Good socialisation tatic for puppies :-)

Well Saffy has been a busy girl today!

This morning we took her to our local bootfair. And I can't recommend it enough for puppy socialisation! Literally it was packed with doggies and doggy lovers and in the way bootfairs are, pretty cramped. Every few feet we were stopped by people who wanted to make a fuss over her or other dog owners who wanted to chat! I think she must have met 20+ dogs in an hr! She was getting stroked, kissed and picked up and SHE LOVED IT!

But the highlight was a lovely couple who had a pack of 4 staffy's! The Staffys themselves were gorgeous and so friendly they had a big ole White boy who was deaf, that they had rescued and he was so placid bless him.

What I noticed today about Saffy was that she is very people oriented. She was hardly interested in the dogs or puppies we met. As is the way of dogs, they were very curious about her though and sometimes literally surrounded her vigourously sniffing her *ahem* lady bits. She was very good and just stood there to let them do it, a little bit stiff but otherwise not fearful.

Anyway she went to her first puppy classes this afternoon with her brother blue. She did very well I thought! But did get hypo tbh. At the end is puppy socialisation where you let all the pups round around. Unfortunately for a beagle mix she and a huge Newfoundland pup decided to gang up on it and pin it to the ground! It did yelp the poor thing!
Overall she had a good time and I'm very proud of her! Tried to take pics but didn't really get any good ones :/

Brillient, and what a great place to socialise them

Good work

Car boots are a great idea for confident pups!

Saffy sounds a bit like Rocky, far more interested in meeting people than other dogs. I'm sure he thinks he is human but I'm not gonna tell him otherwise

Absolutely for confident pups! It's senses overload! But equally a good experience for a nervy pup who could be carried around. And it's something that could be good for a pup who hasn't had their jabs yet.

Nothing fazes Saf so I wasn't concerned at all. The sweetest part was a lovely lad with Downs Syndrome laughing his head off because Saffy was licking him to the bone!

Kathy: Saffy will always make a bee-line for dog owners than the dog on walks. How does Rocky get on with other dogs in general tho??

We take Ruby round the carboot every sunday for the same reason. we live at hemswell cliff so we can just walk her the 5 minutes from our house the the center of what is usually a very busy field of people and dogs, i agree its great socialisation but Ruby seeks out other dogs so its very difficult to control her there. She often meets lots of cute bundles of fluff being walked by their owners which is great as she is a bit of a bully with smaller dogs so its nice for her to get the brief greetings and then wander on by.

Glad to hear that it went so well.

Rachb26 wrote:

Kathy: Saffy will always make a bee-line for dog owners than the dog on walks. How does Rocky get on with other dogs in general tho??

Usually OK, some breeds he just doesn't get on with though, like boxers bizzarly given his name Think it may have something to do the set of the eyes which we have now sorted out, we just cover his eyes if they do stare at him or try to block his line of sight and distract him.

One of his best friends is a Dobermann another a couple of spaniels.

kathytake2 wrote:

Rachb26 wrote:

Kathy: Saffy will always make a bee-line for dog owners than the dog on walks. How does Rocky get on with other dogs in general tho??

Usually OK, some breeds he just doesn't get on with though, like boxers bizzarly given his name Think it may have something to do the set of the eyes which we have now sorted out, we just cover his eyes if they do stare at him or try to block his line of sight and distract him.

One of his best friends is a Dobermann another a couple of spaniels.

Haha good tactic! I will have to remember that for when Saffy stares at my cat! But it's good to hear he gets on with doggies overall. And well boxers are pretty big! And drooly...don't blame him lol