Nice to Meet You: How I Learn to Love People
Hello again! Guess what — I already know a few things about you, and now it’s time to introduce me to everybody else.
Meeting new people is one of the most important parts of my whole socialization journey, but here’s a secret most guardians don’t know: I don’t actually need to be touched, held, or petted by every person I meet. I just need to see them. Lots of them. All kinds of them.
Tall people, short people, people in hats, people with backpacks, people using wheelchairs or walkers, babies in strollers, toddlers who wobble just like I do, teenagers, grown-ups, grandparents. Men’s voices sound different from women’s. Someone in a big puffy coat looks like a completely different shape to me than someone in shorts and a t-shirt. If I only ever see one “type” of person during my first few months, everyone else might seem alarming later — and that’s not fair to me or to them.
The good news is this doesn’t require play dates with every stranger at the grocery store. It just requires exposure, at a comfortable distance, paired with something good.
This Week’s Try-It List
- Take me somewhere with foot traffic — a pet-friendly store, a parking lot, a porch — and let me watch the world go by from a safe distance while you feed me treats.
- Ask friends and family to approach calmly, speak softly, and skip the sudden hugs and hovering hands. No sudden movements, no loud “who’s a good boy!” right in my face.
- It’s okay — great, even — to say no to strangers who want to pet me. “We’re working on his socialization, so we’re keeping greetings calm today” is a completely acceptable sentence, and nobody’s feelings will be hurt.
- If I back away, freeze, or hide behind your legs, that’s not naughty — that’s me telling you I need more space and a slower pace. Please listen to me.
The goal isn’t a puppy who greets every stranger with wild enthusiasm — it’s a dog who can walk past a stranger on the sidewalk someday and think, “Huh, a person. No big deal.” That calm confidence starts with what I see this week. See you next week for some other exciting socialization adventure!
Sniffily yours, your puppy
Sources & Further Reading
- “The Importance of Socialization” — Association of Professional Dog Trainers — https://apdt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/APDT_TYDMSocialization_Member.pdf
- “What Is Puppy Socialization?” — The Puppy Socialization Project — https://puppysocialization.com/what-is-puppy-socialization/
- “Socialization in Puppies” — peer-reviewed research review, Animals (2022) — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9655304/
