The optimum time to socialize your dog is before he or she is 5 months old. After 5 months of age socialization occurs at a slower rate. Socialization should always start as soon as possible - as long as your puppy or dog being socialized is healthy and the socialization is done correctly.
An example of proper socialization is taking a puppy to a group class but only exposing him to pleasant dogs at a distance he feels comfortable with. You should give your puppy food treats, praise, and petting when he is calm. If he becomes agitated, you should not get upset at him, but simply move a bit farther away from class until your puppy is comfortable again. A good sign that a dog is comfortable with a situation is that he or she will take food treats.
An example of poor socialization that can lead to sensitization or even aggression is taking a puppy to a group class and dragging him into the middle of the class where your puppy becomes overwhelmed. You continue to force the situation on your puppy despite the fact that he or she is nervous (eyes dilated, stiff, low body posture, hackles up, unable to take food treats). As the owner, you may even get irate at your puppy because you are embarrassed by the fact that your frightened puppy nipped at an overwhelming adult dog that charged them. Over time your puppy is likely to get more apprehensive during group class. You can expect to see his behavior get worse with each exposure. Your puppy may even become dog aggressive.
By choosing socialization experiences that are appropriate for your puppy you encourage a proper response from your puppy.
If your dog or puppy becomes tense, nervous, or frightened, you must not soothe him. This will only imprint the fearful reaction. Instead, you must learn to re-direct your puppy's attention onto a food treat or toy. You should then calmly get your puppy out of that situation and decide how they can re-introduce their puppy to that situation in smaller steps. You may need to go a bit slower and build up your puppy's confidence with exposure to other public situations. Make sure you are properly using your food treats and that the puppy is hungry enough in those circumstances to be brave to get the treat. You can teach your puppy to learn to be brave by using the food treat to encourage your hungry puppy to overcome his fears in order to get the food treat. Also, you can use a food treat to coax your puppy across a slippery floor, or into a new or noisy area. You can give food treats to strangers to encourage a shy dog to go to strangers.
So the bottom line is, it's so important to be educated about the importance of proper socialization for your puppy or dog.
Article Written By J. Foley
Recent Comments