Socialization

What does it mean to properly socialize your dog?

I did a simple Google search and this was the first thing that came up: Dogs that are comfortable meeting and being around a variety of people of all ages, other dogs, and even other types of pets – especially cats – are considered well socialized.

Another answer was simply this: Socializing your dog is the process of exposure and habituation to the environment around it.

I agree with both of those answers and probably most of you do as well, I think maybe it is the way to accomplish it that might be the issue.

A lot of folks think the way to socialize a dog is to take them to a dog park and let them run loose, meet doggie friends, play chase, etc. In a perfect world, that is great, however, if you have ever been to a dog park, you know that is not always the reality. I use dog parks in my training, but not in the way you may think. I go to dog parks and stay outside the fence to desensitize client dogs to dogs running towards them, barking and excited, so that when they are out on walks and that happens, they will know how to handle it. The issue with taking your dog to a dog park is the dogs that owners can’t control. If you are trying to help your dog feel confident and a jerk dog comes out of nowhere and attacks your dog, how much confidence is he going to have around new dogs?

When socializing a dog, puppy or adult, with humans or animals, I begin with a very controlled environment. For example, we all have those friends that refuse to listen when we say, “don’t give the dog table food” and guess what, you look over and your dog is begging for more! That friend can’t be involved in initial socialization because they don’t respect the rules. I use people that will listen and follow the rules, 1) ignore the dog, do not look at the dog, do not talk to the dog, do not touch the dog (all of those things put pressure on a dog) 2) let the dog approach you and even when the dog comes to you, revert to 1. Until I am seeing body language that tells me that the dog is relaxed and ok with the new person, I don’t allow them to interact. I NEVER use kids at this stage, the are way to unpredictable.

When socializing with other animals, I follow the same guidelines. I use only very well behaved, calm dogs. I don’t allow the dogs to be nose to nose, only sniff bottoms, only for 1 to 3 seconds, then move on. Allow them to sniff again if they initiate, but nothing more than 3 seconds. No play at first, the goal is calm existence.

These are the foundational steps to being able to achieve Dogs that are comfortable meeting and being around a variety of people of all ages, other dogs. Once your dog is comfortable in these environments, then you expose them to more challenging things, like Home Depot. Things are very busy, very loud, lots going on. Get your dog comfortable with all sorts of sounds, traffic, car horn, kids riding bikes, playing basketball. You can control your dogs behavior, so keep your dog walking next to you, even if he/she is uncomfortable, just keep moving, keep exposing, until you see the dog is less bothered by whatever it is, then you will know exactly where to start your training next time!



source https://wwwkcdogtraining.com/socialization/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sometimes rehoming a dog is the best thing for the dog

Training isn’t always the best solution for every dog. Sometimes the best solution isn’t the one we want to choose. I recently received a call from a distraught mother of an 18-month-old child, her dog had bit the infant in the face twice. She was looking for help.  Anyone that has ever had an 18-month-old child, knows they get into things, and they move fast.  This is a dangerous situation at best when the dog has already bit the child. I have been training dogs long enough to know that parents with toddlers are fighting an uphill battle, they do not have the time necessary to address an issue like this. It really doesn’t matter what the circumstances were behind the bite incidents. It might not have been the dog’s fault; it could have been the child doing something to the dog. The reality is to address this issue the first thing that must happen is the dog needs to be kept separate from the child. How do you keep a toddler away from the dog? That is easier said than done....
Read more

Nail Trims

Who avoids trimming their dog’s nails because it is so frustrating? I used to as well, so I can totally relate. My 15 pound Lhasa Apso, is TERRIBLE! He does not like his feet touched, he gets very aggressive and tries to bite me, I get frustrated, then I take him to the groomer, lol. When I adopted my German Shepherd, I decided to approach the situation differently. This is the same dog that used to need sedation to visit the vet, so you can only imagine how much he loved getting his nails trimmed. I went slow and steady with him. I really worked on his DOWN command, then I worked on desensitizing him to having his paws touched, then I would turn on the Dremel and just hold it next to him, not touching his nails, just letting him get used to the noise and when he would try to get up and move away, I enforced that DOWN. It is not mean to push your dogs limits at times, that is how they move past things. If I had never pushed him past some of his fears, he would still be stuck in a board...
Read more