# Missed Vital Socialization Period Due to Giardia



## PoultryWolf (Mar 2, 2015)

So we've got a 12 week old mini-aussie puppy (Axel Rose) who has had giardia since he was 9 weeks old. It's FINALLY starting to clear up after two 5 days rounds of panacur (did NOTHING) and now he's on day 6 of a 10 day round of metradonzinole and amoxicillian. Since he's had bad diarrhea we didn't take him round our friends dogs since we didn't want him to infect them, and couldn't take him to dog parks or parks in general since he doesn't have all his shots, and wouldn't want him to infect others either. 

But now that he's finally at the point where when he poos i can actually pick all of it up immediately we're getting him play dates with our friends dogs, but he's 12 weeks and from reading it seems like the 8-12 week period is a vital socialization period and we've missed it.

An upside to the diarrhea was it gave us LOTS of chances to praise him for going potty outside so he's as potty trained as a 12 week old puppy can be 
He sleeps through the night and ALWAYS goes to the door when he needs to go out and his only accidents are AT the door One proud momma here We also managed to keep his hydration levels up and he still gained weight the entire time he was sick 

He's been raised with a cat and has been around a lot of people, has done a few less than 5 minute play sessions with other dogs at our apartment complex when we'd take him out to go potty, and our roommate works at a dog kennel so he's been exposed to lots of different dog smells.

Also any time we'd go for a quick errand we'd take Axel with and one of us would run into the store and thee other would stay in the car with him. 

What do we need to do so that he will be a well socialized dog with other dogs?

He's going to be an emotional support animal for me, so him being well socialized is VITAL. 

So any tips?


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

Don't worry! I don't think you've missed the key socialization period. Yes, it is vital to get dogs around humans by 8 weeks (in the case of puppies born feral), but the socialization window for the world doesn't start to close until at least 16 weeks. There are plenty of people who keep their puppies inside until 12 weeks because of vaccine schedules and while I wouldn't choose to do that, it works out fine for many.

Get him to a puppy class, and set him up on play dates with calm well socialized adults.

I would also say that as an emotional support dog, it's more critical that he be socialized to people, places, loud noises, and walking on strange surfaces. It doesn't really matter in the long run if he loves all other dogs, but it does matter that he can remain calm in strange situations. 

I would not take a dog to a dog park any time before 6 months of age. They are just too uncoordinated and too many bad things can happen. Set him up with other puppies his own size, or adult dogs who have been hand picked and who can be monitored closely.


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## TheDarkestMinds (Feb 28, 2015)

No need to panic you are all good. I got my girl Leia when she was 14 weeks old and she had never been vaccinated...So I didn't socialize her with other dogs (other than mine) with her feet on the ground until she was about 19 weeks old! I wasn't sure what to expect since we had to wait so long to socialize her with strange dogs...Fortunately me for me Leia is a social butterfly (she was raised with 4 other dogs prior to coming to me). Once she was fully vaccinated I held my breath and started introducing her to strangers and their dogs...She took to it with ZERO problems. And now at 11 months old she is a dog I can take anywhere and do anything with. Of course this is just my personal experience. But I feel that since your pup is 12 weeks you shouldn't have any long term issues.


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## jsca (Dec 10, 2013)

Honestly, my first dog Jager really didn't have any socialization outside of our own house and whenever I took him to a pet store. I was 18 when I got him and I didn't have any friends who had dogs really and I couldn't afford to take him to puppy classes. I mean he definitely got his fair share of exposure on walks to people because he was a cute puppy but other than that he didn't have any exposure to dogs. Although that's not something I would necessarily recommend he turned out fine. 

He recently developed some DA and fear aggression after being attacked by another dog, maybe if he had been better socialized early on it wouldn't have affected him so much but he spent the first 4 years of his life as a perfect gentleman who got along with everyone even off leash and at dog parks.


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## Darkmoon (Mar 12, 2007)

Peanut came into my life as a rescue at 16 weeks old and had poor socialization before then. In fact in the first two hours I had her she bit my mom (out of fear). I never really socialized her out side of my own dog Nubs but from like 24 weeks old she learned to work around other dogs. She never actually got to play with other dogs out side of Nubs until she was 2 and then met a few min-pins she could run with. She is actually wonderful with other dogs because while she got to meet other dogs on leash, she learned she wasn't to play with them. 

It's more important IMO to keep all greetings and encounters positive then it is to make play dates with tons of dogs. A dog that doesn't genetically have issues with other dogs should be just fine, just may be rude when they play so you have to watch it. My older dog Nubs use to be fantastic with other dogs (I got him at 1 never socialized with other dogs) until we got attacked 4 times. Now he is reactive to strange dogs. 

So you have plenty of time to socialize him. Peanut ended up being a social butterfly still some kinks but a fantastic dog in the end so it's never too late to socialize.


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

Like everyone said, you should be OK. You may notice that he's a little fearful or skittish. Not to worry, b/c he may be going through a fear cycle. In a few weeks, he'll grow out of it, so keep up the socialization.


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## seaboxador (Sep 23, 2012)

PoultryWolf said:


> So we've got a 12 week old mini-aussie puppy (Axel Rose) who has had giardia since he was 9 weeks old. It's FINALLY starting to clear up after two 5 days rounds of panacur
> He's going to be an emotional support animal for me, so him being well socialized is VITAL.
> 
> So any tips?


My dog had giardia as well. Not fun. Your dog really couldn't get that much dog socialization during that time anyways since it didn't have its shots. The best thing to do is sign up for an obedience class with puppy play. That will let him get socialized with other dogs of various sizes and your training will be done in a very distracting environment. Perfect for impulse control.

12 weeks is still a very young puppy. I wouldn't sweat it. That you're concerned just says that you're a good owner. If he's going to be a support animal, i'd do a few rounds of training. Do a good school and go wtih it. You're going to have a lot of homework to really teach the dog. Also, try to spend some time in places that are noisy with a lot of people. I used to take my dog to Pike Place Market every day. Nothing like a tourist hotspot to get hundreds of impressions in an hour. The noises are key as well. My friends have a backyard fireworks/rocket day on the 4th. My dog doesn't even react to any of that.

Put in the work now. It will help you two bond and if you're going to take him everywhere as an emotional support animal, having a really well trained dog will make things easy.


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## timber- (Mar 11, 2015)

Don't sweat it. Chances are your puppy will be just fine. There are plenty of dogs that are well over 12 weeks old that do just fine with socialization later on. I've met and heard of dogs that went through almost a whole lifetime of no socialization and are well rounded dogs. Not to say that socialization doesn't matter, but that it is possible to socialize dogs that are much older than 12 weeks.


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## OwnedbyACDs (Jun 22, 2013)

Nothing to really add, except that I hate giardia, I am always paranoid of my dogs getting it and there is really no way to prevent it unless you lock them up and never let them out LOL. I waited to socialize my puppy until his shots were done and he is fine, and I am sure your pup will be too, jut breathe, and relax 

Also, pictures, please?


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