Can I ask a daft question about socialising a puppy?

[VanGoSunflowers]

Getting an 8 week old Labrador puppy in a couple of weeks time.
I am taking some time off work to help him settle in. Obviously, he won’t be fully vaccinated by then but I read this is an important point for socialising so I was planning to get him out and about and used to the car once he seems settled with me.
I read that they cannot be put down on the ground in a public place until fully vaccinated and to carry them if you want to get them out and about… but then read that they need to wee so often… how do you do that and not get weed on?
This is probably such a daft question but I really want to do as much right as I can and trying to figure out the logistics of it all - socialising, toilet training, settling in and still allowing them to sleep for so many hours a day is throwing me a bit!

I have seen litters of puppies taken out in pushchairs and in crates on carts by their breeders, to cover that first socialisation window.
I think they just put down puppy pads or newspapers and carried spares and wipes.

Just wait til they are vaccinated! I’ve never had an issue socialising my dogs after 12 weeks old.

Ordinarily I would do this but as the only adult in the house, he is going to need to come with me everywhere I go for a while. So for example, the school run. I was planning on using that as a way to get him used to the car, socialising etc. but then I suppose that only takes half an hour and if he goes to the toilet before hand it should be fine.
I know I will get weed on at many points probably so I’m not overly precious about that - more that I don’t want to muck up one skill by focussing too much on another

I never thought too much about it to be honest. Never got weed on. I carried supplies to clean up in case of accidents but we didn't have any. We had trips to the train station to watch people from the boot of the car, pet shops and garden centres in a trolley with a bit of vet bed, we went to the high street and sat on a bench etc.

If you're really onto it, especially at this time of year, you can toilet train a Labrador pretty quickly.

If they’ve just had a wee before you go (I’d recommend using a key word from the get go so that you can get them to go more or less on command) they should be fine for half an hour.
I would be careful not to completely overwhelm the puppy. I’ve gone out with them in a crate in the boot and just parked up somewhere for ten mins with the boot open (next to a park or in tesco car park) and just stood with them in my arms at the end of the street to get used to the traffic.

They won’t pee on you! They won’t want to get pee on themselves so if you’re carrying them, you’re safe

Thank you for this. I need to strike a balance don’t I? Don’t overwhelm him but do enough of it.

Im thinking of not starting for a few days at least? Maybe longer? Just to give him time to settle in his new home

Never been weed on!

Dont take the puppy out for hours they are just babies so need loads of sleep.

Short sessions of socialisation are all that is needed.

Socialising them isn't about meeting dogs and people - it's actually about them encountering new places, routines, surfaces, smells, experiences and so on so it'll be fine from that perspective.

They do like a good regular routine though, so personally I'd avoid all puppy pads as they teach bad habits you'll have to break in a few weeks. Just stick to getting them outside a lot and lots of praise for toileting in the right places.

And yes, you might get peed on once or twice.... Keep a towel and a change of clothes on your car maybe. Hopefully you'll never need it but better to be prepared!

I carried my puppy in a sling and was never weed on. She used to be in it for an hour or so, as she came on walks with my older dog. When she was vaccinated, she was still carried for part of the walk and on the ground or some of it.
I don't know what your school run is like, but be aware that some puppies can find this totally overwhelming - too many people, too much noise, squealing kids etc.

Are you planning on him always coming on the school run with you? I wouldn’t take him if it’s only 30 minutes and you’re not planning on him being with you when he’s fully grown. He might enjoy a bit of a sleep after playing with the children before school.

Don't forget part of his socialisation is also about building up periods of being left too

When you get really into socialisation please remember it's not so much socialisation but more ACCLIMATISATION

Thank you for the advice. I won’t always take him, no. But I wasn’t sure if it would be ok to leave him home alone for 30 mins before he has settled in?
Happy to do whichever is better for the pup

I’d set up a camera. They won’t “cry it out”. If he’s going way above threshold, don’t leave him. You’ll just be making a rod for your own back.

100% agree with this.

Something else you can do is visit friends with the puppy who either don't have dogs or who have vaccinated dogs - and if the vaccinated dogs are good with puppies, he can say hi to them.

