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View Poll Results: Are puppy playgroups run by vetinary surgeries:
A good idea 11 78.57%
A bad idea 3 21.43%
Voters: 14. You may not vote on this poll - please see pinned thread in this section for details.



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Dee1974
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01-07-2006, 01:43 PM

Are puppy playgroups a good idea?

A friend of mine is just about to get a new puppy and she is researching puppy playgroups which are run by Vetinary surgeries in her area. I would just like to hear if any of you have taken pups to these groups before.

What are the advantages? Disadvantages? and your experiences?

I have advised my friend that I think they would be good for socialisation IF they were run in a controlled manner. I am guessing they also vary from one vets to another so I'd love to hear your experiences so I can pass them on.

Thanks.
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angelmist
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01-07-2006, 01:57 PM
I have never heard of these but voted it to be a good idea, afterall how can early socialisation be classed as bad. If done in a controlled manner then its a great idea I'd definatly take advantage of it if we had something like that in our area. Also gives the owners chance to make some friends with like minded people.
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Ella's Mum
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01-07-2006, 02:22 PM
there was a sighn at the vets today saying about the class"s it said it was a good way of socializing pups from a young age if i didn have ella i prob would have took poppy but she gets alot of socialzing here so i voted yes
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Ripsnorterthe2nd
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01-07-2006, 02:23 PM
I think disadvantage wise if the play is not controlled some pups can be bullied. For that reason I thing it's a good idea to find out what ages and breeds of pup might be going to gage if it's suitable for your pup.

Sometimes the pups are allowed to be passed around the group for socialisation, this can sometimes leave the pup with a bad experience if there are some people in the group inexperienced with handling them leading to them doing it incorrectly.

I'm sure there are many advantages, but these are just a couple of reasons why it's important to pick the right socialisation group.
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duboing
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01-07-2006, 02:27 PM
Our vet recommends going to a puppy training class rather than the more free-form puppy playgroups. That way interactions are overseen by a trainer with plenty of experience in dog behaviour.

Fortunately the puppy class we've booked into is a small group ( of pups under the age of 18 weeks, so no big bruisers there to terrify poor Bongo (poor Bongo my a***! )

ps. Having said that, there may be some well run vet puppy-parties, so I ain't voting against them either
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AlbionLass
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07-07-2006, 07:27 AM
I too would recommend going to a structured puppy training class rather than a free-for-all playgroup or puppy party.

It is good for the pups to stay quietly with the owners and perform the exercises and learn that they can be in close proximity to other dogs without having to go play with them etc.

A respected trainer that I know has told me that many of the problems he has to deal with in dogs of around 12-18 months of age come from those who went to puppy playgroups/parties.
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madmare
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07-07-2006, 11:15 AM
Our vets run them and I took both my JRT and my Rottie x GSD.
They were very controlled and not a free for all, they also clipped nails spoke about worming, vaccinations, microchipping and general health etc.
Puppies were introduced off lead one at a time to make sure none got bullied and two nurses were very vigilant to make sure when they did have a little free time playing together they didn't pick on any single dog to worry it.
All dogs went home with a goody bag which included free flea treatment and a tuggy rope toy.
So I would reccomend these paticular ones to anyone.

Bev
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Inca
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07-07-2006, 11:23 AM
never been to one but i think they are good for socialising a new pup
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Flipper
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07-07-2006, 11:51 AM
Theyre a great idea but you really need to research the place your thinking of using first, make sure that its clean, well organized with knowledgable staff and your puppies needs will be catered to.
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Lorna
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07-07-2006, 12:02 PM
I think it is a brilliant idea, so long as the pups are all roughly the same age. I think it is beneficial as well as training classes, if there was one in my area I would be taking my pup there for sure!
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