Overprotecting your puppy from the world may very well back fire on you. While more and more Puppy owners are learning the importance of early Socialization, I wonder if they understand the critical importance.
I work with many aggressive dogs and nearly all of them have a lack of coping skills. In Puppy Socialization Classes we allow our pups to explore many different sights, sounds, surfaces and different play styles with a variety of other puppies. It is critical that our young pups learn to Rebound, from scary situations. It is ok for your pup to bite another puppy too hard and get a reprimand from that pup. It is critically important for your pup to understand that situations may be scary or even uncomfortable, but 1. they are temporary and 2. that he can control the consequences with good choices.
UCLA Psychiatrist Paul Bohn makes the same case for raising a well balanced child. He states that if a young boy falls and scrapes his knees while in a race, it is important for the child to be able to pick himself up, understand what happened and know that the pain and discomfort is temporary. The frustration and disappointment of losing the race will help him recover from discomfort and disappointment later in life.
As a parent, these experiences are difficult to watch, yet are necessary for our children to be able to cope in todays environment. Similarly, our young puppies need to learn to cope from various situations before they reach 6 months. Our puppies Critical period is only up to 16 weeks after that they will naturally become more cautious and fearful. So help your puppy be well balanced and find a Socialization Class to set the framework for your puppy to recover from many situations throughout his or her life.