Socialization [ Again ]

SangmortSangmort
edited May 2010 in General
yes, again lol

I think this is really important, so I'm always bringing it up. :p

Thought it'd be cool if we could compile a list of places to socialize pups, & the semantics of it. [ on leash, holding the puppy, in a shopping cart, etc. ]


--- Best Buy
- The one I worked at allowed you to bring dogs in, but they HAVE to be on-leash or in a carrier or being held constantly. I'm sure this varies from store-to-store, but all our managers were HUGE dog lovers & let any dogs in. [ I'd check with the store manager, make sure to keep them away from the electronics & knocking stuff down tho! lol ]

--- Bass Pro Shop / Outdoor World
- I've been told by several employees that dogs are welcome here as long as they are on-leash, & have confirmed as several dogs have been brought in by other customers while I was shopping. :)

--- PetCo / PetSmart / PetSupermarket / etc.
- These are obvious, but figured I'd add them in. I'd be weary tho of taking a young pup in who's not fully immunized yet. Too many dogs & no vaccination requirements to bring them in...

--- Local Pet Boutique
- All the local Pet Boutiques [ the ones that sell premium foods ] all allow dogs into their stores, and LOVE meeting their customer's pets. I would be weary tho, as like PetCo / PetSmart there are probably a lot of dogs going in & out of these stores.


All I can think of at the moment, please add! :) ~
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Comments

  • the_november_rainthe_november_rain
    edited November -1
    Lowes and Home Depot
  • CaliaCalia
    edited November -1
    shopping and strip malls- even though you can't bring the pup into most stores, sitting outside can help desensitize him/her to crowds and strangers wanting to touch. Be sure to carry treats to reward good behavior.

    Same thing with parks, sit on a bench, read a book and relax while people walk past.
  • kwyldkwyld
    edited May 2010
    Hey Osy, here is a checklist I thought would be helpful



    Puppy Introduction to People, Places and Things
    Socialization Scavenger Hunt

    Child 1-2 years
    Child 3-5 years
    Child 6-8 years
    Child 9-11 years
    Child 12-15 years
    Dog trainer
    Elderly person
    Food delivery person
    Girl/Boy Scout
    Groomer
    Jogger
    Mailman
    Man in suit
    Man wearing hat
    Package delivery person
    Person in wheelchair
    Person on bike
    Person on crutches
    Person on rollerblades
    Person on skate board
    Person wearing sun glasses
    Person with cane/ walker
    Person with umbrella
    Police officer
    Sales clerk (pet store)
    Soldier
    Vet Receptionist
    Vet Technician
    Veterinarian
    Woman wearing hat
    Woman wearing heels
    Young adult 15-18 years
    Airport (planes visible)
    Bank drive thru
    Baseball game
    Beach
    Bookstore
    Bus stop
    Elementary School
    Fast food drive thru
    Football game
    Garage sale
    Gravel road
    Groomer
    High School
    Home improvement store
    Hospital
    Library
    Middle School
    Near hot air balloon
    Outside/Outdoor mall
    Outside of drycleaners
    Parking garage
    Pet Store
    Picnic
    Playground
    Preschool
    Public Park
    Retirement home
    Soccer field
    Stairway (open, indoor and outdoor)
    Train station
    Veterinary Clinic
    Walk in the rain
    Adult dog (large breed)
    Adult dog (small breed)
    Bell
    Camera
    Cat
    Chair with wheels
    Childs play set
    Electric fan
    Fish
    Garbage can
    Hair brush
    Hair dryer
    Kitten
    Large cardboard box
    Metal dog kennel
    Metal statue
    Mirror
    Motorcycle
    Nail trimmers
    Noisy child’s toy
    Paper bag
    Plastic dog kennel
    Plastic garbage bag
    Puppy 11-12 weeks
    Puppy 13-16 weeks
    Puppy 5-6 months
    Puppy 7-8 months
    Puppy 8-10 weeks
    Stone statue
    Tile floor
    Water hose
    Waterfall/ Water fountain
  • SangmortSangmort
    edited May 2010
    Wow Kelly! THat's awesome! Thanks!


    It really will make socialization a scavenger hunt! lol Sounds fun :) [ watch, you'll here about some crazy lady / me on the news chasing down people screaming "PET ME DOG!!!!!!" lol ]~
  • kwyldkwyld
    edited May 2010
    Lol Osy!! That would be pretty awesome to see you chasing cops down the street with your puppy running behind you, "Excuse me officer, could you.....(breathing hard)...would you mind just giving my puppy here a a piece of chicken, hold on, let me just...get it out of my fanny pack here..."
  • montanadoglovermontanadoglover
    edited May 2010
    Shoot, I'm the queen of socializing my puppies, and I can't add much more to this. A great list, enough to keep you busy and the point being, even if you don't get to each and every single item, dogs DO generalize and doing even a little will go a long way towards overall confidence. The important thing is to get them out frequently, take them to new places during those critical first two months (8 to 16 weeks). DON'T think that just having people over is proper socializing; puppies need to get out of your house and off your property during that time. Not just for people socializing, but for environmental exposure; I've said it before and will say it again that we don't have a good, single word in English that incorporates both of these concepts. Too many people think that socialization means acquainting with people, but that's not all there is to expanding a puppy's world view.

