Puppy/Training Parties

[Tanya]

Has anyone ever done one?

It's a great idea my friend borrowed from Ian Dunbar. She had a foster that needed work with meeting peopel so she had a BBQ and invited friends over with info on what to do. She's a trainer so it was pretty sweet given many trainer friends came out - a room full of trainers! Turns out the foster was adopted but we had fun at the BBQ anyway haha.

Great way to have friends over too.

I should do one for Penny and her jumping. I joked we'll need to do a weekly "beer and cookies" night to work on her haha.

The basis from Ian Dunbar is to have lots of people over to help train and socialise the puppy:

"As a rule of thumb, your puppy needs to meet at least a hundred people before he is three months old. Since your puppy is still too young to venture out on the streets, you'll need to start inviting people to your home right away. Basically, you'll need to have lots of puppy parties and invite friends over to handfeed your pup and train him for you." Welcome to Manners for Mutts...

[Labradorks]

I'm fairly social so I found that my regular life was enough. Linus loved being carried and was very quiet as a puppy, so I took him out in my arms to all kinds of places and let people handle him. He was in class by 10 weeks, twice a week, and was exposed to other dogs, puppies, kids, men, women, etc. Also, everyone loves a puppy, so he was able to go into places where an adult would not be welcome, including a couple bars/restaurants and my office (gotta take advantage of the cuteness window!). I have friends living in a variety of environments, so he went to homes with yards, rural homes, and even a few buildings with elevators.

Some of the breeders in my club have puppy parties when the puppies are around six weeks. They have a handful of families over, break out the wine and cheese, and we handle all the pups. Heaven!

It's not a bad idea to have a BBQ, wine and cheese, potluck, card game night, etc. when you have a puppy. Good excuse to hang out with friends, eat, drink, and talk dogs.

[Jeff]

Hemi's first weekend home, just him and I to get used to home. Second weekend family BBQ party with all the dogs in the family to meet the new pup. Hemi at 9 and a half weeks walked right up to his Uncle uncle mac and bit his tail. He was quite the handful as a pup.

Hemi and I went out and about constantly everywhere together so he got a lot of socialization. I think I may have mentioned before out vet had semi weekly play dates for healthy puppies 10 week to 4 months. They treated and sanitized area with a 3 trainers and their kids and things. To really socialize them and get them used to kids and playhouses and all kinds of things like tunnels and just fun stuff. It was great for me too 1 hour of that he needed a long nap. Which is great for a puppy. I am a huge fan of socializing them as much as possible.

[zd262]

A puppy party is just what my pup needs! Also it sounds fun for the humans too

For those of us who are new to an area and don't have many friends around, do you have any advice for how to find puppy socials or things along those lines? We start puppy classes this weekend, but I'd love something more regular and informal.

When I lived in SF, there seemed to be a lot of listings for these events, but now that I am out of the city I'm not having as much luck.

[Labradorks]

A puppy party is just what my pup needs! Also it sounds fun for the humans too

For those of us who are new to an area and don't have many friends around, do you have any advice for how to find puppy socials or things along those lines? We start puppy classes this weekend, but I'd love something more regular and informal.

When I lived in SF, there seemed to be a lot of listings for these events, but now that I am out of the city I'm not having as much luck.

They often call them Puppy Romps. Some doggie daycares hold them during off hours (you need to be there with your puppy) for an hour in the evening or on weekends. Locally, our Humane Society also holds them in their training center on Friday nights. They are for puppies about 6 months and under and there are trainers there. They usually have a rambunctious area and a quiet area.

[CraftHer]

This sounds like a great idea.

[POPTOP]

Had not heard about these but they sound great.

[MightyThor]

They often call them Puppy Romps. Some doggie daycares hold them during off hours (you need to be there with your puppy) for an hour in the evening or on weekends. Locally, our Humane Society also holds them in their training center on Friday nights. They are for puppies about 6 months and under and there are trainers there. They usually have a rambunctious area and a quiet area.

The place where we took Thor for puppy kindergarten had these. They had one hour for the quiet pups and the next hour was for the crazy pups every Friday night. The first one we took Thor to, he hid under a chair. By the third week they made us come back for the crazy pup hour. It was fun to see him come out of his shell!

[Snowshoe]

Oban came Dec. 8 so we invited neighbours over in small batches for drinks and Christmas nibblies