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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Original poster

Socialisation window

30 replies

Spinderellaseverywhere · 28/09/2024 17:43

Hi all,

We went to see a puppy cavalier today (5 months old). The breeder had decided to keep the puppy but then changed her mind. The puppy was amazing with my children in the house, so gentle and friendly. We took the puppy for a walk and he seemed really scared of other dogs. I imagine he hasn’t been out much. Is this something that would be likely to improve with time and walks etc or is it likely to be more embedded by this age? He had such a lovely character but it would make life difficult for us if he remains scared of other dogs as we want to have nice walks etc.

OP posts:
Original poster
Spinderellaseverywhere · 29/09/2024 18:04

Undisclosedlocation · 28/09/2024 17:55

Why hasn’t the breeder been taking the pup out much?
An absolutely massive red flag! If they intended to keep the puppy, they would have socialised it, if they were any use whatsoever as an owner or breeder
I highly doubt this is legit and as a dog trainer, I would run a mile I’m afraid

She didn’t seem to take any of them out much said she lets them run in the garden. 🤷‍♀️

OP posts:
Original poster
Spinderellaseverywhere · 29/09/2024 18:06

PolaroidPrincess · 29/09/2024 17:59

I think you've done the right thing @Spinderellaseverywhere Flowers

Who knows! I’m not a dog expert just want a friendly, kind dog that we can take out and about etc.

OP posts:
BeansOnToast32 · 29/09/2024 18:15

@Spinderellaseverywhere ah that's a shame but if it didn't feel right then you probably made the right decision for you.

From my experience with the Cavs I've owned or known is that they are basically "people" dogs, absolutely love fuss and attention from people/children. My dog LOVES kids and is super gentle with them despite me not having any children, she just instinctively knows how to behave around them.

They are usually happy with the dogs that they live with but would still prefer spending time with their human over the dogs. Dogs outside of the house are a different matter, they are usually indifferent or wary of them unless it's a dog they get to know well. In general though they wouldn't be nasty to another dog even if frightened, I've never met an aggressive Cav anyway and I've known a lot of them.

Original poster
Spinderellaseverywhere · 29/09/2024 18:23

BeansOnToast32 · 29/09/2024 18:15

@Spinderellaseverywhere ah that's a shame but if it didn't feel right then you probably made the right decision for you.

From my experience with the Cavs I've owned or known is that they are basically "people" dogs, absolutely love fuss and attention from people/children. My dog LOVES kids and is super gentle with them despite me not having any children, she just instinctively knows how to behave around them.

They are usually happy with the dogs that they live with but would still prefer spending time with their human over the dogs. Dogs outside of the house are a different matter, they are usually indifferent or wary of them unless it's a dog they get to know well. In general though they wouldn't be nasty to another dog even if frightened, I've never met an aggressive Cav anyway and I've known a lot of them.

Yes maybe that was the issue rather than lack of socialising. Who knows. She did say they hadn’t been out in the last week. I just wasn’t sure if it was too late for the socialisation or not.

OP posts:
Corgiowner · 29/09/2024 21:22

Potentialmadcatlady · 28/09/2024 19:00

I rescued a 17week old pup that had been in foster. The foster Mum hadn’t started vacs or socialisation so I started it all at 17weeks. We managed with a LOT of work to get him turned round and he is grand now but he was the only one in his litter who wasn’t returned due to behaviourial issues.
It can be done but it’s a lot of work and unless you know exactly what you are doing you will need experienced help.
Breeders will quite often ‘run a dog on’ as they intend to keep them for showing but then they dont grow to breed standard etc etc
Show dogs aren’t always treated the same as pet dogs so it might be the same in this case.

I got my dog at 11 months old from a reputable breeder. He is not quite good enough to win at the highest level and thus stand as a stud dog. The breeder kept two dogs from the litter because at 8 weeks he couldn’t tell which one was the best. But because he has been shown this mean he was very well socialised and confident with other dogs and the world in general show dogs need to be confident look at me type dogs. He was also great in the car and walked beautifully on the lead (obviously) although initially he was reluctant to pee on the lead I’m assuming this is because he was discouraged from doing this in the show ring.
i don’t think he’d ever walked in field on beaches or through woodland the owner had an enormous garden and initially he was a bit “what the hell” he couldn’t work out what a farm gate was or how it worked! But within a fortnight he was galloping around on the beach with my other dog rolling in cow shit and leaping over logs and happily going through gates he’s never looked back.

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