Puppy socialisation is about so much more than just playing with other puppies. It’s about a young dog learning how to understand their world, learning what is normal and what is a cause for concern. This means that what you need to socialise your puppy to may be different from what I need because the dogs will go on to live different lives. I need my dogs to be really comfortable, for instance, being outside in all weathers come what may but you may need your puppy to learn how to relax inside a busy pub!
Introduction
Some adult dogs are extremely sensitive to sounds, whether its the sound of the neighbours dog barking or a delivery arriving, they seem to be hugely triggered by sounds which are barely audible. This can be partly genetic and partly to do with their early experiences of the world.
What can you do?
Puppies go through several critical developmental stages and one of these ends at about 16 weeks. What this means is that you’ve got from when you collect your pup until 16 weeks to help ‘socialise’ them to a wide range of sounds.
Interestingly you’ll need to repeat these before your puppy is 6 months old but often this happens more naturally as you are out and about in the world more.
If you’ve re-homed an older dog who is showing sensitivity to certain sounds then you are welcome to contact me using the contact form and we can discuss how best to help you.
What sorts of sounds?
There are various sounds which can be problematic for different dogs. Here are some of the basics that you could cover easily at home yourself or using pre-recorded sounds (for instance from YouTube)
- Fireworks
- Different dogs barking
- Children screaming or crying
- Construction noise
- Household appliances
- Lawn equipment
- Beeping electronic noises
How to introduce your puppy to potentially difficult sounds
For socialisation to these sounds to be effective it is critical that your puppy isn’t at all bothered by the sounds so start with the vacuum cleaner at a distance and moving slowly or with your fireworks noises at such a low volume that your puppy barely notices. You’ll find that while they are so young you can increase the volume fairly rapidly each time you practice. Remember if your dog looks scared or moves towards or away from the sound that you’ll need to go back to a much lower intensity the next day. You might want to have your puppy lay on their mat with you and eat treats while they listen or simply play them in the background.
“I found with puppy Annie that I could almost immediately play fireworks sounds as loud as I dared, given that I’m in a semi-detached house, but I had to have the sounds of dogs barking so quiet that I could barely hear them. By the third day of practicing though the dog barking sounds could be as loud as I wanted and Annie didn’t even seem to notice”
December 2021
Watch this youtube video showing Annie listening to fireworks and dogs barking to see how the sort of response you are looking for https://youtu.be/0A8R9A2fRLU
If your dog is triggered by sounds and needs help contact me using the contact form now https://www.harmony.dog/contact/