By Chelsea Meyer
B103 Rockford
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BElVIDERE — Did you get a new puppy over the holidays? Taking your puppy to socialize will play an important part in ensuring you have a confident, well-adjusted and happy dog.

The first three months of your puppy’s life are key to getting them to socialize. This time period will permanently shape their future personality and how they will react to the world around them as an adult dog. Introducing them to new people, puppies, places and situations can make a  huge difference in how your puppy’s temperament is when they are older.

Teaching your puppy that the world is a safe place, and that other dogs and people are friendly and new experiences aren’t so scary is what Puppy Social Time at Meyer’s Tails Up Farm is all about. It runs Saturdays through March at its heated indoor training center.

“That’s why it is so important that you socialize your puppy in a safe way and with experienced handlers who know how to ensure a positive experience,” said Gwen Meyer, owner of Meyer’s Tails Up Farm in Belvidere and Meyer’s Canine Colony in Roscoe. “If you try to do it on your own or just wing it, you may inadvertently do more harm than good.

“But you have a short window of opportunity, as socialization gets harder as your puppy ages.”

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Under-socialized puppies can grow up to be fearful, reactive and generally harder to live with. And worse, under-socialization tends to cause behavioral problems, even aggression, and this is the most common reason people abandon their dogs at a shelter.

“We recognize that socializing your puppy can be an extra challenge in the winter months when getting outdoors and meeting with others isn’t easy, that’s why we’ve implemented these Puppy Social Time groups January through March in our large indoor, heated training center for optimal convenience,” Meyer said.

The good news is that socializing your puppy is easy — and it can even be fun. There are lots of different ways you can expose your young dog to new people and experiences in a positive way.

Here are just a few ideas:

• Take them for walks in different neighborhoods to meet new people (be sure to keep them on a leash).
• Invite friends over often so they can get used to having new people in their space (make sure everyone is calm and gentle with your pup).
• Enroll them in a puppy class to learn basic obedience commands while meeting other puppies (look for courses that use positive reinforcement methods).
• Take them on trips to different places like the park or pet store (again, keep them on a leash at first).
• Expose them to different types of textures by letting them play with different toys (plush toys, squeaky toys, rope toys, etc.).
• Puppy socialization is vital for your pup’s development—it helps them learn how to cope with the world around them and prevents fearfulness and aggression later on in life.

Interested in Puppy Social Time? You can drop in or reserve a space every Saturday, January through March. Visit Meyer’s Tails Up Farm, 5390 Irene Road, for more info.

This article is by Chelsea Meyer. Email her at chelsea@b103fm.com.