A Guide to Socializing Your Adventure-Ready Puppy

A Guide to Socializing Your Adventure-Ready Puppy

By: Shay Cline & Amber Quann

Positive exposure to things your puppy will experience for the rest of their life during the early stages of development can help ensure you have a happy and confident adventure buddy!

What is Puppy Socialization?

There are many definitions of socialization - almost as many as the opinions you will find on how it should be done! 

Laura VanArendonk Baugh describes the need for socialization in puppies this way: "If we want our dogs to be acceptable, happy, welcome, and safe in human society, we need to socialize them to human norms." And not just any human norms, but your daily norms. Prioritize what your puppy will need to be comfortable with as a partner in your life. At its core, socializing is preparing your puppy to accept and navigate the situations they will likely encounter during their adventures with you.

Socialization isn't about simply exposing our puppies to something until they accept it. It is about teaching our puppies how to cope with the world around them and how to deal with future adventures.

Safety in Socialization

When planning to socialize your puppy, safety should be a top priority. The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior recommends starting safe socialization efforts before your puppy is fully vaccinated. (Read the full position statement here.)

• Choose your environments carefully - you can start your socialization in low-traffic areas frequented by known vaccinated dogs (i.e. neighbor’s backyard), and move to higher-traffic areas as your puppy completes their vaccinations. Areas that are familiar to you will also give you more confidence when handling various situations that you and your pup may encounter- this will help them view you as safe and reliable. 

• Think “Observe & Learns” - Taking your puppy on a ride in the car and letting them watch out the window at a shopping mall parking lot is a great socialization experience with minimal risks. Bring a chewy along to help them process all of the new information in a safe, appropriate way.

What Does a Good Socialization Experience Look Like?

Everything should be the puppy’s choice! We should never force a puppy to interact with anyone or anything that they are not choosing to interact with if it isn’t completely necessary. You can always make a mental note of the things that are scary for your puppy and try reintroducing them in a way that feels more comfortable for them later on.

• New things = puppy gets lots of things they enjoy. This could be yummy treats, a favorite toy, attention from you, the opportunity to sniff something new, etc.  This helps puppies maintain optimism about novel things later in life. 

• More than just meeting dogs & people - Realistically, we don’t interact with every person and dog we pass. Focusing on neutrality around most people can also help you reserve interactions for people who are safe, coachable, and open to helping you with your puppy’s training! A good socialization list also includes exposure to different sights, sounds, and smells, so keep these things in mind when setting up new experiences for your puppy. 

• Quality over Quantity - Keep socialization experiences short and sweet!  A good socialization experience leaves your puppy wanting more, rather than being overwhelmed. 5-10 minutes may be all your puppy can handle confidently in a new situation at first. 

• Recover with rest time in between - Nap time is important recovery time between new experiences. A well-rested puppy will be more ready to enjoy the next socialization experience!

Signs That Your Puppy is Comfortable

Body Language - Learning a bit about how dogs communicate using their body language is an essential part of supporting our puppies.  Once you understand the basics of how your puppy communicates, be on the lookout for these behaviors as you are watching your puppy during their socialization experiences.

• Eating Food - Can your puppy eat food during the socialization experience?  If they normally eat food willingly, and they become unable to eat food, this is a good indication that they might be overwhelmed or nearing their comfort threshold.

• Playing with Favorite Toys - Can your puppy play with their favorite toy?  

• Exploring and Engaging with the Environment - Can they sniff and explore the new environment with relaxed body language?  Or are they sticking close to you or looking for a place to hide? 

Let Us Help Socialize Your Adventure Buddy!

Our Adventure Camp for Puppies is designed with all these principles—and more—in mind to help your puppy become an adventure-ready, well-socialized companion.

Each day of our camp includes:

• Social Skills Development: We aim to create a safe learning environment for your puppy to develop social skills in a small group setting of appropriate people and dogs, and learn how to be calm and neutral around strangers.

• Exposure to New Experiences: We introduce new sights, surfaces, sounds, and experiences to puppies in age-appropriate ways, with an emphasis on building confidence, optimism, and trust.

• Naps & Downtime: Every day includes quiet time in individual pens where puppies can chew, rest, and decompress. We also use this time to focus on building settle, confinement, and separation skills.

• Life Skills Training: We start introducing your puppy to a wide range of concepts and skills they will need to be successful in Fort Collins and beyond. This includes leash walking skills, coming when called, relaxing on a mat, greeting politely, and more! You will get a daily progress report that comes with focus points unique to your puppy, as well as private sessions with a trainer to build your skills as a team. 

