Socialize, Socialize, Socialize!

From the day we brought him home we started to take Willie out so that he could meet other people and animals. It is so important to socialize your puppy! So far we haven't come across anyone/animal that he didn't like. He seems to get along best with male dogs that are bigger than he is. He doesn't seem to be afraid of their massive size. He definitely thinks he's bigger than he really is :) He is very active, and so far we have only found one other dog that has just as much energy as he does...unfortunately the other pup lives all the way out in Northfield. Hopefully we can find Willie a closer playmate that has just as much energy and spunk that he does!

Willie loves to take walks, or should I say walk halfway around the block and then just plop down in some random persons tree lawn looking around, and hoping a stranger will come up to pet him. If he sees people walking down the sidewalk he will sit and wait till they come up to him...(and of course they have to pet him!) I let people approach Willie to pet him however I do advise them to not act too excited, because he is a puppy, and if they get him too excited he will probably pee on their feet..(Which he has done to the girls across the street numerous times....hehehe!) I believe that getting your puppy out into the neighborhood to meet other people and their dogs is so important. We've only come across one friendly dog in the neighborhood. All the rest will bark, and be obnoxious as we walk by. I've even noticed a couple of people that when they are out walking their dogs (Usually without a leash...) if they see me out in the yard with Willie they will grab their dog by the collar and take him across the street, and will continue to hold their collar until they have passed the house. (Note: Willie hasn't barked at another person or dog since the day we brought him home..this is highly unusual for a puppy, and we count our blessings every day!!)

I've found that Petco has a free puppy social every other week.....you can take your puppy out for a couple hours and it is supervised by a trainer. She seems to be willing to answer any questions you may have about training your puppy, and again it's free! I took Willie a couple of times, and he loved it.

I've heard that dog parks are fun! Willie isn't neutered yet, so we haven't tried them out, but be assured that once he is snipped and clipped we will be heading out to the dog park! What a great way to have your puppy burn off some energy and also meet other doggies!

I firmly believe if you start to take your puppy out to meet other people the day he comes home you will have a pup who loves everyone!

Willie has been pretty easy to socialize, we have had a couple of issues, and they only occur at home. When we've had visitors Willie just gets way to excited he will jump up on our visitors (which is very annoying), and demands constant attention from one of them...usually the female! So far removing him from the room seems to be the only way to get him to calm down, but even after repetedly doing so he still is so excited to have people over at the house. (Thankfully he doesn't piddle on them in the house...lol ) It will usually take at least an hour to get him to relax. If you watch any of those Dog Whisperer shows it will seem like it takes Ceaser 10 minutes to get the pup to calm down around visitors...I don't think so! Other than that Willie has been easy to socialize he loves going for rides, and when we go to visit with friends and family he really is an angel while we are at their home. And again he doesn't bark...(except at the broom and the vacuum cleaner!)