Is your puppy learning the right lessons about the world? Three biggest socialisation mistakes.
Pippa 
How early socialisation shapes the dog your puppy will become.
What is Socialisation?
Socialisation is a scientifically recognised process in which a young animal learns to interact with and respond to its environment, shaping how it perceives and reacts to different stimuli throughout life. In dogs, this includes exposure to people, animals, sounds, objects, and varied environments during early development. This process influences their ability to adapt to new experiences, reducing the likelihood of fear-based responses later in life.
The Sensitive Period & Understanding Socialisation Continues Beyond It
Puppies experience a sensitive period for socialisation, typically between 3 and 14 weeks of age. During this time, their brains are highly adaptable, making it an optimal period for exposure to new experiences. But, as Karen Overall states:
"Socialization is not a single event, nor is it something that is completed within some arbitrary and artificial time frame. It is a lifelong process." (Karen Overall, Manual of Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Dogs and Cats)
This means that while early social experiences have a significant impact, socialisation continues throughout a dog’s life. Once the sensitive period has passed, dogs can still learn and adapt, but the process often requires more time and effort.
Common Socialisation Pitfalls
The way a puppy is socialised can shape their entire outlook on life. Unfortunately, there are common mistakes owners make that lead to difficulties later on. Here are three of the most frequent issues I see:
- Greeting Everyone and Everything
It's common to see an adolescent dog drag their owner towards every person, chomping on the lead or barking in frustration when they can't reach another dog. This is often the result of owners encouraging their puppies to interact with every person and dog they meet, believing it will create a friendly, sociable adult dog. While the intention is good and well-meaning, this often teaches puppies that every living thing is an opportunity for interaction, which can lead to frustration-based behaviours when they are unable to engage as expected. This can turn lead walking into a battle of strength and make it difficult for the dog to choose to focus on their owner. As a result, recall becomes very unreliable, leading to stressful and frustrating walks both on and off-lead.Another possible response to greeting everyone and everything is that the process happens too fast for an individual puppy, and they become overwhelmed. This puppy may begin to avoid interactions, appear hesitant in social situations, or even develop fear-based behaviours around other dogs and people.
- Lack of Experience with the World
Other puppies don’t get enough varied exposure. Sometimes a puppy's socialisation was limited to just their garden or home, often due to necessary restrictions while vaccine immunity is building. Owners don't always realise they can safely expose their puppy to the outside world in controlled ways, such as carrying them to observe different environments, having vaccinated dogs come to visit, controlled car trips, sound desensitisation at home etc. Under-socialised dogs can sometimes grow up to be nervous or reactive in unfamiliar situations. They may bark and lunge at strangers, traffic, or novel objects like bin bags or umbrellas. Owners of these dogs often find themselves walking at unsociable hours or avoiding busy areas altogether, which can feel isolating and frustrating. - Socialising Only with the Family’s Other Dog
Some puppies grow up with an older dog in the household and primarily interact with them. While this may seem like a great way to provide social experience, it can limit their ability to interact with the world independently and limit their exposure to the huge variety of dog breeds - short, tall, pointy ears, flat faced, stumpy tail etc. These dogs often become overly reliant on their companion, struggle when separated and unsure of the body language of unfamiliar dogs. They may also lack confidence in new situations and find solo walks stressful.
Socialisation is More Than Just People and Other Dogs
- Socialisation isn’t just about meeting people or other animals—it’s about helping dogs feel comfortable with everything they might encounter in life. This includes:
- Traffic—cars, buses, bicycles, and prams moving past them.
- Different walking surfaces—grass, gravel, wooden floors, metal grates.
- Novel objects—bin bags, traffic cones, umbrellas, shopping trolleys.
- Unexpected changes—something being out of place, a new object in their usual environment.
Why I introduced Puppy Socials
To support owners in this process, I created Puppy Socials. These sessions are designed to facilitate the socialisation process in a controlled and safe social setting. Puppies remain on-lead as they explore the environment together. Owners also get to relax, chat to other puppy parents, enjoy the process, and watch their puppy grow in confidence each week.
To further enhance your puppy’s development, our sessions also incorporate the use of safe obstacles. These exercises help puppies build awareness of their own bodies, improving balance, coordination, and confidence. By navigating different textures, uneven surfaces, and small obstacles, puppies learn to move with greater control - skills that support their physical and mental development for life.
Give your puppy the best start in life!
If you want to raise a dog that is confident, adaptable, and a pleasure to take anywhere, now is the time to invest in their socialisation. My Puppy Socials provide the opportunity and support for your puppy to gain the right kind of experiences in a structured, positive way, ensuring they build these essential everyday social skills.
Book a session today and set your puppy on the right track. https://www.focusdogbehaviour....
Categories: : puppy training