Are you ready to start your puppy’s socialization journey and create a confident, adventure-ready companion? Our Adventure Camp for Puppies is here to help! Schedule a Discovery Call with the Adventure Camp team today!

See what a day of Adventure Puppy Camp looks like!

Spooky Season Survival Tips: Keeping Your Dog Safe and Comfortable This Halloween

Spooky Season Survival Tips: Keeping Your Dog Safe and Comfortable This Halloween

By: Taylor Heid

As Halloween approaches, many of us are eager to get into the spooky spirit with decorations, costumes, and trick-or-treaters. While this holiday can be a lot of fun for families, it’s important to remember that it can also be overwhelming or even scary for our furry companions. With a little preparation and understanding, you can ensure that Halloween is enjoyable for your dog too. Here are some expert tips to help you and your dog navigate the season. 

1. Handle Halloween Decorations with Care

It’s tempting to decorate your home with spooky figures and elaborate setups, but not all dogs will feel comfortable with these changes.

• Don’t ever force your dog to interact with scary decorations. Allow them to explore at their own pace, but respect their boundaries if they show signs of fear.

• Encourage curiosity, but never push. If your dog wants to sniff or investigate, that's great! Just avoid putting pressure on them if they seem frightened.

• Use positive body language and tone to reassure them that these decorations are no big deal. Dogs look to us for cues, so staying calm and upbeat can help them relax.

2. Plan Ahead for Halloween Night

Halloween night can be particularly stressful for dogs with the constant doorbell ringing, visitors in costumes, and outdoor noises.

• Take your dog for a long walk earlier in the day to meet their exercise needs before the evening excitement starts.

• Make sure your dog sees you put on your costume. This can help them understand it’s still you beneath the spooky outfit.

• Confine your dog in a crate or another room while trick-or-treaters are around. This will provide them with a sense of security and prevent any escape attempts if the door is frequently opened.

3. Create a Comfortable Environment

You can create a calm, comforting space for your dog as the evening unfolds.

• Play calming sounds using a sound machine or calming music to drown out external noises like the doorbell or kids shouting "trick or treat!"

• Provide your dog with a high-value chew or toy to keep them busy and distracted while festivities are in full swing.

With these tips in mind, Halloween can be a fun and stress-free experience for both you and your dog. Remember to be patient and understanding if your dog feels unsure about all the spooky changes. A little preparation goes a long way toward making the season enjoyable for everyone!

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👻 If you want to practice your dog’s confidence while in the presence of Halloween decorations, check out our Halloween-themed Beyond Play service this weekend! 

Beyond Play is a fun and safe socialization for small and medium-sized dogs! Beyond Play is a drop-in class perfect for pups who need some extra socialization & for pet parents who are searching for an opportunity to get their dog out of the house! PLEASE NOTE: This is not a training class, but rather a supplemental support option for dogs who are looking for safe and fun socialization opportunities with other dogs.

Beyond Play is offered in two groups:

🎃 October 19th @ 11:00am for small-sized dogs (25lbs and under)

🎃 October 26th @ 11:00am for medium-sized dogs (25-50lbs)

Prerequisites: Attended at least one week of another group class (including Puppy PlaySchool) with us! 

You can find more information and register on our website ➡️ www.summitdogtraining.com/play-groups

Can I Train My Dog? Expert Answers for New Pet Parents

Can I Train My Dog? Expert Answers for New Pet Parents

By: Taylor Heid

Google Search bar image with commonly asked questions about training a dog listed below. 

Whether you are bringing home a new pup or looking to train a current pet, these are some of the most frequently asked questions that might be running through your mind (and Google’s search bar!). While you may find some answers you are looking for on the internet, they may not always be the most accurate. There is no perfect answer AI can generate in 30 seconds for you, and the experts’ answer might not be the one you are expecting… 

Let’s take a look at the most general question: “Can I train my dog?” You might have different variations of this question such as “How hard is it to train a dog?” or “How long will it take to train my dog?” and so on.

Well, it depends! Each training plan, session, and progress is going to depend on the dog themselves. Factors like the dog’s personality, their genetic breed, and their environment are all going to play a part in what their training looks like. 

Your silly and goofy teenage dog might be eager to learn, happy to eat treats, and could thrive with a more structured training plan. Whereas a shy or nervous pup might need some time to open up and gain confidence to start building a stronger bond with their human first. 

A border collie who was bred for herding and lives on the farm is going to need a significantly different training approach than your family’s toy poodle lap dog. Each of their humans are also going to have different goals for these pups. 

Some dogs might do great in a group class and enjoy the socialization aspect of it, while others might need to utilize private lessons for more one-on-one time with less stimulation and distractions. 

