The Zim Family Cocker Spaniel Forum

Hi , Is it okay to bring young pups into stores with me to socialize them if I do not put them on the floors at all , just carry them (one at a time of course). Say as young as 9 or 10 weeks ? And of course keep them away from other dogs.

If it were me I would not take them into public places because of air born diseases. I would worry about Parvo among other things until my pups were fully vaccinated.

NO

I would err on the side of caution and say no, not until fully vacinated. I know that there are two schools of thought on this as most trainers say the benifits of early socialization outweighs the risk, I however am not a risk taker when it comes to my kids health : )). I did however socialize my girls to people at our home and to lots of different noises (vacume, blender, mixer, etc) For instance the vacume was a very scary thing at first, so our vacume sat in our den for a week or so and I would put treat on it, or make a path leading up to it a couple times a day, within a day or two the girls were checking it out and climbing all over it, then I turned it on and just let it run for a few minutes, same thing treats, today we have no fear of the vacume cleaner and they often check around it for treats, sometimes they find them to. Anyway there are alot of things you can get them used to right in the home and friends who come to visit, I am sure your kids will have friends over also so there is another opportunity for socialization.

I would take mine for rides in the car to get used to it too but not taking them out of the car. Someone would also stay with them while I ran into the store, etc.