Puppy Socialization - A New Positive Experience Each Day

Scout people watches outside Ace Hardware during his positive puppy socialization outing.

Our goal is to provide a new positive experience every day as we work on puppy socialization.

Scout loves people and gets very excited (pulling and whining) when he sees them. Too excited to try entering the store.

So today we worked on watching people enter and exit the store from a distance where he could be calm enough to take treats, orient toward me in response to his name and eventually settle in a sit or down position. We gradually worked closer to the front doors.

We strive for errorless learning in puppy and dog training. That means we only want good reps and positive experiences. Sometimes this means taking things slower so we can manage the environment and the dog’s experience. Puppy socialization does not mean forcing your dog through as many situations as possible. Bad reps or negative experiences (like allowing Scout to pull and whine in the store) actually set training back farther by allowing your dog to “practice” unwanted behaviors. By taking our time observing and responding to Scout’s behavior, we can gradually increase proximity outside so that our first step in the store will be happy and calm.