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Cotons, love new experiences. It's critical however, that the family introduce the Coton to new experiences when they are young puppies - from 8 to 16 weeks is a vital time period to socialize the dog. Socialization begins as soon as the pups have enough immunity through vaccinations. The new owners must then continue to broaden the experiences of the pup. Have people come to meet the pup (the mailman, the doorman, the children next door), let them all hold the puppy. Children must always be sitting on the floor so that a squirming puppy can not fall and be injured. Walk on the beach, in the woods, on busy streets. Expose the puppy to all of the various experiences in your environment that he might encounter. If you want to take him on planes or into shops and restaurants in a Sherpa bag, practice putting him into one and carrying him around from the time he is little. Buy a good book on puppy training, buy several. |
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| Bring the dog to puppy kindergarten for socialization with other dogs, and early dog training. This is good for the family and good for the dog. If you have kids bring them along to class. We overheard one mother at a class mutter that she was never able to train her kids, why did she think she could train a dog? The difference is that your Coton wants to please you, your kids don’t. You can move up through basic obedience, intermediate |
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and advanced obedience into agility training. It is lots of fun and you will meet many other dog lovers.
Introduce the pup to other pets, to a friend’s cat if you don’t have one, a neighbor’s bunny. Go for car rides, run the vacuum cleaner, gently blow cool air from a hair dryer at the puppy. It is your job to finish the Coton's education, so that you have a well adjusted dog who is not afraid of its world, or the people in it. |
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