5 places to socialise your puppy local to Easingwold
Gently exposing your puppy to lots of different sights, smells and sounds before puppy is fully vaccinated can help owners raise a confident, calm dog that thrives in lots of different situations.
Always follow advice from your vet around vaccinations – I’m not trying to encourage anyone to put their puppy at risk. Carry them, use a puppy sling or even stick to the safety of your car, when they are too young to be on the ground.
When it is safe to start going on short walks, try and plan ahead and avoid obviously busy times.
And (if you’ve ever read any of my other blogs you know what I’m about to say), be prepared to be your puppy’s advocate. Say no to noisy kids saying hello, forced greetings, those loonies that love to reach out, loom over and touch puppy without permission and anything else that makes you or puppy feel uncomfortable.
5 places to socialise your puppy local to Easingwold
Local Vets
Trips to the vets can be tricky enough if your dog is unwell. Creating a positive association with the people that work there and the environment itself, right from the beginning, can help make visits a lot easier. Ideally, you’ll want to visit several times while puppy is young, not just for their vaccinations.
Some vets offer regular checks and chats with a vet nurse. You can get puppy used to standing on the scales and getting weighed, get them used to being handled by someone else, have them sit on the examination table and experience the different surface (in a sterile environment) and enjoy a fuss and some treats.
You can also ask if they are happy for you to hang out in reception for a few minutes or sit in the car park watching folk come and go. As long as you are mindful of their other customers, most vets will encourage this.
Do you research before registering your puppy with a vet. Ask them what special services or puppy packages they offer and see if the staff seem friendly and will welcome you socialising your puppy there.
In Easingwold, we have two veterinary centres –
Bishopton Veterinary Group, Raskelf Road, Easingwold
Howells Veterinary Services, York Road, Easingwold
And close by in Flawith –
Galtres Veterinary Surgery, Applegarth, Flawith
Your Local Area
If you live in Easingwold town, you are likely to have neighbours, so even hanging out in your garden, puppy will experience lots different sights and sounds. Next door parking up their car and slamming the doors, teenagers walking home from school, kids playing out on their bikes. Drive just a few minutes from Easingwold and you can be in quite rural areas. If you are surrounded by nothing but fields, puppy is going to be exposed to different things.
If you live somewhere exceptionally quiet, take puppy in the car, park up and let them sit and observe different comings and goings. You don’t even need to go into the bustle of Easingwold town. Stillington, Sheriff Hutton, Huby all have thriving local shops – go and hang out close by, there will enough going on to start exposing puppy to new things.
Local Groomers
Visiting your local groomer, just for a few minutes to chill out in reception, gives puppy the chance to observe a new, novel environment and take in all the shampooey, spritzey smells and the sound of the drier. If you can pop by a few times for puppy to say hello to your groomer, it’ll make that first appointment, when they need to be left there, all the easier.
Your groomer may not be able to spend long with you, but if you check first, most groomers should be more than happy to have clients who want to prepare and socialise their puppies so carefully.
TOP TIP – Once puppy is vaccinated, get them booked in for a quick puppy pamper BEFORE they need a full-on groom and furcut. Puppy’s first time being left at the groomers should be short and sweet and just a chance for them to have a gentle bath, lots of cuddles and enjoy an all-round positive experience.
The Countryside
We are spoilt for choice with beautiful countryside around Easingwold. When puppy gets older, you are likely to want to enjoy all the great dog walks we have here on our doorstep. If you live in town, take a little drive out and find somewhere safe to park up. Sitting in the car with the windows down will allow puppy to start experiencing the smells of the countryside and the sounds of the tractors.
The Park
Millfield Park in Easingwold is very popular with dog walkers. You can socialise puppy by going at a quieter time, parking up, (I’d go for the far end of the car park so people aren’t passing right by your car) and sitting with your boot open with puppy. Take a brew for you and some snacks for puppy and just sit and watch the world go by. If you have a puppy sling, you can take puppy for a mooch around the park – keeping enough distance from anything too loud and noisy going on. Whether that be kids or groups of dogs playing!
You can read more about Puppy Care and Puppy Socialisation services available at Good Karma Canines here.