If you live rurally or are likely to encounter livestock, seeing some large animals won't hurt - see if you can park for ten or fifteen minutes at a riding stables, for example.

@VanGoSunflowers i make this point a lot. But I will make it again as I am so sick of people advocating leaving puppies alone for a long time (because 30 mins is a long time for puppies): do not do it.

Even if your puppy is fine being left alone (high chance they won’t be), chances are that they will still injure themselves in a crate. I know someone who turned their back on a puppy for literally two mins and it had wrapped its jaws around the bars in the crate and dislocated it. I know someone else whose puppy broke a leg trying to escape a play pen.

When puppies get scared, they don’t just cry - they panic. And even if they don’t panic or cry, they can still get up to mischief. If you can take the puppy with you, do.

It’s good for them to see the world and get stimulation. One of the fast, most effective, ways of tiring out a puppy is to use its brain; that’s training, letting it see the world and ‘acclimatisation’ (rather than socialisation, as a PP said). Even if nothing happens to your puppy when you leave it, when you come home having left it by itself for 30 mins…do you really think it’ll be calm and chilled? No. It’ll be an absolute nightmare

Getting them used to cars, busyness, quiet places etc is all good. Ours was a lockdown puppy so was a bit harder. Also, ours didn’t see a wheelchair till she was fairly old, I’d recommend doing that sooner rather than later, she growls at them embarrassingly now….

You've got good advice on socialisation but regarding leaving puppy on their own: simply put, you shouldn't.
Training a puppy to be happily left is a process + takes time and patience. A puppy under 16 weeks should never be left otherwise you massively increase the risk of creating separation anxiety etc. Even after 16 weeks you need to have trained the puppy to be happy and settled when you leave and it should only be for very short periods ie up to 30 mins.

Thank you. I had planned on introducing him to my friends beautiful and gentle greyhound but she isn’t vaccinated regularly so won’t be able to do that until he has been done.

Thank you so much for the advice from all about not leaving the puppy alone at all until he’s trained to be ok with it. My initial gut feel was that I shouldn’t leave him alone and he will need to come to places with me. Luckily, I have had a lot of offers for puppy sitting too from friends so I know I can make that work if I need to.

I also appreciate the advice on being there the whole time to comfort him while he is still little. It sounds strange but I’m kind of relieved that’s the way to go about it - I know it will be intense for a while but it’s in your nature to want to comfort a small and scared animal isn’t it?
You see so much conflicting information online about how you should ignore a crying puppy and only go to them when they’re settled but it seems that’s not the right advice.

I was planning on sleeping on the sofa with him in his crate next to me until he settles down.

Sounds like you have the right idea. They do get used to being alone…but do it very gradually. Also, crating isn’t compulsory, we didn’t crate ours.

We have a 12 week old pup. We didn’t take him out until this week which was 2 weeks after his 2nd set of vaccinations. He’d been in the car to get those, and that’s it. We have a 1 year old dog, so they just play all day. But we didn’t take the older dog out until he was 12 weeks either.

I have to say, he’s been a particularly easy puppy. He’s completely toilet trained and when the older dog is out on walks, he’s just happily stayed downstairs alone. He never cries. We’ve not used a crate with either dog. We’re now taking him out and about. He’s been to the pub and Pets at Home 😊

No, don't leave him home alone before he is settled and used to being left. You'll need to build up to 30 minutes gradually.
Mine was just a word of warning. People often stand with puppies at the school gates, because it's 'a great way to socialise them'. But the puppies are trembling and completely overwhelmed. Hopefully your puppy will be fine.

Ok so let him bond with me and settle down first by reassuring him and comforting him when he needs it and then train him to be ok alone but do it gradually over a long period of time?

It’s a good point, I have seen and visited the puppy already and he was the most chilled out of the litter. But if I try and do the school run with him and he is trembling and overwhelmed I will need to think of an alternative. Maybe bring him in the car, pull up and let DS walk in to the gates while I stay in the car. I’m sure I can think of workarounds for most things