Puppy Socialization: Are we training our puppies to be afraid?!

  As many of you decide to get puppies this holiday season, I felt it would be a great time to talk about the subject of socialization. Socialization is simply getting your puppy out and about at a young age and helping it learn how to cope with different situations. The more of this you do early on, the more stable your dog's personality will become. Below you will find some of the biggest misconceptions about socializing your new puppy.

1. If I have another dog, I do not need to socialize my puppy

Many people own one dog and decide to get it a companion so they go out and get a new puppy. Having two dogs can be a great thing, however, it does not get you out of the responsibility of socializing your new bundle of fur. I have many owners tell me, "Oh well my puppy doesn't need to be socialized to other dogs because I have two other dogs at home." Well, that’s not exactly accurate. That would be like saying your child does not need to go to school to learn social skills because you have more than one child. Just like children, dogs need to learn how to adapt to many different types of dogs with different personalities, not just their own family members!

2. When my puppy gets scared I scoop him up and comfort him

This mistake is VERY common among dog owners. The reason being that we as humans instinctively want to comfort something that is scared or anxious. Unfortunately, dogs misread these cues and many times the fear or anxiety becomes worse. Let's think about it this way, your dog sees something it is worried about and looks to you for guidance. You immediately scoop him up into your arms (taking him away from what scared him) and comfort him (usually petting and verbal affirmation). Dogs do not understand the words we are saying, only our body language and tone. This means that comforting from us is interpreted by our dogs as praise. We are essentially telling them that they were justified in feeling anxious and are strengthening their fears. Properly socializing them to things they are afraid of requires us to be encouraging them to face those fears (as long as they are not dangerous) not comforting and removing them from the situation.

3. I don’t want to socialize my puppy until he has all of his vaccinations

While being concerned about your puppies health is certainly important, there is such a thing as being overly cautious and missing out on the most effective age window for socialization. Puppies socialize the best between 8 to 12 weeks because at this age their curiosity outweighs their fear. In other words, when they see a new stimulus, at this age they are more curious of it than afraid of it. Making it easier for them to adapt to new situations. As puppies get older, their survival instincts kick in and their fear begins to trump their curiosity. Older puppies/dogs, tend to be afraid of new things more than they are curious of them. When looking at places to socialize your puppy before it has had all its shots you should  look for places that can be easily disinfected (concrete or tile floors=good, parks or grassy areas=not as good).These places should also have enforced vaccination policies ensuring that, not only your puppy has received age appropriate vaccines, but also all other dogs present have received age appropriate vaccines as well.  It is my opinion as a dog trainer, and NOT as a veterinarian, that puppies should have at least one of their puppy shots (preferably two), before going out into public and that if you wait until they have received ALL puppy shots at 3 months, or even worse  wait until they have also had their rabies vaccination at 4-6 months, you have missed that crucial socialization period.  However, this is a decision that you and your veterinarian should make together, taking into consideration the above information.

4. I take my dog to the off leash park for socialization

Off Leash Parks can be a great place to take your dog for exercise and advanced level socialization. However, they are NOT a good location for beginning socialization for a few reasons. The first is that these parks rarely have enforced vaccination policies and are certainly not easily disinfected areas so they can be a sketchy place to take a puppy who has not received all it's puppy vaccinations. The second, and biggest, reason I do not recommend off leash parks for socializing your young dog is the unpredictability of these parks. When first socializing your puppy to new situations you want to have at least some control over what kind of experience your puppy will have. Our goal is to show our new puppy that the world is a fun place to be and that we can be trusted to take them into safe situations. Dog parks do not allow this kind of control. Most will think the fact that the dogs are not on leash is the issue but in fact, many dogs socialize better off leash. However, the difficult part of dog parks is that no one monitors who is allowed into them. At some doggie day cares, they carefully interview dogs, making sure they will not bully other dogs or become aggressive. This protocol does not exist at the dog park. Anyone owning a dog can partake in the facility and not everyone's furry friends are nice. I've seen owners whose dogs are clearly making other dogs uncomfortable and the owner is oblivious. Because there is no telling what kind of temperaments you can run into at one of these off leash parks, its best to get your socialization in more predictable locations such as a dog day care facility, a training class because the dogs are more likely to go through some sort of screening process. Even taking your puppy to a local pet supply store is more appealing than a dog park because all dogs are required to be leashed. This should not intimidate you to the point of keeping your dog under lock in key, rather, it should give you some points to consider when choosing good socialization areas.

5. Don't be fooled by the "freshly weaned puppy syndrome"

Many new owners bring home 6-8 week old puppies and ,within the first few weeks of ownership, decide that they lucked into the best dog ever! Their new puppy sleeps peacefully next to them most of the time, when it does wake up, it loves playing with you and cuddling and simply being near you. It doesn't exhibit many bad habits and doesn’t seem to mind new things being introduced to it. The above sequence should sound familiar to all the parents out there. When I brought my son home from the hospital he slept almost all day and when he wasn’t sleeping, he was completely content with gazing lovingly into my eyes and cuddling all day. I thought, "How great is this parenting thing?!" and then he started crawling! As soon as he had his own mode of transportation, I was not nearly as important as before. Now he is getting into EVERYTHING and creating all sorts of mischief!  Puppies are the exact same way. When freshly weaned they will spend most of their time resting, however, once they get a little older, they will start to become more independent and have stronger opinions about new situations. Even if your puppy seems perfect at first, don't let it fool you into thinking that socialization, or training for that matter, are not necessary. Putting the time and effort in early, before they begin showing signs of fear or other bad behaviors, will actually save you a lot of energy once they get a little older. Think of it this way, isn't it easier to never begin a bad behavior than to stop a behavior you have already began (ie. It is much easier to not start smoking than it is to quit smoking).

So get out there and socialize those puppies! Camo Cross Dog Training has Puppy classes available to help you with socialization and training of your new bundle of fur! For more information, check out our website: www.camocrossdogtraining.com