The key socialisation period for dogs is between approximately 4 and 16 weeks of age. Play appears to serve as a means of social interaction, building coordination and other skills necessary for survival. It may be beneficial for puppies to mix with other dogs as long as:

Your puppy may be taken out to experience sights and sounds of the everyday world as long as they are CARRIED off the ground. It is very important that you are sensitive to the individual needs of your puppy in order to prevent them from feeling afraid or overwhelmed in new situations. How quickly and how much a puppy is introduced to depends on each individual.
For some individuals, it may be most appropriate for introductions to new things to first be carried out in the home environment where your puppy feels most confident. Sounds of traffic may at first be played at very low levels whilst you play with your puppy. If the puppy does not react to the nose, the sound may gradually be increased. If the puppy seems unsure, the volume should be lowered until the puppy no longer reacts.
Other pupppies may thrive being carried around to experience the sights and smells of the wider world first hand.
Some things to consider introducing your puppy that will be helpful later in life may include:
TOP TIP: The more routine sounds, smells and sights that your puppy becomes happily accustomed to at a young age, the more likely it is to be at ease with the environment in the future.
Puppy classes can be very helpful to new owners. They should always be evaluated to ensure that classes use positive reward, fear free based methods, and that they meet the needs of both you and your puppy.
They provide an opportunity for your puppy to share an environment with others of a similar age and to interact with both other people and dogs.
Help with finding a suitable dog trainer can be found at https://abtc.org.uk/practitioners/
(also https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/dog-advice/dog-school/search )
Teaching your puppy to come back to you when requested is an important tool in keeping them safe. The outside world provides many exciting things for a dog to investigate, and so it is important that your puppy learns that returning to you is ALWAYS a good thing.
TOP TIP: Some dogs may build up a negative association with a recall cue if it signals the end of off-lead exercise.
To avoid this, you may either ensure to call your puppy back to you and continue games in close proximity before putting it on the lead, or you may get your puppy used to coming back and being put on the lead for a minute before being released again at frequent intervals over the course of one walk.
Puppies use their mouths like an extra sense, learning about the texture, taste and temperature of the objects they are surrounded with via a process of mouthing and biting. Bite inhibition is learnt through an important part of puppy play and interaction with littermates.
Teething in puppies also brings with it a desire to bite and chew on objects in the same way that we do as babies. In order to encourage appropriate chewing behaviour a suitable chew toys for puppies should be provided at all times. It is important for puppies to learn bite inhibition with people, as well as dogs. With all puppies we suggest that the whole family (particularly children) are familiar with these guidelines:

TOP TIP: You need to always be consistent with training. Your puppy needs to learn that no mouthing of skin or clothing is acceptable.
Engagement with appropriate interaction and forms of play should take place with your puppy. Play that is overly rough or leads to frustration may be more likely to lead to biting behaviour.
TOP TIP: The Association of Pet Behaviour Councellors (APBC) have a huge amount of really practical information about most aspects of dog training and behaviour.
Their advice sheets can be found here: https://www.apbc.org.uk/dogs/
Bilton Veterinary Centre
259 BIlton Road
Rugby
Warwickshire CV22 7EQ
Tel: 01788 812650
email: enquiries@biltonvets.co.uk