Dog Socialization 101

What is socialization?

We hear this term a lot from breeders, veterinarians, trainers and fellow dog owners but what exactly does it mean? By definition, proper socialization is the act of teaching a dog not to react by desensitizing them to things they will encounter in daily life. It includes the positive exposure to many situations and environments that they may come across throughout their life. In order for any puppy to become a great adult they need to be well-socialized. Each puppy and dog must be given every opportunity to become as social as possible. For some dogs, just getting out in public occasionally constitutes proper socialization, their owners are lucky. Some breeds tend to be more difficult to socialize than others. Dogs who were bred to be naturally suspicious like many guarding breeds or ones that were made to work independently from their owners, like some terriers, usually need more work on socialization. Dogs who have not been well socialized tend to be shy and over reactive. They may startle easily by things in their day to day routines and even run the risk of becoming fearfully aggressive.

When should this be done? There are many different developmental periods for puppies. It is important to be aware of the significance of the different periods because some of the training will differ accordingly. Socialization takes place 24/7 starting at around 3 weeks old. This is the time when puppies begin to interact with their litter mates and develop bite inhibition by engaging in play with each other. This is referred to as the Primary Socialization Period. Around 6-8 weeks old is the Secondary Socialization Period. During this time, puppies are extremely impressionable by environments as well as positive and negative experiences. This leads into the Fear Imprint Period. This period typically occurs around 8-10 weeks old and again around 16 weeks of age. Harsh corrections or traumatic events that seem simple to humans can cause irrational lifelong fears or phobias for your puppy. Forcing your dog to explore something new and/or not allowing them to get away from something causing your dog stress is not recommended and should be avoided. If anything does happen which scares the puppy during this highly sensitive period, it will take some time for your dog to overcome. It is extremely important to pair any and all things your dog likes with the things they fear or had a negative experience with. Puppies that are with their littermates until 8 weeks old tend to be more well-socialized and confident. 7-10 weeks old is considered the Optimum Bonding Period for puppies. This is the best time for them to move into their forever home. In their new homes they can be given boundaries to learn what is and isn't acceptable in the human home. Puppies at this age are also most open to meeting new people, other dogs and even different kinds of animals. 7-16 weeks old is considered the General Socialization Period. While every new puppy owner should take the proper steps to socialize their new family member, it is equally if not more important to properly socialize rescue dogs as well. We typically do not know this type of dog’s personal history and genetic make-up so we must give them every advantage by socializing them properly. By making sure you do not overwhelm your dog with stressful situations and to keep everything positive, while managing their environment you will be on your way to a well-socialized dog!

How is this done? All dogs have different needs, temperaments and personality quirks. By watching for your dog's responses to new objects, people and different triggers, you can honor their request for distance or know when it is okay to let them investigate. If you do not allow your puppy to explore and continuously work them in new environments, you can risk under socialization.

-“The time your puppy is focused on you is time that he is not expanding the map of his world” --Grisha Stewart BAT 2.0-

While out on walks, you should allow investigation of new objects without pressure on the leash. You can come to a slow stop or call your puppy away if it seems like they could get into trouble. Always feel free to give praise or treats for coming back to you. When meeting new people or dogs, as they approach your dog you can tell your pet to “Go say Hi” then allow interaction to occur based on your puppy's behavior. This is optional based on what your puppy wants at the time. Under no circumstance should you force your puppy to interact with new dogs or people. Cut-off signals should be rewarded in puppies.

Things like-look aways, head turns, body turns, ground sniffing and shaking off should all be reinforced either naturally or by creating space. If your puppy turns away or looks away, you can shift your weight back to help create more space in case your puppy wants to move further away from the new person. If it seems like the puppy wants to move but feels stuck, you can happily call them back to you, so they are out of reach from the new person. If your puppy wants to move away and explore this is okay! Allow them to sniff around and if they want to go say hi again, let them. You can also help by educating children if your puppy does these things, the child should step back or turn away. Puppies have short attention spans and when they give a cut-off signal, they may just want a break from the seemingly overwhelming social pressure. You can also desensitize your puppy to noises like fireworks by playing them at a low volume and slowly increasing the volume as long as your puppy is calm.

Points to remember: Even when using positive based training methods, it is important to understand developmental periods in order to prevent any negative experiences that may haunt your dog the rest of their life.

Proper socialization is the most important thing to do in order to protect from the most dangerous behavioral problem; aggression.

By avoiding areas where other dogs go and only exposing your puppy to dogs who are known to be up to date on vaccinations you can avoid exposing your puppy to potentially harmful diseases.

Remember to use a “Socialization Checklist” to help your puppy get use to a wide variety of things they are likely to encounter throughout life.