Your puppy’s first meeting with other puppies is a lot like a child’s first day of school.  There will be all sorts of things for your pup to investigate and become familiar with including new sounds, sights and smells.  Of course, there will also be new friends waiting to greet your puppy and to help them learn to improve their social skills during play.

This experience can be very exciting, and loads of fun for pups and their parents.  Just like children at school, social interactions might at times also be a bit of a challenge for your puppy.  In order for this to be a fun, positive, and beneficial experience, you should know what to look for and how best to react to a variety of common puppy play group scenarios. 

Puppies will learn an enormous amount from the other pups, but your intervention and feedback is also important.  By monitoring your puppy’s behavior, and knowing how to best react, you can set your pup up for a successful experience.  Here are a couple of common scenarios you may see as well as some tips to make the most of these social occasions.

1. Let’s Get This Party Started!
Some puppies charge into their first play group with gusto and confidence.  They run right up to every other pup without hesitation and may even insist on play by pouncing and barking.  If your pup is on this end of the social spectrum, part of the benefit of socialisation is for them to learn how to tone down their play with those pups that are less receptive or concerned.  After all, not everyone is a fan of a more in your face sort of social encounter and your pup will do well to learn some self-control.  Of course, being of the same species, puppies are well equipped to learn from each other.  However, puppy parents should ​step in to make sure the experience is as positive for the other pups as it is for their own.  Avoid reprimanding your pup and instead simply give consistent and ongoing feedback by picking your puppy up for a brief break from play and/or redirecting your pup to another puppy that is better suited to their play style.  Keep in mind that these breaks do not mean your pup is being naughty.  These brief breaks from play simply allow your pup an opportunity to learn that overly pushy play makes the play end for a bit.  In addition to preventing another pup from feeling overwhelmed, the pup taking a break gets an opportunity to practice being calm when held, even when around exciting situations.

Introduce the collar and leash
As early as a few weeks old, you can introduce your pup to his collar and leash. Wait until he’s doing something positive such as feeding, playing, or getting affection from you and slip on the collar and leash. The idea is both to get him used to wearing them and to have him associate them with positive feelings. If your dog fights against the leash or collar, try using treats or toys to get him more comfortable.

Go for a walk — inside
Just because you don’t want to risk taking your pup around the neighbourhood doesn’t mean you can’t walk. Attach his leash and guide him around your living space so he gets used to you leading him around. If you have a backyard, you should use bathroom time as another opportunity for leash training by walking your pup out to the spot where you want him to go, instead of letting him have the run of the yard.

Help him learn to follow
Ideally, you want to be leading your dog when you’re on the walk — not the other way around. But this is a lot harder to do with a large adult dog than a tiny pup, so there’s no better time for training than now. All you have to do is put on his leash and walk a few steps. When he inevitably starts to pull, you should turn and walk in the opposite direction. You’ll stop-and-start a lot at first, but eventually he’ll get it. You can reinforce this learning by rewarding him with praise or treats when he does follow.

Practice obedience training
By the time your dog is ready to go out on walks, between months 3 and 6, it’s also a good window to start obedience training. Start with basic commands such as “sit,” “stay,” “come,” “heel,” and “down,” and make sure everyone doing the training is consistent, using the same words and gestures. Otherwise, the dog will become confused.

One of the best ways to teach these basic commands is the “Ask, Tell, and Command” method. The idea is that you first ask your dog to do something, such as “come.” Then tell them to do it using a firm voice if they don’t comply the first time. If that still doesn’t work, repeat the command again and physically pull your pup to you. Regardless of whether your dog comes on her own or you bring her over, immediately offer praise. This will help him to associate completing the action with a reward, and next time he may do it sooner.

Keep up with the training and stay consistent. Pretty soon your dog will obey you without even thinking about it!

[Related articles: How to train your puppy, Tips to prevent a parvovirus infection, Essential Care Tips]
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[Tags: Puppy training, Thailand Puppy, What to do after your puppy arrives] 

When did you start obedience training your puppy? Share your story with us in the comments.