The Resources Page include musings, links to websites, and best practices
1. AVSAB Puppy Socialization Statement Page
Many veterinarians recommend not allowing puppies to do a lot of socializing until fully vaccinated at roughly four months of age. From a behavioral standpoint, the risks of waiting until a puppy means you are missing out on many weeks of prime socializing opportunities. Socializing must always occur safely and at Train the Dog CA, we ensure this is how we are socializing your puppy. The full statement is below.
3. Activity Restrictions for dogs under 18-months
Age-Appropriate Exercise
How much and the type of exercise you are providing your puppy is commonly misunderstood. The old adage “A tired puppy is a good puppy” can be a bit misleading. Puppies tire from both mental and physical stimulation. Below is information to help understand how your puppies physical exercise should be structured.
When a puppy’s joints are developing, we need to be careful to not put them in situations which can contribute to irreversible damage. There are two primary areas of risk with puppies.
Sudden, jarring, or falls from heights can all be risky for puppies. Example of this are running down stairs and jumping the last two stairs, jumping out of car or off of anything that is high, getting slammed by larger dogs, begin dropped (it happens and good to be aware of). These situations are really a matter of managing their environment to make sure they are not risking these injuries because they will not regulate and although they can physically jump up and down of things, it is not best for them.
The lesser-known area of risk is from “forced exercise”. Examples of this are:
- Jogging or running with a puppy or dog.
- Excessive ball or frisbee throwing or catching.
- Running a dog along with a bike, skates, or other wheeled items.
- Taking a very fast paced or very long walk with a puppy.
All of these potentially put the puppy or dog in a situation where they are motivated to move fast, drive hard, slide/skid, or continue longer than they would naturally. All of these create unnatural motivations for the dog and they will tend not to self-regulate or can’t self-regulate in the case of following a bike for example.
Large breed dogs particularly are still laying down cartilage in their grown plates which make them vulnerable to injury and long-term damage. Complete growth and closure of the growth plates happens between 10-24 months. After this time, they are ready to endure activity in which they are compelled to follow or chase something.
The safest way to avoid injury or damage during the growth phase is to avoid forced exercise, keep walks moderate, watch their day-to-day interactions with their environment and other dogs, and to blend exercise with brain stimulation to help achieve the “tired puppy” state.