How many dogs does my puppy have to meet to be socialised properly?

Hi everyone,

I want to state straightaway that I’m not interested in going to dog parks and letting my dog have a free run with lots of strange dogs. What I do want is for my dog to be friends with my friends’ dogs which I know are friendly dogs and to be neutral when passing other dogs in the streets. Is that such a bad thing?

Will it be enough for my dog to just walk past other dogs in the streets and for me to socialise my puppy with my friends’ dogs? I’m not comfortable with trusting a stranger to tell me his/her dog is okay and for then his/her dog to attack my puppy.

Am I right in thinking that quality is much better than quantity?

My friend who has a German Shepherd told me that he never bothered with puppy classes and only introduced his dog to a few of his friends’ dogs and his dog is fine. I have been for walks with him and his dog and when his dog sees other dogs he doesn’t even batter an eyelid.

I can socialise my puppy easily with other people, areas & surroundings, but when it comes to other dogs I only feel comfortable allowing my puppy to greet dogs that I know the owners (my friends) because I know that their dogs are friendly.

How did you socialise your dog with other dogs? How many strangers’ dogs did you let your puppy greet?

I just want to be able to go for walks with my dog and my uncle and his dog or my friends and their dogs and for my dog to be friendly and not show any aggression towards any other dogs. I’ll mostly be walking my dog on my own and I want to be able to walk past other dogs in the street without any reaction from my dog.