Puppy Socialization

 

It is extremely important to socialize your puppy while he is still young.  It is common for adult dogs to be wary of novel things.  This is an instinct that helped to keep dogs alive in the wild - it’s much safer to be afraid of something new than to approach it like it’s your best friend.  Fear in adult dogs is a combination of genetics, early puppy socialization experiences, and any traumatic events that might have occurred in that dog’s life.  Since you can’t change your puppy’s genetics, your role is to ensure that your puppy is properly socialized and to try to prevent any traumatic events from occurring.  Puppies have a window of opportunity where they are open to new experiences.  The critical socialization period lasts from 3 weeks until 16 weeks of age.  If properly socialized during this window your puppy will learn to have positive associations with the things they were exposed to.  If you miss this window, you will need to put  more effort into socialization at a later age and fixing fear issues can be an even more significant task.

                            

But my vet says to not take my puppy anywhere until he has all his shots?  It’s a vet’s job to ensure that your puppy not get sick - the best way to do this is to not take him anywhere.  As a trainer, my job is to make sure that your puppy grows up to be a well adjusted dog with no behavior problems.  The best way to do this is to take your puppy everywhere and give him tons of positive experiences with all kinds of different people, animals, environments and situations.  In my opinion, the right answer is somewhere in between the two.  I would not take my puppy to anyplace that has unknown dogs - such as a dog park.  However, I would take my puppy to places where there have been few dogs, or dog’s that I know are well cared for and healthy.  Another safe way to take your puppy out is to carry him or put him in a stroller.  Puppy classes that are held indoors are a great place to socialize your puppy.  So is a coffee shop on a weekend morning (you can hold your puppy in your lap if you want to be extra safe).

 

But I got a retriever (or insert other extremely friendly breed here) because they love all people and dogs...  It is still important to socialize your dog.  I have seen many adult retrievers that have fear issues.  The most extreme was a golden retriever that I fostered that had not been in a house the first few years of his life.  It was a very long process to get him used to household noises like tvs, dishwashers, bathroom fans, printers, etc.  I socialized my younger dog quite a bit as a puppy, but I still occasionally find things that frighten him - he was quite scared of “Sharkie” the San Jose Sharks mascot, he’s very unsure about dog’s wearing clothing, and it took him a few minutes to realize that the garden gnomes at a friend’s house were not going to attack him.  These are items that I did not cover in his early socialization process!

 

How much socialization is enough?  Do as much as you possibly can!  Ian Dunbar (author of After you Get Your Puppy and founder of Sirius Puppy Training) recommends that your dog meet 100 new people by the age of 3 months.  Take your puppy to lots of places and make sure he has a positive experience.  Take lots of tasty treats and feed them to your puppy as he experiences the world.  Make sure he meets lots of different types of people and is exposed to different surfaces and situations.  If there is a situation you expect to put your puppy in later in life, expose him to that situation now.  If you want to do pet therapy work make sure he meets people in wheel chairs, with walkers, etc; if you plan to have children, make sure he meets children of all ages; etc.

 

What do I do if my puppy is afraid of something?  Don’t force your puppy to “meet” the scary thing.  Stay at a distance your puppy is comfortable and feed your puppy lots of treats.  Allow him to approach the scary thing at his own pace.  You can encourage the approach by tossing treats towards the scary thing if his curiosity does not overtake his fear quickly. 

 

What if my dog is older than 4 months and past the socialization period?  If your puppy is just past the window, I would recommend doing the socialization as if he were younger.  This window is an average and not all puppies have the window close at the same time.  For all ages, as long as the socialization is a positive experience, you will be doing good.  The big advantage to socializing while the puppy is still in this critical period is that you can make a big difference with minimal effort.  After the window is closed it can take significantly more effort and experiences for your dog to learn that a certain stimulus is not scary.  If you have a dog that is extremely shy or fearful of new experiences, you should consider doing some private sessions with a trainer to learn how to best introduce your dog to these scary things.

 

Following are some suggestions of things to make sure you expose your puppy to:

 

People: men, women, teenagers, children, toddlers, babies.  Hats, beards, glasses, jackets, umbrellas.  Large people, small people, people with limps or odd gaits, people of different races.

 

Animals: small dogs, big dogs, dogs without tails, dogs wearing clothing, cats, farm animals.

 

Vehicles: bicycles, skateboards, motorcycles, trucks, garbage trucks, boats

 

Surfaces: grass, hardwood floors, carpet, walking over grates, slippery floors

 

Locations: beach, vet office, school at recess (noisy children), shopping mall, other people’s houses

 

General household noises: vacuums, hair dryers, tvs, printers, fans

 

REMEMBER: This is something that needs to be done while the puppy is young!  You can spend a short amount of time preventing future problems.  Teaching a puppy to not be afraid of something as an adult can be a difficult and extremely lengthy process.