We try to go overboard with our socialization. Our children couldn't be kept away from the puppies - even if we wanted to! We have cousins, Aunts, Uncles, neighbors, friends, and many others who interact, love, and snuggle with the puppies. The puppies learn many different smells, and ways to interact with people. They just love to be loved!
Once the puppies are a little older, we make sure they have time playing in the grass in our yard. This lets our other dogs come up to the play area and smell them, and interact. We, obviously, monitor the interactions, but our family dogs love to snuggle with puppies too. We do this so the puppies learn about other family animals they may live with. (We even make our USPS, US, and FedEx drivers play with them!)
We also make sure to mow our lawn, use a weed whipper, and other equipment while the puppies are outside, so they can also become familiar with those sights and sounds and smells. By this time, they have already handled vacuums, blenders, etc.
So, back to socialization...
Here are two unplanned pictures. (Seriously!) I knew what the kids were doing so I sneaked around the wall and snapped these pictures.
"Are the puppies socialized?" Well, yes...
