A person I know was speaking to me about socialising puppies. One suggestion he made was this:

Once the puppy has bonded with the owner a very good way to socialise it would be to allow it to live in differntent homes for a week at a time. Example....one week at mum's house then one week back at home...one week at sisters house then back home etc for about 6-8 weeks. The reasoning would be to get it used to many different people and environments thus helping the puppy to be social and easy going about changes in it's life.  I can see some of the reasoning behind this BUT wouid it confuse the puppy? Even if it were coming back to the owner every other week?
I dont think I could trust so many people not sticking to what I want my puppy to learn. I would worry he would learn bad habits and maybe  learn to not trust the owner to keep him.

What do you think about this persons advice.
I work for  dog charity and it was in reference to puppies in general not any one in particular. As I have not heard of this method of socialising pups I thought I would ask for Opinions.

Thanks
Julie

I wouldn't really call that socialising. Socialising is going OUT and about, into towns, different places, seeing different things, hearing new noises, smelling new smells -not just living with different people. It's the outdoor experiences of cars, buses, bikes etc etc that makes all the difference -and meeting people then. And a puppy will meet a lot more people going for walks in busy areas than it will being in somebody else's home -and it will feel secure being with someone it trusts during these experiences.

I also can't see several different people training the pup in the exact same way, it can be hard enough to get everyone in the same house to understand the same command and the same routine should be used all the time.

i agree with goldmali and i think  putting a pup in different homes will just confuse and uproot it. and how many people do you know who would take your pup and train it the way you want? i wouldnt trust anyone else. a pup needs to feel secure and settled in its own home then gain experience by going to different places and seeing different things, people and dogs.

I agree with Goldmali that this isn't socialisation. You can't socialise properly just in the home - the pup needs to be experiencing sights and sounds outside the home, and have a secure base (ie, the same home environment) to return to after each outing. Continually altering the 'base' (moving the goalposts, in modern parlance) will only unsettle the pup. Also each new person will have a different routine and 'commands' and training methods; the pup won't get settled so won't know if it's coming or going. A bad idea.

Hi
I have done something similar to this with my dogs....albeit not quite so extreme.  As I live on my own it's important to me that my dogs will settle with whoever and wherever.  Although I try to get people to come to my house to dogsit if I am away, it's not always feasible and sometimes they have to go and stay with a friend.  My 3 year old went to stay with a friend at the tender age of 12 weeks for 3 days (not planned, but family emergency at other end of country);  he had an absolute ball and I continued this by letting him stay with a friend a month for a day and/or an overnight.  I found that for most of my friends it was such a novelty having a pup/dog that he was spoilt rotten,  had a lot of fuss, attention and exercise.  Yes, one or two issues occured, such as one friend allowing him up on the sofa, but nothing that couldn't be worked around.  Don't know if it was a result of this but I have a very confident dog who will go and settle in a strange house, with strange people, find his corner and get on with his life....no fretting, continues to eat, sleeps etc etc...

I have started something similar with my 5 month old pup who has had a couple of 'away days' todate and is doing just great.  I do all the 'normal' socialisation things as well - this is an 'extra', but for me and my lifestyle with a breed that can be prone to seperation anxiety I have found that giving them the odd day/night away from mum is no bad thing.  Just my own view.

The odd day or night is very different to a week at a time. The pup will just be settling into a new place with all that entails (stress and different water can cause diarrhoea as we know) when it's uprooted again.

Our GR pup was a rescue that came to live with us when he was 10 weeks old. We were the 4th home he had lived in at such a young age and he took a while to settle. He hadn't done any socialising outside of a house at all up until that point and was quite wary in a number of situations. He was, however, very people friendly and has remained so - which may be something to do with the pass the parcel life he had at such a young age or it may just be because he is a Golden Retriever :)

Personally I would not want other people looking after a young puppy on a rota basis because I think it would delay the bonding process with the owner and the training would not be consistent even if agreed beforehand due to everyone's individuality.

apart from all the other considerations how long would poor pup take to house train if every week a different back door was in a different room in a different place in the house?
Chris