Puppy Imprinting and Socialization: Should I Hire Someone, or Can I Do It Myself?
When my kids were babies, I loved walking them around our sleepy little town in upstate New York. Snuggled in a sling close to my heart, they heard traffic and train whistles, dogs barking, and birds singing and saw all manner of shapes, colors, and scenes. Almost from the day they were born, my babies experienced the clamor of everyday life, but by modeling calmness in myself, they learned an invaluable lesson: there is nothing to fear.
And so it goes with puppies. Just like babies, puppies will mirror those around them to learn how to react to unknown situations. However, this is what I want to stress in this blog: puppies have a limited window to condition themselves to the world around them. From about 5-12 weeks, puppies are naturally less inhibited and primed to learn how to categorize sights and sounds as threatening or insignificant. It is absolutely essential that you take advantage of this time in your puppy’s life. By intentionally modeling cool confidence for your puppy in a variety of situations, you’ll set them up for a happy and fear-free life.
Imprinting vs. Socialization
This window of time is so critical that scientists have given it a name that applies not just to dogs but to all animals and people: imprinting. Imprinting is an intense period of socialization and schedule patterning that occurs when an animal is very young and just learning how to organize themself in the world away from their parents and littermates. For puppies, this typically happens between 5-12 weeks when their brains are in the midst of rapid development. At no other time in a puppy’s life will they be as impressionable, as eager to learn your routines, or capable of processing many sights, sounds, and interactions.
Imprinting is an extremely specific stage in a puppy’s life and is, therefore, different from socialization, a broader term to describe the process of conditioning to the world. That said, both imprinting and socialization demand mindful time spent with your puppy indoors and out, pairing exposure with positive reinforcement.
Imprinting Programs
Because puppy imprinting is so important, try to adopt from a breeder or rescue who is knowledgeable about imprinting and honors this time in puppies’ lives. Find a nice way to ask:
Are the puppies kept with their mother?
Where do they live—indoors, outdoors, in a barn, a basement?
Are the puppies intentionally conditioned to sights and sounds?
What socialization (e.g., handling and interaction) do the puppies experience?
Do they offer an extended puppy imprinting program? What does that involve?
Ideally, the puppy you’re considering will have been with their mom and littermates through their eighth week and will have developed in a social atmosphere in which they’ve been handled often and exposed to a variety of sights, sounds, and stimulations. Many breeders understand the demands of young puppyhood and offer imprinting programs that place your puppy in a home for both house training and conditioning to everyday situations. When run mindfully, imprinting programs can be invaluable, especially if you’re a newbie to puppy parenting or insecure about those first few weeks.
To better understand what proactive breeders and rescues are doing, note how this program is being used with working dogs, including military and guiding-eye dogs.
If you have a puppy that wasn’t imprinted before you brought them home, you must immerse yourself in the process and/or hire someone who can do it with you. Remember, this short, 5-12-week window is so critical to the lifetime stability of your dog, and it is time that you will never get back.
Can I Do the Imprinting Myself?
Absolutely! While imprinting takes a lot of time, it is not hard to do. It doesn’t involve hours of training as much as exposing your new puppy to sights, sounds, and social interactions both at home and in the world beyond. All you need is some favorite treats and perhaps a sling or socialization tent. Got that? Now let’s take a look at the essential steps of imprinting:
Scheduling Rest Periods It’s essential to remember that puppies’ brains and bodies are developing at an intense rate during their first 12 weeks of life. As science stresses, puppies need 18-20 hours of deep sleep in order to develop normally. While it’s exciting to have a new puppy in your midst, forgoing important sleep routines bodes disaster. Like babies, puppies can get easily overtired and will tantrum if their sleep needs aren’t met. Think of your puppy as a toddler but with teeth! As tempting as it may be to keep your puppy with you on the couch all night, they need a consistent sleep schedule and early bedtime, lest they develop into a dog who is hyper-aroused by every sight, sound, and stimulation.
I sleep train puppies using a crate, small room, or gated area. For tips on how to do this, check out my Puppies 101 e-book.
Organizing Needs and a Potty Routine Puppies, like babies, have 5 basic needs: to eat, drink, sleep, potty, and play. Create a needs chart to set up and track their routines. Where house training is concerned, establishing potty habits should be the highlight of a puppy’s day. Puppies, like children, will need to potty when they wake up from naps, after eating or drinking, and after play or periods of intense focus (e.g., chewing on a bone or toy). Clear your schedule so that you’re able to direct your puppy to their papers or outside when they need to go.
One thing I use in my imprinting program is a pee pen which works for both indoor and outdoor training. To set this up, gate off an area where you’d like your puppy to potty as an adult. Choose a surface—either pads or lawn squares for indoors or mulch, pavement, or grass for outside. Take your puppy to this area each time you think they need to go and wait to give them attention or release them from the area until they’ve pottied. My imprint puppies learn early on to tend to their business before any freedom, food, or fun begins.
Mindful Exposure to Household Situations When puppies first enter a new situation, they will look for someone to model. They’ll quickly assess the reactions of everyone around and categorize them as either a playmate or a parent. Playmates will be like their littermates, constantly in motion and inciting playful interactions. Parents, meanwhile, are those who project calm direction and organization.
To help your pup see you as their parent, show them how to behave during everyday situations. Slowly expose them to vacuums, the loud foot stomps of children, the TV, the doorbell, etc., and model relaxed confidence in your reactions. Remember, though, it’s not just about exposing your puppy but exposing them to freedom, food, and fun. If these sessions are rife with chaotic activity, unpredictability, and lots of stress, a young puppy’s learning will be inconsistent, and they may grow cautious and wary rather than calm and collected.
Note that puppies do have a healthy startle response to strong or unfamiliar sights and sounds, so if your puppy startles while exposing them, don’t just stop. Too often, a parent’s instinct to coddle or immediately remove their puppy will communicate fear rather than confidence. The best reaction is to stand calm, reinforce positive associations with rewards, and increase the distance between your puppy and the stimulation until they grow more accustomed to it.
Daily Socialization Some worry about their puppy’s lack of immunization during the imprinting phase. Don’t let this fear stop you from getting out and exposing your puppy to life as you know it. Studies have shown that early exposure is critically important. In my imprinting program, I limit myself to working with one young puppy at a time and use workarounds like a puppy sling and tent to take them out safely. Read more about socialization and fun ways to use these tools in my Puppies 101 e-book.
Puppy Playtime—with Dogs of All Ages If you already have a dog, you might think, “Isn’t that enough?” No! It isn’t. Limiting your puppy interaction to only one, or a few of your own dogs does not correlate to meeting dogs in the real world. Find safe dogs of various ages to meet, and sign up for a puppy playgroup. If your puppy acts rough with older dogs who look unenthused, keep them on a light indoor or outdoor drag leash to enable you to guide your pup away gently.
What Comes Next?
After this 5-12 week imprinting period, puppies begin to explore the world on their own. At this time, they’ll develop stronger fear reactions that override their initial inhibitions. The first fear-impression period can occur at around 8-11 weeks, followed by a second fear-impression period around 6-14 months.
The good news, as a new study shows, is this: training and socializing your puppy with food and fun before this second fear-impression period will dramatically reduce their likelihood of developing aggressive, compulsive, and destructive behaviors as they mature. So, while imprinting reflects a critical time during early puppyhood, socialization continues to be important throughout your puppy’s first year.
Whether you handle puppy imprinting and socialization yourself or pay someone to do it for you, take advantage of this time in your puppy’s life. Click here to learn more about the imprinting program I offer, and follow me on all of my social media platforms for more tips and tricks on raising a happy, healthy, and confident dog.