    I never did the PetCo thing with my puppy in a shopping cart. Knowing he was a little cautious anyway, I didn't think he would take to the noise and movement very well, but I know some of the new owners of his littermates did it and had very good success with it.

    See the bit I just added to the Raising Wyatt thread on what we actually DID at Home Depot, Murphy's and Lowe's.
  • SayaSaya
    edited November -1
    Lowes and home depot are good places, but be sure to contact them not all of them allow dogs some do though I know my home depot don't allow dogs not sure on lowes.

    I think Tractor supply and rural king allow dogs I'm not sure, but I thought I saw that somewhere and some restaurant or coffee shops allow dogs in the outside seating area.

    This is a good thread for new dog owners thanks for posting this. =)
  • ljowen123ljowen123
    edited November -1
    I can see the take home activity for week 1 of puppy class - see how many items on Kelly's list you can get.
  • shibamistressshibamistress
    edited November -1
    Thanks for the list. It should be a sticky.

    Another good place is college campuses. I say this because I work at the University, so it's an obvious one for me, but there are usually enough people around who will pet a pup, and people on bicycles and skateboards, etc. We have a duckpond at mine, so there are always kids around too, and of course the ducks.

    We can't take dogs into the local Lowes, but you can take them into the airport, so that's a good one. And places that allow dogs in outdoor seating.
  • ala-chanala-chan
    edited May 2010
    Maybe this is due to the different ways of housing pets in different countries/areas etc, but my "socialization program" with Etsu was a little more "on the way" than yours might be...
    Since he is a companion dog I just let him accompany me EVERYWHERE he was/is allowed to be. So he is always with me except school, doctors or stores where you can buy food.
    In his first weeks he accompanied me on trains, busses, car drives (with my parents since I don't have a driver's license), shopping malls, parking lots, pet stores, skate parks, stores where you can buy stuff to build a house (dunno the english expression), restaurants, weekly free-air markets, zoos, friend's homes, bbqs, fashion stores, banks, electronic stuff stores...
    So all that "meet different kinds of people"-stuff didn't need much effort, since we met a whole lot of people on our daily walks.
    I don't know how tolerant Americans are towards dogs though. Here in Germany you can normally take your dog nearly everywhere as long as it doesn't make any problems, except several places where laws don't allow pets due to hygienic issues. (Like medical hospitilities, stores that sell food and hygienic stuff, schools and a few official buildings)
    So I would recommend to every puppy owner to just take your puppy with you everywhere you go. That makes it a whole lot easier to socialize your puppy with everything important in YOUR life.
    It is not wrong though to do trips to strange areas, like zoos, shopping malls, towns (if you live in more rural areas), countryside (if you live in a town) etc.
    But most important is that a puppy learns to feel safe around their owner and become calm and self-confident. Then they will also manage strange happenings later in their lives together with their owners.

    I don't feel comfortable with allowing everyone to pet or give treats to a puppy though... Giving affection and treats should be the task of the owner and not of everyone around. If you let everyone pet and give treats to your puppy, it learns to be attracted towards everything around more than to their owner and that might cause problems with the "coming when called", because the whole world is more attractive than the owner...
    That doesn't mean that I think it is bad if strangers pet your dog, just don't overdo it. A puppy that doesnt show any fear of strangers doesn't need to be touched by every person on the street. Only with puppies that really are afraid of people I would recommend letting many strangers give treats to overcome the fear.

    Edit:
    To my opinion the most important mantra in socializing puppies is: Better NO experiences than NEGATIVE experiences!
  • okironokiron
    edited November -1
    Lisa, though a lot of people do it anyway, dogs that are not service dogs aren't allowed on college campuses. Just putting it out there for legalities.
  • JessicaRabbitJessicaRabbit
    edited November -1
    Dogs are totally allowed on the campus I live by. The campus security always stops to say hi to my girls. And the college that is essentially in my back yard is a state school. They even have signs for dog friendly areas vs. non dog areas.
  • StaticNfuzzStaticNfuzz
    edited November -1
    I think it depends on the campus and where one takes the dog. I know there are great many spring campus events that occur outdoors where there should be plenty of opportunity to socialize. I think the biggest factor in being declined at establishments is owners not cleaning up after their dogs. I know the Home Depo here used to allow dogs in training and now they don't because of poor etiquette of owners. Same goes for some hotels and motels.

    Snf
  • tjbart17tjbart17
    edited November -1
    I was bad. I took Koda into Safeway, Walmart, Target, Costco and Trader Joe's and put him right into the basket. I just put a towel down first. No one said anything to me. I kind've have that don't mess with my Napolean Complex kinda' look to me.

    All hardware stores and orchards allow dogs. At least mine go with me.

