Train a Puppy Online – Online Puppy School – 5 Ideas for Socialisation
5 Ideas For Socializing Your Quarantine Puppy – Eazy Dog Training – Train a Puppy Online
It’s not an easy time for anyone right now. And especially new puppy owners might struggle with socialisation at the moment with the current restrictions affecting the way we live our daily lives. But puppies must be socialised, COVID-19 or not. You need to make sure that your puppy gets to know and learns to be comfortable with many different things such as people, other dogs, all kinds of noises, situations, environments, surfaces … But how on earth do you do all this while being stuck at home? Training a puppy online is a great option! And here are some things you can do around the house.
Surfaces
Surface insecurities are quite common and can be a sign of a lack of socialisation. If young puppies are not introduced to a variety of different textures under their feet, they can become quite apprehensive towards them. Here are some ideas for exposing your puppy to different surfaces. Simply spread them out on your living room floor and have your puppy walk across, with using treats as encouragement:
- Paper
- Plastic bag
- Grid
- Aluminum foil
- Cardboard
- Styrofoam
- Books
- Beach towels
- Crumbled up newspaper
Dress Up
You might not be able to expose your puppy to a variety of people right now, but you can still expose him to different looks! Try on a variety of clothes you might not regularly wear inside, such as:
- Trenchcoats
- Gloves or mittens
- Baseball hats
- Helmets, such as a bike or ski helmet
- Heavy boots
- Sunglasses
- Rain ponchos
- Overalls
- Bright vest
Weird Equipment
The first time any puppy sees people with unusual “equipment”, such as a wheelchair or a suitcase, he can get freaked out. Teach him that there is nothing to be afraid of, by walking around your house with:
- Backpacks
- Suitcases
- Plastic bags
- Big exercise ball
- Umbrellas
- A stick you are using as a cane
- Your bicycle
- A wagon
- A broom
- Buckets
- A vacuum cleaner
Noises Of Everyday Life
A puppy should get used to all kinds of sounds and noises early on. The internet offers unlimited possibilities for playing any sounds you can think of for your puppy at home. Make sure to include some that are usually part of life but currently not happening, such as:
- Children playing
- Babies crying
- Skateboards
- Crowds
- Motorcycles
- Cars
- Trucks
- Thunder
- Heavy Rain
- Fireworks
- Animal sounds
Handling
Get your puppy used to being handled by you in many ways, and being happy and relaxed during it. This will be useful for your home routine as well as future vet and grooming appointments. You can practice:
- Touching his feet, ears, tummy, tail etc.
- Having his nails trimmed
- Putting his collar on and taking it off
- Putting his harness on and taking it off
- Putting on dog coats (if you intend to use them)
- Giving him a bath
- Drying him with a towel
- Blow-drying him
- Brushing him with different brushes
- Having him being weighed on scales (if he is small enough)
- Touching the pads on the underside of his paws
- Looking at his teeth
- Gently moving his legs
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