I think the point is being missed here.

Socialization, done properly, is a good thing. However, this guy is claiming to produce "perfect" puppies. When someone claims they can produce "perfect" anything a red flag goes up. And this guy is out to prove a point...NOT out to produce a well-rounded dog.

Puppies, 3 months old, babies, are being taken to schools, nursing homes, and doggy day care...being handled by umpteen different people. What happens if the puppy has a bad experience? Seems pretty likely when you've got kids and other dogs involved.

When my pup was 3 months old it didn't take a whole lot to overload him. Probably everyone has seen their pup literally fall asleep in their tracks from stimulation overload. Puppies have a limit...is this guy really looking at each individual pup, and what's best for them, or is he out to prove something?

Socialization is good...too much, too soon, can, IMO, make it more likely you have a nervebag of a dog than not.

I agree, this is way too much for most 3 month old puppies. They need quiet, not a petting zoo.

Personally I want the "petting zoo" for my 3 month old puppies provided I am there to supervise it all to ensure it's 100% positive for him. I've never had a pup be "overloaded". Maybe I'm just used to confident, clear headed GSD pups. The more experiences the better as long as the pup feels good about them I'm all about it.

I'm very used to confident, clear headed GSD's but I see no reason to subject them to the masses at 3 months old, specifically because they are confident & clear headed. At the same time I sure wouldn't be exposing my 3 month old pup to play with a ton of little childeren & other dogs. There is such a thing as exposing a pup to too much. I have seen pups become aggressive from being overly exposed - it's stressful, a puppies little mind isn't equipped for this kind of thing, regardless of how confident and clearheaded they are.

As to "the more experiences the better", isn't that what you the owner is there to make sure there aren't too many of? Leaving your pup in the hands of someone else to do this job for you does not seem very prudent or smart.

Frankly, I don't let strangers play with my puppies, EVER, yet some how they all turn out to be very well behaved to the general public. I guess that's because they are confident & clear headed to begin with.

Well I suppose it all would depend on the structure of the interaction with the kids, and I surely agree with not exposing a pup to a bunch of strange dogs. I also agree that it's MY job to socialize my pup, and that is a job I would NEVER trust anyone else to do. At the same time, I seek out safe supervised interaction with kids, especially young kids for my pups.

 Quote: susan tuck

Dogs are territorial pack animals. They want to be with their pack & barring that at least be secure in their own territory. Dogs don't go outside of their own pack to make doggy friends & frolic outside of their territory in nature either.

Susan, I feel you may be thinking too much and watching too little. First off wolves tend to live in a tight pack structure and do not meet other "friends". Dogs are not wolves. Wild dogs do not tend to live in a strict pack structure like wolves do, more of a conglomeration than a pack. Secondly if you've been to a dog park or doggy day care you'd see how excited these dogs are when they get there, how well they interact, and how happy they seem to be.

That's all I'm saying ...............

I think you are misreading "stress" for "excitement". Also, I don't know of any established working dog trainers who have anything good to say about dog parks. You may want to do a "search" of dog parks on this board to see what the general consensus is.

I completely disagree with you about pack structure in wild or feral dogs.

 Quote: Benjamin Colbert

Secondly if you've been to a dog park or doggy day care you'd see how excited these dogs are when they get there, how well they interact, and how happy they seem to be.

i've seen how excited they are....i'm not sure i'd say i've seen how well they interact.

haven't you seen the owners who don't take out their dogs, don't exercise them, and a few times a week pop down to the dog park and let their pent-up unsocialized brat/bully run around acting like an a-hole while they tell the other owners their dog is friendly and is just playing?

i took luc to a dog park a few times when i first got him - it was awful. he got packed up on, he was terrified, and he had more dominant jerk dogs with no manners getting in his face. not the place for him, he didn't have the confidence. i socialized him around other dogs by being the one to interact with them, and not allowing him to do so. NOW he's confident when he sees another dog. you could blame luc being a dog park washout on his personality, but teagan's confident - i would be a horrible person to take her there and let her loose. she's not going to be making friendly with strange dogs.

i'm still learning dogs, but i think a lot of times the problem is we interpret our dogs as we want them to be, and in a human fashion. your GSD growled at someone - oh, he's being a protective GSD, that's how he's suppose to be - really? maybe he has weak nerves but we don't want to face that as owners. i don't trust other owners at dog parks and i don't trust any dog i don't know.

Benjamin,

My dogs/pups get excited about a lot of things they shouldn't do. Interacting with a group of strange dogs is one of them. Especially with a young dog, all it takes is one incident to create a dog aggressive dog for the rest of their lives. I'm sure the next arguement is that the people that run the doggie day care center are "qualified". To put it bluntly, if they were qualified to the level that I would feel even remotely comfortable in leaving my dog in their charge... they would not be working at the doggie day care. And after they have created these problems with my dog, they give him back to me to deal with.