    Also, the car wash. Get them used to loud noises like that, especially if you live in an area where there are heavy storms.
  • SangmortSangmort
    edited November -1
    Also, the car wash. Get them used to loud noises like that, especially if you live in an area where there are heavy storms.

    That's brilliant Tara! Thanks!

    [ Especially living in Central Florida, Lighting Capital of the World lol ] ~
  • okironokiron
    edited November -1
    Lol Tara when I worked at Walmart I was the employee who went out of her way to kick dogs out. Wal-mart getting fined = my quarterly bonuses are smaller.
  • tjbart17tjbart17
    edited November -1
    They didn't seem to mind. It may have been the harness I put on him. Kinda looked like a service dog one, but it wasn't. ;-)

    And trust me, where are Walmart is at the cops are too busy to look for puppies there. ha ha ha. Oh, and we don't have food at ours. Does that make a difference Rina?
  • okironokiron
    edited November -1
    How does a Walmart not have food? You guys don't have a chips, cookies and soda section?
  • tjbart17tjbart17
    edited November -1
    yes but it is not a Super Walmart
  • shibamistressshibamistress
    edited November -1
    Yeah, college campuses are like most of the other places we are talking about: it depends. You can take dogs anywhere on campus where I work, though they are not allowed in the buildings (though I take mine to my office occasionally anyway...there, are, after all, some benefits to being tenured).

    But outside of buildings, dogs are totally allowed here and in fact many people who are not University affiliated have their dogs at the duck pond....

    I guess the lesson of all these varying rules (some Lowes are ok, some are not, some college campuses are ok, some are not) is if in doubt, check. Or be very confident, which will sometimes let you get away with things ;)
  • KevinKevin
    edited November -1
    I work at a Home Depot, and even though the sign at my store says it isn't allowed, we typically allow dogs in the store. It helps if you're a good customer or if you know someone who works there!
  • WrylyBrindleWrylyBrindle
    edited November -1
    I have taken Reilly to the Christmas Tree farm on a few occaisions to get our tree. Fun!
    She is also welcome at the bank and the tellers like her to come to each window and put her paws on the counter for a withdrawal from her biscuit account. (my mom is a teller and keeps Reillys cookies at her station)
  • BradA1878BradA1878
    edited November -1
    The Hazards of Overexposure
    by Nicole Wilde

    http://www.dogstardaily.com/blogs/hazards-overexposure

    ----
  • asiaasia
    I work on a college campus and agree it depends. Most people walk their dogs here in the mornings and evenings because it's bigger than the park in town and safe. However, pets are NOT allowed in the buildings or at the athletic facilities. (People were letting their dogs free run in the soccer field and not cleaning up after them :(... And they do not want them on the football turf.) However, I would say it is a great place if allowed. Students tend to enjoy seeing them around and are happy to meet and greet. I do not think most (if any) of our stores around here are very dog friendly :(. We do have great dog-friendly parks and trails though, so that helps.

    ...I wonder if the harness things could work here...perhaps I could get by with it if they thought it was a service dog...
  • AraksAraks
    edited November 2010
    The other day I found out Nordstrom Rack, that one clothing store, allows dogs. I was in there with my mom and a people were just walking in with their dogs on leash, even large breeds. I asked the workers there and they said it was fine, as long as the dog doesn't destroy anything :)

    also, arts and crafts stores, like Michaels and Joann's allow dogs. I take Sevuk to Michaels with me all the time.
  • LudmilaLudmila
    Hi !

    Please, check this video :


    Keï is a 2 month old shiba pup breed by my friend.
    his parents are very fairful.
    He's well socialized so we can see on this video he's absolutly perfect. His 2 sisters are exactly like him.

    Things can change with a few efforts...In France, we have a big problem with temperament, faiful ( shiba / akita / shikoku ... )
    Is it the same in USA ?

    You can traduce this url with google translate ;)
    http://shiba.over-blog.com/article-shiba-inu-race-peureuse-60188062.html
  • TriciaCooperTriciaCooper
    can i
  • HeidiHeidi
    When I was in university, I remember seeing dogs all over the campus and even inside the buildings a few times. I don't even know what the official policy was, but the couple of times I saw the dog indoors, nobody seemed to care at all. It's tough, though, because a lot of places will officially say no dogs, but they actually don't mind dogs, but if you ask they say no, but then if you just bring your dog without asking, you run the risk of irritating a bunch of people.

    You know what would really help? Go out with someone who has a baby. If you think everyone wants to stop and see a puppy, just try going out with a baby. Especially if said baby needs to be fed or get a diaper change, then people will do whatever they can to hold you up. Or so it seems. :oP
  • MrTeddyEarsMrTeddyEars
    I would also recommend taken them when they are young to the VET and just sitting in reception for an hour or so (once they have all the jabs). Yoshi loves the vets and has no issues going their which makes the experience so much better for the dog and the vet.

  • motowaremotoware
    Thank you for the thread! My puppy will be here soon so there are lots of good tips here.
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