How to Socialize Your Puppy During the Coronavirus Outbreak

To have a good and obedient dog, socialization is very important, but the current coronavirus situation is making it hard to step outside of our homes and help our puppies get social. For all those puppy parents out there, it sure is hard to give your little four-legged friends the socialization they deserve, but fret not. Life always tends to throw us challenges, and we must not sulk, but instead find other ways to move forward. For those pet parents, especially puppy parents, this blog is for you because we’ll be talking about how one can effectively socialize their puppy during such tumultuous times.

How To Socialize Your Puppy During Social Distancing?

The current coronavirus pandemic has got us all to social distance ourselves from other beings by just doing one thing; stay at home. While we all are at it, puppy parents still need their puppies to socialize in order to grow and mould them into a good and obedient dog. Here’s how you can help your puppy socialize while you’re staying at home.

Outside Sounds – Right now, while you are at home, you are not hearing sounds related to the outside world such as traffic and trains. Your puppy too would have heard such sounds, if not for the quarantine situation. But all thanks to the internet and YouTube you can bring those outside sounds home. Get your puppy to hear these sounds by introducing it to them slowly. Gradually, increase the sound levels and see to it how he reacts. Keep doing this till your pup doesn’t pay heed to the sounds.

Inside Sounds – Allow your puppy to get accustomed to the sounds inside the walls of your home. Sounds such as the vacuum cleaner, washing machine, and various other appliances sound that you would normally use. Make your pup hear these sounds and let him get used to them all.

Walking On Various Surfaces – Getting your little munchkin to walk on different surfaces is essential too. If you happen to have wooden floors, then allow your pup to walk on those. Besides, get your pup to also walk of slippery surfaces, grass, carpets, and various other surfaces. Keep doing so, little by little, and perhaps by the end of quarantine, your buddy would have found the right balance to walk on any given surface.

Different Places and Smells – Different places will obviously have different smells. For instance, your house smell will be different from say, a restaurant. It is not advisable to step outside, but if rules permit, you should take your pup (and maintain social distance with people) to other nearby places near your home. Let your furry pal get a glimpse of smells of different places and their environments. This surely helps in the socialization process.

Garden Time – If you have a garden or a yard, then allowing your puppy to spend some time over there is crucial. Let him sniff the garden areas as this will enhance their sniffing skills. Moreover, if your pup is successful in sniffing other humans and animals on the other side of your garden fencing, then you should reward him for doing a great job.

Conclusion

Performing all the five mentioned tips for puppy socialization is critical for their growth and development. Although there are many more things relating to socialization that needs to be taught to your pup, I believe these are more than enough as of now. I will cover up the remaining essential points in a later blog post, so stay tuned for that. Until then, stay indoors for as long as the rules permit, stay safe and keep your four-legged friends safe too.