Socialization

Have a puppy party. In fact, have several of them during the first month Bozo comes to live with you.
“A what? You mean put lots of puppies in one place together?”
“No, no. Not that. Not yet.”
This is a concept I first heard from Dr. Ian Dunbar. I love the idea so here it is. Based on the premise (Dr. Dunbar’s) that a puppy needs to meet at least 100 different people in his first 12 weeks, the puppy party concept is a fun way to accomplish this while beefing up your own social life as well. Neat, huh?
If I’m working with you here on The Sunshine Coast, Bowen Island or in Vancouver, I’ll happily organize the puppy parties for you.
Teaching a puppy to love people, all people… friends, strangers, big, small… to be super sociable is so important to his enjoyment of life and yours. Why would anyone even want a family companion that doesn’t like people?
Bozo has arrived at your house. Family, friends & neighbors are clamoring to meet him. Great! Let’s get the biggest possible bang for your buck, though by having all visitors follow a few simple rules.
Oh, for the first few days, I’d have only one or two dog-savvy children and supervise them.
“Oh, he’s so cute! I love puppies,” says neighbor #1 as she reaches down to pick up Bozo pup who already has his paws on her kneecaps.
“Please, don’t,” you say. “Wait until he has ‘four on the floor’ for an instant, then you can pick him up. Ideally, of course, you’ve gone over a few ground rules before the introduction. In the real world, that’s not so likely.
Really, the 3 things we want to accomplish these first few days are:
1) Having Bozo meet lots of different people
2) Picking him up only when he has ‘four on the floor’
3) Having Bozo hugged (restrained) by all visitors

Now, about that Puppy Party…
For starters, invite a few (a lot?? you decide) of your girlfriends over for wine, conversation, tea & crumpets – whatever works for you. Tell them why you’re doing this and demonstrate the hugging and handling (my previous post) as they arrive. Give everyone a small bag of kibble… from his daily ration, of course.
Play “Pass the Puppy” with everyone hugging & holding Bozo. Touching all his body parts, giving lots of praise and kibble rewards.
Do this a couple or three times in the first four weeks Bozo is with you. In addition, invite a group of men over to watch a game… hockey is good. You can lure them with beer and snacks. Encourage them, if they need it, to make lots of noise and between periods, after you have supplied them with small bags of kibble and explained what you want, they can play ‘Pass the Puppy’.
Bozo needs to meet kids too. I suggest keeping a kids’ group small. You will need to be able to supervise all of them at once. Before they meet Bozo, have a little chat with them explaining the “ouch” when Bozo’s sharp teeth touch their skin and the “stand tall like a tree” when Bozo jumps up. After they meet Bozo, sit with them and show them the calming massage and the feet fondling. Encourage the children to be gentle.
Set them up in pairs, each with a bag of kibble, and show them how to play “Bozo, come” in, say, a 6 – 8 foot space. Playtime is fun but Bozo needs rules so call timeouts frequently and let the game resume. Puppy parties with kids are fun, entertaining for adults and high energy. I recommend a helper!
For the second kids’ party, assuming you’re brave enough to do this twice, have balloons, hats for the kids to put on, noisemakers, friction floor cars. Another opportunity for Bozo to encounter new and strange things.
It’s easy enough to use kibble to get Bozo to ‘come’, ‘sit’, or ‘down’ and ‘come’ is so easy when there’s more than one person.
We haven’t talked about any of those things yet, have we?
Just to sum up all those words…
1) Start working with Bozo’s ‘come’, ‘sit’ and grabbing his collar as soon as you get him home
2) Give visiting family, friends and neighbors the basic rules before they meet Bozo
3) One dog-savvy child in the first couple of days; never a large number and supervise at all times
4) Have puppy parties for women, men and children, in that order. 100 different people in four weeks is easy if you use every opportunity
Next time we’ll find more opportunities to enhance Bozo’s social skills…