I finally got out of the house and was able to go out and walk Lia in town yesterday. I think she did pretty well for her first time out in the world.

She got a little scared around some kids on skateboards and some folks who think being loud and babytalking is the proper way of approaching a puppy. And then you get the "oh is it scared???". Dummies! If you were a foot tall, and some large whiny human forges in on you, wouldn't you back off as well? I want to embrace their ignorance and educate them - but I had to just walk off quickly after that encounter.
She recouped well after that initial contact, so I don't think too much harm was done.

Generally, the public is pretty normal - I usually just ask them to ignore her, make small chat and move on.

I'm taking her out again today, and I think we'll just sit on a bench and take in the sights and sounds.

Tell me about some situations that you encountered when socializing your pup - I'd love to hear some stories good or bad!

i didn't have any bad encounters when i socializing my pup.
we started getting out and about when my pup was 10 weeks old.
i tried not to put my pup in a situation that would scare him. kids
on skate boards, carts at the supermarket, kids running and making
loud noises, construction sites, crowds, etc.

i think when we're socializing we have to keep in
mind that our pups might be to young for certain
situations. like anything else i think we have to ease
our pups into certain situations like loud noises, crowds, etc.

we can help build our pups sound temperments
and strong nerves by exposing them gradually and daily to
the world.

Kona only went to the club to socialize. And even that was limited. My fear was having her run into stupid people (like the ones you mentioned - btw, laughed out loud at your description! ).

I adopted Duke in college, so he went everywhere with me - parties , campus, downtown, etc. Probably not the best method, but that dog learned how to hang with the best of them! He was also a little older when I got him, closer to 6mos old. As far as nerves go though, he is a freaking rock. Nothing upsets him or even really makes him fearful. But I think more of that is his personality than my socialization. By the time I got him he had been in 2 or 3 homes Not great for a dog that is less than 6 mos old.

Jaeger went everywhere with me except places where there may be high exposure to Parvo.

I never ever had an issue with Jaeger so I don't really have any bad stories to share. Lots of good ones though!

I have a 13 year old boy that skateboards and his friends do too so being around crazy kids with wheels is just a way of life. It has always been a non-issue with Jaeger. In fact just about everything is a non-issue with him.

People never scared him no matter how they talked or approached. He always met anyone and everyone head on as if he had known them for years. Even as an 8 week old pup.

He once had a small issue with school busses and UPS trucks, but as he grew up he realized they were of no threat. We just took him for walks around the neighborhood when school let out leaving him exposed to the sounds of the busses. It was also a good time to get kids to pet him.

When he is concerned about something I let him go up and sniff it. Then once he's ok with it I'll move it around a bit (if possible) and make some sounds. He will become concerned again, sniff it once more, then realize it's the same object. No biggie to him.

We did have some issues the other day in the fish department of Petco. It is closed in, dark, and with all the bubble sounds from the filtration system I think was concerning him. He was "ok" in the sense that he wasn't freaking out but cautious and concerned nonetheless. He was NOT comfortable in that area at all. Had I been able to spend more time there I could of changed that I'm sure, but Petco on a Saturday is not a good place to spend a lot of time at. I will probably take him back during the week and try to let him conquer his fear of the fish. Haha!

Annabelle I was not so lucky with. She's had fear issues from day one and they have continued into her five years. We have improved but I think I have taken her as far as her genetics will allow. She was scared of everyone. She is a fear biter in the house but ok in public. Ok in that she won't bite but will avoid people if at all possible. She'll sit next to someone and just pretend they aren't there. She did that as a puppy too. She will just look right past someone petting and shows no ounce of pleasure in the meeting of strangers. I socialized her just as I did Jaeger, but like I said, I just think it's her genetics.

I took Casey everywhere with me as well, and still do. He was shy as a pup, and I knew this, which made me want to socialize him muuch much more. He's much better now than he was even just a few months ago.. I think maybe he's just getting out of a fear period and maybe that's why he's so much better?
Being in a city made it much easier to socialize him, and I wish I lived here with him since day 1. He was 6 months old when I moved here so he was still young. I would take him downtown every single day and he'd get exposure to people, busses, cars, loud noises, etc. It did wonders for him. I still can take him absolutely everywhere with me. I take him on university campuses, in any store that allows dogs, and walk him downtown every day. He went from barking at people on the street to walking right through crowds without so much as looking at anyone. He also has had lots and lots of exposure to people 'under the influence' of alcohol lol.. so he is very good with putting up with people mauling him and being loud around him. This has been good because he is so easy going now, anyone I have over could do anything to him and he would put up with it.
One thing I really wish I did more was socialize him with dogs. I never took him to the dog park because I heard too many horror stories. He played with the neighborhood dogs and would meet the odd dog on the street but that's about it. He now will be ok with some dogs, but not all, especially small ones or ones bigger than him. The only dog I completely trust him around is the neighbors dog at home. He plays wonderfully with her and she bosses him around, and I think this is because he was exposed to her since he was 8 weeks old. It's been a bit difficult as I live in a dog friendly apartment building so we see dogs quite a bit, and he will still pull my arm off to go up to them and if he gets close he will bark. It might be a bit of a territorial thing. We've been working on obedience though and he's getting much better at the 'leave it' command and ignoring them when I tell him to.
But anyway, you already went through all this with Coal so I'm sure you don't need too much info from me, I just thought I'd share what I did with Casey. Every dog is different. I probably did less socializing with Shelby, and though I only had her until she was 6 months old she was 10 times better with people at that age than Casey was, and I did more with him.

I took Zeus everywhere! We would go to Bookmans, Petsmart, Home Depot, parks and anywhere else we could. Now he does pretty good but he is shy. He just doesn't wear his heart on his shoulder. He did get picked on by a few dogs he met while he was a puppy so he is not too friendly with strange dogs and he will bark a few times but once he knows he can trust them he is great.

PS. I had a very similar situation to Jades so I wont repeat everything.

thanks you guys. coal was only socialized at club - so i didn't want to make that mistake with lia.
sometimes i find it difficult to not run into some of the "scary stuff".
she is doing just fine now - considering that was her first time out. she's used to crossing busy streets now and the honking horns.
i'm praying that we have training this weekend so I can take her - I NEED TO GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE AND TRAIN!!!

and standby for pictures - i should have my new camera in a week to 10 days any camera will be 100% better than the one I had...now Bestbuy is stuck with that POS!

I agree with everything that pretty much others have posted.

That said, it's almost impossible to not encounter something that they find scary. Cause really how do you know if they're afraid if they don't encounter it? I want mine to encounter as much as possible within reason. I know their limits so things get encountered at a distance.

All dogs have fear periods so at some point they will be startled by something. Really if you're walking and turn the corner and someone turns the corner at the same time and it scares the crap out of both of you, how in the world do you avoid it if you don't see it coming?

I just wanted to update....TRAINING THIS WEEKEND WOOT!! LOL

I KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!