Saturday, October 22, 2011

Adventures in Socialization

Puppy socialization is generally a pretty fun thing!  While they can't go out and hit up the dog park until they have had all of their necessary vaccinations (and personally I'm not a dog park fan anyway), they DO need to meet lots of people and go to strange places, hear new noises, etc etc etc.

I would guess that Puck has met over 50 people already in less than 2 weeks at home.  I took him to work with me on his second day, just to visit with a couple coworkers in the parking lot.  I took him to pick up the beardies from their spa day this week and he got carried inside to meet our groomers.

He's gone to agility class with me (met all the dogs in class, played with my teacher while I worked Stanley and generally had a good time watching).

On Friday night we took him out to dinner at one of our dog-friendly spots.  He was carried inside and just sat under the table while we ate.  The only downside was we spent the whole meal with people coming up to talk to us and meet him.

Today we took him down the street to Starbucks, where he got to see lots of kids and their bicycles, more people, cars, etc.

And then we went over to my parents' house so he could run around in someone else's yard (like a fake dog park!) and meet their dogs, a German Shepherd and a pug.

Puck was so sure the old lady pug would play with him since she was his size!  He was sadly disappointed but is still plenty tired after trying hard.


I really like what we are seeing - he sizes up a new situation and then is interested in exploring and interacting without fear.  So far he is showing the nice solid temperament that we concluded he had when we assessed him at 7 weeks!  Next week he'll start puppy class - even more fun!!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

How can that little fella not bring a smile to your face! Love the effort you put into your pups, I wish more people understood what it takes to own a dog. :D He is adorable!!

Lora Abernathy said...

Oh, my! How totally adorable!

Maggs said...

I'll just act like I haven't seen all those pictures before! I want a Puck!

San said...

So cute and you are obviously happy with that little guy. And I've learned a ton from this post too.

Christi said...

Come on, play with me, play with me! I love it!

Larissa said...

awww puppy i can smell the puppy breath from here! So cute!!