. (I know it’s hard to imagine wanting or needing this with a service dog, but it happens more often than you might imagine.)
Pay attention to touch, textures, and surfaces
Dogs are closer to the ground and have bare paws. They care more about surfaces than we do. A flight of metal stairs, a sewer grate, or even the painted lines on pavement (especially at night) can be unnerving for dogs who aren’t used to them. Children’s playgrounds — when not in use — are great for exposing a pup to sand, wood chips, rubberized turf, and the textures of the equipment itself. Is a field trip in your future? Cities have sewer and subway grates, pavement, and cement. Malls and hotels have elevators, escalators, and wheelchair lifts. At home, make a game of your puppy walking on bubble wrap, using your yoga mat or balance ball, or put empty plastic water bottles in your tub and play games in there.
Pay attention to weather, time of day, and lighting
Make sure to sometimes take your dog out at night. If he has experience with socialization in the dark, it will seem normal to him. Also, make sure to do socialization trips in the snow and rain. We often avoid training in bad weather, but if you want your dog to work in this weather, he’ll need to get used to it, too.
My partner and I thoroughly enjoyed our experience training our little puppy Roo. The PEARL DISC training classes are explanatory and engaging. The client portal is filled with so many handouts detailing guidance for handling all different types of training situations. We are so thankful for the At Your Service Dog Training team – having the guidance to encourage positive training traits for Roo has been such a gift. The online format is fantastic. It allowed Roo to focus on us, the trainers, instead of constantly being distracted by other dogs like in an in-person class. The online format makes this course so accessible and Roo learned so much. We are so thankful and we can’t wait for the next course! – John Schleck
People & Dogs
The two biggest socialization challenges for service dogs are often people and other dogs. You want your dog to learn to be relaxed, confident, and able to focus around people and dogs. This requires a different approach than most other types of socialization.
People
Remember: Your puppy does not have to interact with everything to have a positive association with it. Feeling happy, calm, and relaxed in the presence of something is good socialization! If you have a super-friendly puppy who wants to greet every human, spend many socialization outings rewarding your puppy for happily focusing on you when you’re around people. Every once in a while, after your puppy has offered you terrific focus and control, reward that with a chance to greet a friendly person, then call your puppy away for extra great food rewards, play, or affection from you. For this special greeting opportunity, try to select a type of stranger your pup isn’t used to (e.g., if you have a household of adult women, occasionally let your pup have a calm, happy greeting with a unfamiliar man or well-behaved child).
By the same token, do NOT get frustrated or upset when strangers reach for, pet, or talk to your puppy! Your puppy is tuned into your emotions. If you get annoyed, scold or jerk your dog away when people greet, or when your pup gets excited to meet someone, your pup may become reactive to friendly strangers.
Other Dogs
Other dogs often present the biggest environmental challenge for service dogs. We use a training game with all the dogs we work with — from young puppies to adult service dogs, from online classes to board-and-train — called Engage/Disengage. We mark (click or YES) for looking AT a distraction, such as one other dog, and then provide a treat.
When done properly and regularly, this training game helps puppies to make calm, happy associations with a range of exciting stimuli, including other dogs. This training game sounds simple. In some ways, it is. We’ve had clients with fully trained adult service dogs who are reactive to adult dogs see great progress with just this game. It’s even better when you start it in puppyhood to PREVENT leash reactivity that arises from frustrated greeting.
However, “the devil is in the details.” If you use this method, and it’s not helping significantly, you may need help with HOW you’re applying it. Adjustments may relate to the distance from the other dog, the value of the treats, your leash-handling mechanics, or how much movement or stillness works for your dog.
In the video below, our trainers, Alex and Eli, train two service-dogs-in-training to be calm around another dog using “engage/disengage.” Alex trains Portuguese Water Dog Clippy, while Eli trains trains labradoodle, Bode, during his board-and-train.
Inaccessible Environments
Are there environments you’ll need your future service dog to work or travel in, but they’re not accessible for you?
- Children’s playgrounds can be great for introducing your puppy to strange textures, but few of them are accessible to people in wheelchairs or with mobility limitations
- Many people with PTSD, autism, brain injury, and other psychiatric disabilities want their adult service dog to help them navigate environments that trigger panic attacks, nervous system overwhelm, or other symptoms — e.g., crowds, people behind them, cities at night, big box stores
- Rain and snow are a common hindrance for wheelchair users or people with poor balance
It is important that your puppy has positive socialization experiences in exactly the scenarios that are hardest for you. Socializing a puppy takes skill, thought, and planning. It’s not fair to expect that of yourself in an environment that is difficult or impossible for you to function well. You also want to take care not to share your negative associations with certain people or places with your puppy, as this can result in an adult dog who is reactive (barking, lunging, growling) or fearful when you need their help the most.
Avoiding these situations is only a good option if you think your adult dog will never need to be comfortable or work in those environments. For example, if you live in a warm climate that almost never gets snow (and plan to stay there). Since this dog won’t need to work in snow, you don’t need to worry about that.
Here are a few options to socialize your puppy to environments that are inaccessible to you:
- Hiring a trainer — who uses positive methods and is experienced with puppy socialization — to take your puppy on socialization outings is ideal. This can be done via board-and-train (B&T), day training or day school. This way, your puppy gets top-notch socialization when it’s needed most. Depending on the situation, you may sometimes be able to accompany them and observe, without the pressure to do it all perfectly when you’re not at your best. Otherwise, you can ask your trainer to take videos so you can watch them later.
Make a plan for what you want your puppy to be exposed to — is it a certain location, type of weather, time of day, or is it more general — “crowds” or “city noise”? Plan to have the trainer do several outings during the puppy’s critical socialization period (before 20 weeks) and then periodically over the course of the puppy’s youth (into adolescence) so that long-term positive associations can form with these environments. - If you are not able to find a qualified all-positive trainer who does B&T or day training, do you have a trusted friend or family member who is savvy about dog body language? Can they take your pup on outings two or three times a week? Ask them to take your puppy for outings in places or around people that are stressful for you. Get video of the outings so you can monitor how your puppy is doing. If you’re taking online lessons or classes, such as our DISC series, you can share the videos with your trainer. In a video review session, the trainer can coach you and your helper to get professional eyes on your puppy’s comfort level and progress.
One Step at a Time
Raising a puppy as a future service dog is a big undertaking. Make use of our free Socialization Tracking Log to keep track of what you’ve done so far and what you want to tackle next. For step-by-step guidance with all of the recommendations in this article, register your pup for PEARL DISC. Our foundation class for service dog puppies walks you and your pup through all of these skills and more. For hands-on training help within the Northeast US, apply for Board & Train or contact us with any questions. We’re happy to help.