The peak socialization time for your puppy is between 8 and 16 weeks of age. Therefore it is important to get your puppy accustomed to interacting with different animals, people, situations/objects to ensure you have an outgoing easily adaptable puppy. We offer FREE puppy socialization at Western Veterinary Hospital. Here your pet will interact with multiple people and fully vaccinated and dewormed animals. We also help to acclimate them to standard veterinary procedures such as stepping on the scale, standing on the exam table and handling.
Everyone wants a puppy that is well behaved and has good manners. This is easily accomplished by spending a few minutes a day working with him at home, or some owners choose to enroll their puppy in a basic obedience training class. It is never too early to teach basic commands and to practice desensitization and restraint exercises. Sit, Lay down, Come and Stay are skills all dogs should know. Desensitization exercises are designed to get a puppy used to being handled, medicated, and groomed. We recommend rubbing your finger along the gums and inside the ears, holding their feet for several seconds, and rubbing their toes and gently squeezing their nails. If this is performed daily, it should not be a struggle to give your dog oral medication, brush their teeth, clean their ears and clip their nails. Restraint exercises are designed to make medicating or performing first aid less stressful for your pet. We recommend practicing these when your pet is actively playing. Pick up your puppy and hold him close to your chest. When he stops wiggling and whining, let him go and praise him. Try to restrain him for a second or two longer each time. Pretty soon he'll immediately quiet down as soon as he is picked up.