Hi all
I ordered Ian Dunbars book "Before and After Getting Your Puppy". I'm reading it now, and while there is some great information in it, I find some of it unrealistic and his tone is sometimes off putting- if you don't have 100 people come to your house to meet and play with your puppy before 3 months of age, it will seriously affect its socialization. Um, no it won't. I think much less than 100 people is fine, most people can't reach that criteria of 100 people, or puppy parties every week. I understand that he wants to get across to people that socialization of your pup is crucial, but this is unnecessary. I'm going to finish reading it, as parts of it are helpful. I'm also going to read Clarice Rutherford's book "Raising a Puppy You Can Live With", which is recommended by the breeder I'm getting the puppy from.
We learned our lesson with Sandstorm- we didn't socialize him enough, because we didn't know how crucial it was. We got him at 5 months old, and I worked hard with him as he was a reactive puppy. He's not ruined, he's a good dog. I've worked hard with him and he's gotten a lot better! The next puppy will be in puppy class right away, meeting people right away- of course while using common sense.
