Martensville Veterinary Hospital
Puppy Socialization Club
Puppy Club is Back!!!
Puppy Socialization Club is held here at Martensville Veterinary Hospital every Wednesday night from 6:00pm – 7:00pm (excluding holidays).
Each class is led by two of our Registered Veterinary Technologists and/or Veterinary Office Assistants.
Puppies of all shapes and sizes are welcome as long as they are between 10 and 24 weeks of age. At 24 weeks, our puppies graduate from our Puppy Club, but we do recommend continuing their socialization/education by finding an obedience class appropriate for you and your puppy. Before a puppy can attend Puppy Socialization Club, they require a physical exam and vaccine review from one of our veterinarians. This needs to be done at least 2 weeks prior to attending and must be done at Martensville Veterinary Hospital. We do this to help ensure that all puppies attending are healthy and have been properly vaccinated to help keep everyone safe! For all puppies on a Head Start Puppy Plan, these socialization classes are included. If your puppy is not on a plan there will be a small fee for each class. We ask that you bring your puppy with a quick release style buckle collar and on a leash – no pinch or choke collars please.
Puppy Socialization Club is not an obedience class; it was created to give you and your puppy a safe environment to socialize in. We will however, work on some basic recall, restraint and settle down behaviour during the class. This will help your puppy learn to be calm and relaxed while in a stimulating environment. A puppy’s best socialization window is from about 8 weeks to 16 weeks. This means that during these ages, they are more open to new ideas/situations. It is at this time of their life that most puppies either develop into well socialized dogs, or they develop fears and anxieties. A well socialized puppy is more likely to grow into a well socialized, confident adult with the proper coping skills needed to face new situations. Our main goal with Puppy Socialization Club is to create happy, confident adult dogs that will be calmer, more adaptable and more easily trained.
Puppies of all different breeds are all in one class together. It is important that your puppy becomes comfortable with dogs of all shapes and sizes and that they learn appropriate greeting and play behaviour with many different personalities. Not every dog plays the same or enjoys the same type of play, therefore, we need to help our puppies learn proper puppy manners. Even if you have another dog at home, or a playmate that your puppy sees quite often, it is a good idea to get them out and about with many different, unknown dogs. Would you keep your kids at home and away from other kids because they have a sibling to play with? This is how we need to view our puppies as well. They need to learn how to meet new people and dogs and how to do this in strange or stimulating environments. For this reason, we encourage children and other family members to come along. It is a great learning experience for all family members and it is helpful to those puppies that do not have any children at home to socialize with.
How it works
Puppy Socialization Club follows the same basic routine every week. The class starts at 6:00pm with a short chat on whichever topic we are covering that week. The talk takes anywhere from 5-15 minutes. During this time we practice our “settle downs” with our puppies. We then have some time for questions and discussion. The rest of the hour is used for playtime. This is supervised by two staff members to ensure that all interactions are appropriate. During playtime, the staff is still available to answer any questions or help with any issues your puppy may be having. Throughout the class we will work on recall and settle downs to allow for bathroom breaks. Class wraps up at 7:00pm and we are told that the puppies are often sound asleep before they even get home!
Puppy Club Guidelines - What is a Settle Down?
Settle down is a tool we use at Puppy Club to help keep control of the puppies. To do a settle down, we place the puppy into a laying position, either in a normal chest down position or on their side. We then hold them in this position, even if they are fighting to get up. This is where we often go wrong as our adorable little puppies begin to squirm and whine and give us the cutest puppy eyes you have ever seen! Do not let them up. This position, if done properly, will not injure your puppy. Most puppies are just not used to being restrained. If we let them up or let them “win”, they learn to fight things they do not like. If we hold our ground, they will learn that we are in charge and that when we want them to “settle down” they need to listen. This position serves many purposes, but the main point of it at Puppy Club is so we can keep a calm and quiet environment while giving the talk. This tool is also useful at home when your puppy is getting over excited/out of control, in public when you are greeting people or puppies, when you need to examine your puppy, and when they visit the vet or groomer.
Puppy Club Guidelines:
Leave the puppies on the floor during playtime. This hour is for our puppies to socialize together. They learn best from each other and we will allow them to do that to a certain degree. Also, picking up a puppy can accidentally reinforce a negative behaviour. If you are feeling your puppy needs to be picked up, speak to a leader for advice.
All people will remain standing during playtime. If needed, we can get a chair for you to sit in, but we do not want anyone on the floor at puppy level during playtime. Again, this hour is for the puppies to socialize, we want to try and stay out of it as much as possible.
If your puppy is shy and hiding behind you, just quietly walk away from them. We do not want to push any puppy out of their comfort zone too quickly. They will come out and explore/play at their own pace. Quietly walking away will, at the very least, force them to follow you, integrating them into the class. Your leaders will help you if this problem arises, as each puppy is unique in how they handle this situation.
We do not recommend bringing treats to Puppy Club. If you feel you need to have treats with you, please only feed them to your puppy, as many puppies have allergies and sensitivities to different foods. We also ask that you move away from the group to give the treats to avoid any scraps over food. We do not want to make the class about treats so we ask that you save this for the very end or for at home if possible.
During the talk, everyone is to keep their puppy in “settle down”. If you are having trouble, ask your leaders and they will help you! This is important so we can keep things calm and quiet enough for everyone to hear the talk.
If your puppy needs to go outside, please let a leader know. We will get all puppies into a settle down and then have a leader unlock the door. Please do not unlock the door on your own, we do not want anyone escaping!
Feel free to ask any questions you may have, that is why we are there. If the issue in question cannot be addressed at that time, we are more than happy to book a behaviour consult with one of our technicians!
Testimonials
Lauren H. (Saskatoon) – “Shawn and I have brought our Min Pin, Otis, to Martensville Veterinary Hospital because of a recommendation by a dog trainer and we could not have been more thrilled! We completed the puppy care plan and attended the socialization classes. At first we had a scared little puppy but after a few weeks of socializing with other puppies he is a friendly and well behaved dog! The staff is so knowledgeable and welcoming. I would recommend this vet hospital to anyone looking for a caring, clean and loving environment!”
