This is the puppy training podcast, episode 170, debunking the myth, puppies and early socialization.

This podcast is designed to help you on your journey of becoming best friends through love and learning as you train your own dog from home.

And I'm here to help you every step of the way. This is the

puppy training podcast and I'm your host, Amy Jensen. Hi everybody. Welcome to this episode of fact or

myth, where we will explore a common puppy belief that I hear a lot, and we're going to set the record straight.

Today, we're tackling the notion that puppies should avoid playing with other dogs before

they are fully vaccinated. I get asked this a fair amount here at Baxter and Bella, so let's talk

about it. What do you guys think? Here's a spoiler alert. It's actually a myth. We're about to

bring home our Bella from Delano Doodles in Florida.

Erin Bach is our breeder that we are working with and she had some expert insight into this topic.

And I thought I would share for those of you who are also about ready to bring home a new dog.

Or maybe yours is already home. There's no time to waste when it comes to socialization.

We do want to give our puppies a few

days to do nothing other than settle and relax in our home and start to trust us. But then we need to

start introducing novel experiences for them in positive ways. What of other dogs? What's the fact

behind this myth? Contrary to popular belief, puppies benefit greatly from interacting

with older, healthy, vaccinated dogs. Here's why. First, behavioral development. Just like humans,

puppies go through critical periods of development. During their early weeks and months, they are

highly impressionable, exposing them to a variety of things,

experiences, including interactions with other dogs can help shape their behavior and responses

to different stimuli in their environments. Number two is communication skills. Dogs are social

creatures by nature. They love to be with their people and other dogs and interacting with

...