Quote:
Originally Posted by Elifaelyn
He just wants to play with the other dogs he sees but gets scared and reactive when the other dog barks. I plan on taking him to the local pet smart classes in about a month so that he can be better socialized with dogs.
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Take him now. The window of opportunity is closing. A dog's socialization period is from 8 weeks to about 16 weeks. If he hasn't been properly socialized to people, dogs, things in his environment (cars, strollers, hats, canes, etc) then anything you do after 16 weeks is going to be playing catch up and you might never get him where he could have been if you started when you should have.
I had a 5.5 month old pup come to my puppy play and she was so scared of the other pups I told her owner that for her own pup's well-being I couldn't allow the pup in. I let her pup watch the other pups play and she got to interact through the barrier with one or two well-mannered pups. At 5.5 months old, this was that pup's first real chance to interact freely with a small group of pup's her own age since the owner got her at 8 weeks old. The owner casually said "She doesn't get out much, I work alot." I felt so bad for the pup because the owner didn't even know the damage she was doing by not socializing her pup with other dogs.