9 weeks old - Socialization & exposure to life

During these early days the puppy is so very impressionable.  It is important to expose the puppy to a lot of different things that she will experience over the course of her life.  In our house she certainly won't lack exposure to family noise!

But Socialization is one of those things that everyone needs to work on...because socialization with your own family does not make a truly socialized dog. 

We cannot wait until after the puppy has had all her shots, or we will have lost a lot of valuable time.  We can't yet take our puppy out in public, but we can invite  people to visit her. 

This week I have been making phone calls and thinking of friends that we can have come to visit with Coco.  Dr Ian Dunbar recommends the puppy meet 100 different people this month.   So that is what I will set out to accomplish. Yesterday I had a friend and her 20 year old son stop over for a visit.  I invited another friend to bring her 10 year old daughter on Thursday and her 1 year old poodle (who I know has all her shots).  Friday I have another family coming to visit with their three children.  I have made a list of people to visit spacing them throughout  the month.  By making several visits a week, it will not be difficult to expose my puppy to a lot of different people of various ages and genders.

To enlarge our puppies experiences in our home, I set up a second pen in another room.  This allows us to bring Coco with us as we move around the first floor.  

In the second pen, I put a Lixit water bottle, some new toys, and a small travel carrier.  Using the carrier instead of the wire crate, will give Coco a chance to get maintain a familiarity with that smaller enclosed space for the times that she will be traveling in it.

Another day, I will use our hard shell carrier.  We have a variety of dog crates, so I want our dog to be comfortable in any type of confinement.

When I put Coco in her pen, she immediately tried out her water bottle.   I would guess she had used a water bottle in the pen at her breeders.
I like water bottles because they keep the puppies beard dry, which is better for preventing bacteria. They also don't get knocked over when the puppy plays.

I noticed that Coco seemed to avoid climbing in the carrier.  Rather than putting her inside and closing the door, it is better to let them get use to it on their own. 

To encourage Coco to try it out, I put a stuffed Kong in there.  I stuffed the Kong with a mixture of Coco's kibble, a few pieces of some tiny treats, and some shredded cheese.  Coco could smell the food and immediately climbed in the carrier to extract her lunch from the Puppy Kong.   The Kong occupied her for quite a while, and soon she was fast asleep.

I am glad that I have this second pen.   It is an easy way to enlarge Coco's confinement experiences, just a little bit, while still keeping her in a controlled environment.