Not all humans learn the same and neither do dogs! While this isn’t the quickest and easiest answer to grasp, once you take the time to understand your dog’s needs I promise you will have more success in the long run. 

All this to say - there is no one size fits all answer when it comes to training your dog. That’s why turning to the experts is a no brainer. At Summit® Dog Training, we always take a customized approach when creating our training programs. While the group class curriculum might be decided ahead of time, our trainers are always modifying the material and methods to best suit the needs of students in the class. In our private lessons program, we consider each owner’s input and goals, and our trainers bring their expertise in dog knowledge to find the best route to achieve the desired results. 

It might not be the most satisfying answer, but when asking the right questions to get started on your dog training journey, it truly does depend! 

Summit® Dog Training offers group dog training classes & private lessons in Fort Collins, Colorado, as well as online self-study courses & online private lessons for education on how to live the best life with your dog! If you are looking for more training support, please don’t hesitate to contact us! We’d love to help you and your dog get ready for any adventure.

Dream Walks With Your Puppy

Dream Walks With Your Puppy!

By Shay Cline

Oftentimes when we bring home a new puppy we have a lot of dreams about taking them for long strolls on our favorite trails or around the neighborhood. Some folks may already have a great walking routine down with adult dogs in the family and are eager for the new addition to dive right in. This may not always go as smoothly as we hope for a few reasons. Puppies run out of gas quickly and still have a lot of development to do physically and mentally. This often leads to one of several common behavior struggles on a walk. 

• Puppy stops walking and refuses to move

• Puppy begins frantically biting their leash, your legs, ect.

• Zoomies!

• Inability to pass distractions calmly and/or confidently

It is important for puppies of all sizes to learn good leash skills! This includes the basic concept of how to follow along with a human while on leash. We also want to start teaching your puppy that the leash is associated with lots of fun adventures and shouldn’t be scary or frustrating. Learning these vital leash skills often looks very different from just going for a walk, like we may do with an older dog. 

Here is a guide of how to keep expectations accurate based on your puppy’s age:

8-16 Weeks:

• Keep sustained leash walking practice to very short busts. Puppies in this age range should have lots of opportunities to just explore the environment at their own pace. You’re there with your handy leash to keep them safe and out of trouble. Think of it more as a safety net than a steering wheel!

• Stop if your puppy stops, and try to end sessions before or as soon as you notice any signs of fatigue.

• Roughly 10 minutes of exploring at puppies pace in addition to maybe 2-3 minutes of any formal training.

4-6 Months:

• We can begin to gradually increase the duration of adventures as the puppy’s stamina increases, but sustained walking (especially on sidewalks or other hard surfaces) should still be kept to short sessions.

6-12 Months: 

• Puppies begin to enter adolescence. With this comes a big increase in stamina, but it is also common for puppies in this age range to struggle a lot with self control and focus. Your puppy may become more sensitive to exciting distractions such as wildlife, people, or other dogs. 

• Emotional shifts are big and can happen quickly! Adolescent dogs are sensitive and can quickly become overstimulated or stressed, leading to pulling, lunging, excessive hunting behaviors, and more!

• Place a big emphasis at this phase on sniffing, enrichment, and low-arousal play for exercise. Adjust training sessions as needed to keep them fun and successful. 

Starting a puppy leash walking routine is crucial for setting them up to be successful for those strolls in the neighborhood or hiking on your favorite trails that you dream of long-term. If you need some guidance or help along the way, don’t hesitate to reach out to Summit or sign up for our puppy and adolescent classes to create solid foundational skills on the leash!

Owner walks a black puppy on a leash in Old Town Fort Collins

Summit Has a New Home!

Summit Has a New Home!

By Taylor Heid

Have you heard the news? Summit Dog Training has a new home! We are ready to grow and continue to serve our community even better. 

We have been a bit sentimental looking back at where we’ve been and where we’re going. Take a look with us!

Summit Dog Training’s history timeline from 2015 to 2024.

Summit’s new facility is located at 2906 E. Mulberry Street, Fort Collins, CO 80254

You can find more information and directions on our website to our new Adventure Base Camp!

Thank you to those who have followed us every step of the way. Whether you have been here since the beginning or are new to our community, we couldn’t have done this without your support!

Cheers to a new adventure!

