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An effective recipe for socialization includes the following ingredients:
1. Exposure
2. Individual puppy
3. Quality & quantity
4. Old & new
Simple exposure—superficial encounters like walking your puppy past a woman wearing a hat—has its place when socializing your puppy. Your puppy learns a lot by being in a new environment and coming into brief contact with new people, things, and dogs. When you don’t have the time to work properly with your puppy, just bringing him along for the ride is still a good idea. But simple exposure is not enough by itself. To give your puppy the best shot at becoming an adaptable, friendly adult you need to actively create positive associations with new experiences, especially top socialization challenges like unfamiliar places, strangers, kids, unfamiliar dogs, loud noises, vet exams and loud/moving things .
No two puppies are the same. Genetics matter; so do early experiences. Was your puppy raised by a breeder or rescuer who took time to socialize him individually? What type of temperaments did your puppy’s mother and father have? At what stage in his development is your puppy? Is he in a fearful stage or an exploratory stage?
The point is to work at your particular puppy’s pace. Follow a good plan (that’s what your Puppy
Passport is for) and when in doubt, always consult your trainer.
You want both for your puppy. Here’s how:
Quality of interactions: 1. Get first encounters right. If a first encounter goes well, subsequent socialization with this event, person, or thing becomes much easier. 2. Puppies form associations all the time whether you notice or not, so you must deliberately work to help your puppy form positive associations. 3. Use rewards that your puppy values. 4. Go at your puppy’s pace.
Quantity of interactions: Number and variety go hand-in-hand with quality when it comes to socialization. While it’s better to have a small number of positive experiences than many negative ones, having too few positive associations leaves your puppy unprepared to deal with new experiences in adulthood. The socialization goals in the Puppy Passport may be too ambitious or too modest for your particular puppy. This is why it’s so important to learn to read your puppy’s body language, evaluate his experiences, and work closely with your trainer. copyright
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2010 Operation Socialization LLC 1

603-856-7509
You want both old and new experiences for your puppy.
New: Now is the time to introduce your puppy to as much of the world as possible—if your puppy usually has Loves it reactions, aim to give him mostly new experiences.
Old: Repetition is important for socialization maintenance for all puppies—and if your puppy often has Hates it reactions, repeating experiences at his own pace can help boost his confidence. (But try to keep repeat experiences to no more than three in the same category in any given week.) See What
to Do If Your Puppy Is Scared. copyright
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2010 Operation Socialization LLC 2