One important aspect of responsible dog ownership is ensuring your dog is comfortable and well-behaved around others. Socializing your puppy is crucial and should begin early on, as it sets your dog up to feel confident and happy throughout her life.

The American Kennel Club offers the following tips for owners when socializing their puppies.

Begin slowly. Be sure to start the socialization process off slowly; expose your puppy to different people, places and things every day. Don’t go right to the dog park if your pup hasn’t interacted with other dogs before. It can be overwhelming.

The nose knows. It’s natural, when your dog first comes home, for her to start sniffing around to get to know people and things in the home. Let her sniff around to get acquainted with her new surroundings

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