Puzzle Me, Please! - Part 4

Puzzle Me, Please! - Part 4

By Taylor Heid

We get asked all the time what toys we would recommend to keep dogs busy at home! Our last blog post about different enrichment toys for pups was back in 2019 on DIY projects at home. Previously, we also posted Part 1 and Part 2 blogs on our store-bought suggestions. However, store-bought enrichment toys have taken off in the last 5 years with more creativity and a focus on dog behavior. Did you know sniffing and licking is a calming behavior for our dogs? So not only can we keep them busy, but now we can help them in facilitating self-regulation through encouraging these natural behaviors. 

There are so many options that it can be overwhelming to know how to choose which type of toy will be best for your dog! We recommend first looking at what your dog seems to enjoy, both with their current toys and in their natural self-soothing behaviors.  If your dog had their choice of activities, do you think they would most like licking, working at an interesting food puzzle, sniffing, or chewing? 

For example, I observed that my dog, Riley, had been licking frequently in the evenings. She was displacing this need onto inappropriate items (her fur/paws or furniture!). Once I realized licking can be a self-soothing behavior I jumped on the internet to find some licking toys to help transfer this behavior to more appropriate items that would serve the self-soothing purpose even better!

It can take a little trial and error to discover what toys serve your dog’s needs best and which they enjoy the most. Don’t get discouraged! The most important thing to consider is what gives your dog the most benefit on top of some fun.

Here is our updated list of enrichment toys that get the thumbs up:

These are affiliate links. Summit does receive a small “kickback” if you purchase via the links below, at no additional cost to you.

Lickables

Licking is a natural calming behavior. Toys that encourage licking can be great to cure boredom and simultaneously help your dog regulate their many emotions! Here are two different toys that promote calming licking behaviors.

LickiMats - There are so many to choose from! They can serve many different purposes, such as adding a suction cup for baths. Collect them all! Here are one and two examples.

Pupsicles -  These can be more of an upfront investment, but I think worth it for the long run. I am enjoying how easy it is to make the pupsicle treats at home. You can buy pre-made ones for ease, but you can also create your own with the treat tray to accommodate allergies and make low calorie treats for everyday use. Here is the most popular pupsicle on the market by Woof. 

Feeders

New designs of feeder bowls are coming out constantly. I think it is fun to have different designs so when your dog has mastered one, you can switch it up to keep them stimulated. Here is one from Outward Hound I am excited about. It is definitely on my wish list for Riley, as she could use a new challenge. 

We have always been a big fan of SodaPup’s durable treat dispensing toys (we even keep them in stock in our training room)! Recently, SodaPup has come out with a whole new collection of feeder bowls. They have created many new intricate designs, but the cool thing is these bowls can also be used for other activities, similar to the lick mats. Make sure to check out their instagram for so many ideas! And a bonus: they are from Boulder, Colorado! Here are some of my favorite new designs: Honeycomb & Great Outdoors 

Tip: If you aren’t sure what to fill your food-based enrichment toys with, there are many store bought options. Check out your local pet store for squeeze pouches or other pre-made dog treats made specifically for filling enrichment toys. You can also look for dog-friendly recipes online, or keep it simple with just some kibble in a layer of water and freeze it! Freezing all your treats is a great way to up the difficulty of a toy and make it last longer!

Sniffing Toys:

You may remember when snuffle mats started taking off around the pandemic. These were crafty DIY options for stuck at home play. If you aren’t familiar, a snuffle mat is anything that encourages sniffing behaviors (another naturally calming behavior). At first, this was commonly done through fabric in fun designs to hide the treats in. They were such a big hit that they have become more commonly manufactured. Here are a few examples of how snuffle mats are being taken to the next level: Themed Mat & Roll-Up Snuffle

Chewing toys:

Lastly, we have the classic chewing toys. Benebone has taken the lead for me when it comes to chewing toy brands. Just when you thought there couldn’t be any more designs, they consistently come out with new shapes and flavors to keep it interesting for dogs. I personally really appreciate that Benebone provides unique flavors, which helps my allergy dog who can’t have the typical dog flavors; like chicken, beef, and pork. Here is Riley’s current favorite from Benebone, but make sure to browse all their new bones: Fishbone

It is important to evaluate the difficulty of toys your dog needs. Some toys come with varying difficulty levels, like puzzles. Start with level 1 and work your way up to prevent frustration. Even if your dog masters level 1 immediately, it will still give them the confidence to keep at it when the difficulty is raised. Always observe your dog with a new toy to ensure they are playing with it appropriately and safely. 

The point of all these toys is to enrich your dog in different ways (encourage being calm or using brain power as a form of exercise), and it is a bonus that your dog stays occupied and distracted. We also recommend sitting with your dog while they are playing and having fun for a great bonding opportunity too! 

Did we miss any of your favorites on the list? Tell us in the comments! 

Happy puzzling!