Socializing your pup is an important part of being a responsible dog owner. Making sure your dog is comfortable and well-behaved around others is critical and should start early on in their training. It is key to start exposing your puppy to new people, places and situations as soon as you can for them to feel happy and confident throughout their life.

The American Kennel Club offers dog owners the following tips to help socialize their puppies.

Start slow. Start by exposing your puppy to different people, places and things each day. Slowly build up to taking your dog to the dog park, as their first experience can be overwhelming, especially if your dog is nervous around other dogs.

Follow the nose. By nature, when you first bring your pup home, they will start to sniff people and things around them to familiarize themselves with their new environment. It is a good idea to introduce them to different smells. The earlier you start to socialize your dog, the better.

Set up a play date. Plan a time to meet someone with one dog at a specific time to slowly introduce your pup to other dogs. Make sure that this dog is well-mannered, polite and calm. This will show your pup what an acceptable greeting looks like. It is a good idea to schedule these meetings after you’ve exercised your dog a bit to drain some of their energy, so they are calm and not overly excited to meet a new friend.

Sign up for classes. Group training classes will expose your puppy to other people and dogs in a safe, structured environment. There are classes available for socializing puppies and teaching older dogs basic commands. A dog training class will help you and your pup develop a successful relationship.

Easy on the leash. Be mindful when your dog approaches other dogs and try not to restrain them forcefully. This could cause your dog to assume an unintentionally aggressive posture that can be misunderstood by other dogs. Using a harness to reduce pulling can help.

Socialize with all types of dogs. Make sure you expose your pup to different types of dogs – big, small, active, loud, quiet, etc. If your dog has only ever met dogs of the same type, imagine their surprise the first time they meet a different breed.

Supervise. It is important to always supervise interactions and play time between your dog and others. You want to make sure that your dog and the others are behaving appropriately, and no situations arise.

To learn more about responsible dog ownership and socialization, visit the AKC at www.akc.org

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