Strollers to Socialize a Puppy?

Socialize? I can’t, my pup doesn’t have all its vaccinations.

Many of you know that socialization is much more than our pups meeting other dogs or people. We need to help them experience a lot of novel places, textures, sounds, items, etc. Many people get stuck in not wanting to take their pups out in public, or their backyard until after the third vaccine. This can have many negative implications as they grow upsince 3-16 weeks is the most critical time to expose them to many things.

Recently I had a new pup arrive in my home and I wanted to ensure that I made the most of those first weeks. I had purchased a dog stroller for my senior dog and thought, hey, why don’t I take the pup out for adventures in that? That way she’s safe from touching anything unwanted as well as people cannot touch her without my consent.

Our first adventure was to Canadian Tire. My stroller has a window that opens at the top so I could treat the pup along the way which was great. As I was pushing her around, a child about 4 years old ran over to us screaming and trying to pet her. The mother looked at me disgustedly and asked why I’d have a puppy in a stroller. I explained that I wanted to keep her safe as she wasn’t fully vaccinated. She didn’t care, she just thought her child should have been able to touch her because she’s a puppy. Glad I was able to control that situation easily with this set up.

A couple weeks later and still short of her being fully vaccinated I had to take my grandson to a baseball tournament for the whole weekend (three days). I couldn’t leave the puppy at home as I’d be gone too long so I packed her up and brought her to the baseball field. When I could keep my eyes fully on her, I let her chew a bone on a blanket near my chair. Once Igot involved in the baseball game and was distracted, I put her in the stroller with a bone and a bowl of water and she chewed, looked around and slept. I have to say, IT WAS WONDERFUL to be able to be somewhere busy and noisy like that and know my puppy was safe as well as getting exposure to many new things.

Another option is to put a crate inside a wagon. I don’t have a wire crate or I might have chosen that for this set up. It’s a little harder to get the puppy in and out, but still a way to get them safely on an adventure.Some tips regarding a stroller if you do decide to purchase one is to get one with larger wheels. Even if you have a tiny puppy, if you get one of the small strollers, they have small wheels that don’t do well on gravel or uneven type surfaces. Watch Marketplace as they often show up on there for way cheaper than new.