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In my work as a professional qualified dog trainer I come across reactivity problems in dogs far too often.   Most reactivity issues are simply a result of inefficient socialisation to things in the dogs’ environment and a lack of good training.   In this blog I would like to discuss how and when you should socialise your puppy and the pitfalls owners can fall into.

PUPPY SOCIALISATION – What does this mean?

If the term ‘Socialisation’ was changed to ‘Familiarisation’ would it give a different outlook on the whole process of introducing a puppy to the world?

The word ‘Socialisation’ seems to hold the connotation of, ‘I must get my puppy to meet everyone and play with as many other dogs as possible’, or to take the puppy everywhere, fetes, dog shows, horse shows, day boarding, over crowded training classes and so on, regardless of whether it is worried or not.   In the owners view this is done to make sure the puppy learns to like all new things and never becomes aggressive.   Makes sense, right?…Unfortunately not!

So let’s look at this from the canine point of view for a second.

The puppy is put into multiple situations which it is too young to be able to control.   It is flooded with stimuli.   The first experience of the vet it gets poked, prodded and vaccinated.   The first experience of the car its’ taken away from its mum and littermates with its new owners.   The puppy starts to gain confidence in its new home and starts to feel safe.   Next it gets taken to the park where it encounters traffic, strange noises and strangers that approach and touch the puppy, normally when it is restrained or cornered. Other dogs surround or chase it and the puppy learns to run in fear, try and turn the greeting into a game, hide behind its owner, or become submissive by rolling over onto its back urinating and wriggling around a lot.   The puppy has created lots of negative experiences already and due to a lack of choice and fear of the unknown, the puppy now becomes apprehensive of what might happen (good or bad).

There are lots of other scenarios but generally when something is out of the animals’ control it will go into an automatic response of fight, flight or freeze. When the puppy is young its fight instinct is inhibited and its main purpose is to act submissively in order to survive.   If you have a shy puppy and you socialise in this way your puppy may eventually learn to become fear aggressive.   If you have a confident pup it may learn to become a bully, or enjoy the chase games so much that when walking on the lead past other dogs it gets frustrated, resulting in barking/lunging behaviour.   This normally happens just before the age of 2 when the dog is coming into adulthood and confident enough to object to certain situations.

 

SOCIALISATION GUIDE LINES:

Your puppy needs to be introduced to things in a controlled way to ensure its safety, building confidence and choice rather than fear. This will ensure he becomes unafraid of people, places and things that he will encounter throughout his lifetime.

The most critical socialisation period occurs before the age of 12 weeks.   Unfortunately vets advise not to allow the puppy out until after its vaccinations, (normally around 12-16wks) this can cause major problems to their development.   However you can still carry your puppy out into the world to view things from a distance, or take them to friends’ houses to allow them to explore safe new environments without too much flooding of stimuli all at once.   Keep new exposures short and then go back to safety.   Generally the younger the puppy is when properly socialised, the quicker and easier it will be for him to gain confidence.

There are lots of things you will need to familiarise your new puppy to.   Different sounds, the weather, different types and ages of people, people with sticks, wheelchairs, umbrellas, different animals, textiles, traffic, household appliances and so on, the list is endless!

Each exposure to new stimuli must be fun for your puppy.   Go at your puppy’s pace and from a distance or level they can cope with.   Your puppy should be the one to initiate each approach or interaction with something new.   Your puppy should be given enough room to retreat when needed in order to feel safe.   This cannot be stressed highly enough.   Give them time to adjust and gain information from the new stimuli and leave on a positive note.   If your puppy becomes worried about a situation try to turn it into a happy event and move on.

At home your puppy may be fine with adults, children, dogs or novel objects, because this is the place where he feels most confident.   Your visitors are generally family or friends and become familiar to him, they become his extended family.   This does not mean he is fine with all people and dogs.   You need to continue positive exposure to new things, places and contexts until adulthood in order to best generalise his overall confidence.

Pair treats or toys with exposures to make positive associations.   If your puppy is worried about something it can help to make cheese, or something yummy, suddenly appear.   You can sprinkle food on the ground to give the puppy something else to think about while the distraction is happening.   If you are too close, walk back a few paces to a distance where the puppy is no longer worried and allow it to settle and watch activity from a safe distance.   If the dog will not take food (but normally does), it is a good indication that you need to back up and lessen the intensity of the exposure.

If you repeatedly put your puppy into situations where it feels vulnerable it will not look to you for safety or guidance when it is older, it will make its own decisions when under stress and act accordingly.   Likewise if you mother the puppy too much when it feels worried, or you are worried yourself about certain situations, you will communicate to your dog that there must be something to worry about!   Instead be confident, become your dogs’ role model.   By all means give reassurance but also show them that there is nothing to worry about, without forcing them into situations that they are uncomfortable with.

Just when you thought you were finished!

At around 8-10 months your young dog will go through its second fear imprint period. During this time you may see it become apprehensive of things that it previously seemed confident about, this is the stage where the dog will normally start to bark more.   It is important to keep familiarising your dog to new things during this adolescent stage.   Assure you give time and distance where needed so that you teach positive associations rather than fear or reactivity.   Remember this is the age when the dog is more confident and starting to look after itself in certain situations, it doesn’t need you as much!   Your recall will deteriorate at this stage so don’t stop the training!!

 

If you need help or advice please contact the Pet Professional Guild for a Force-Free Qualified Trainer in your area.

 

Natalie Dolton PPDTI Adv UDip CTBM IABTC C&T2 PCT-A

www.Paw-behaviour.co.uk

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