Socialization:
Studies have shown that spending 10 minutes a day with newly born puppies just isn't enough. It also shows that dogs who are not socialized properly will have a harder time getting along with people and other animals. We, at Lee Kennels, to help prevent this from happening have occasional "puppy parties". After the puppies are three weeks of age, we invite friends and family to come over and handle and address the puppies in a gentle and positive fashion. We also slowly introduce and supervise other animals to the puppies such as our other dogs and cat (all are current on all their vaccinations). This helps ensure the puppies learn how to properly interact with other animals.
Desensitization:
Many puppies, even those that are good with people and other animals, grow up to be overly fearful of certain sounds. We start desensitizing at two weeks and it should be continued to three to four months of age. We single out sounds that we know the puppies will encounter and slowly expose them to it. Most common sounds that dogs fear are vacuum cleaners and thunder. We introduce them by playing a recording of these sounds and slowly over time increase the time and volume that it is played.
Situation Fear:
The most common situation fear is separation anxiety. The most appropriate way of preventing separation anxiety is probably the complete opposite way that some people may think, by preventing stressful separation of the puppies from their loved ones. This means that the puppies are always with mom, except for the briefest periods of supervised separation. After a puppy has been placed in their forever home, it is crucial that the new owners pick up where mom was forced to leave off and provide continuous care and company. The more attention the puppy gets, the less likely it will become over attached and/or fearful of being alone later in life.
