Socialising your dog

Socialisation is something that is ongoing throughout a dogs life but must be tackled intensively when a dog is a puppy.  Between the ages of 6-12 weeks your puppy is at his peak for accepting new experiences as normal – this period is called the critical period – and it is just that – critical.   

When socialising your dog you must introduce your dog to as many things as possible in a positive, calm and confident way.  You must show your dog that there is nothing to fear about certain objects – especially different types of people and dogs, and you must show your dog how to behave around all these situations.  If you don’t know how you want your dog to behave I suggest standing in a dog park and watch the other dogs and what they are doing to decide what you find desirable or not and aim for that.  For example, if you find dogs that run up to every dog and person appealing then you should encourage your dog to meet every person and dog that you come across, if on the other hand you would prefer your dog to ignore other people and dogs then you should not allow your dog to meet every one, instead choosing selectively the dogs and people that you would like him to meet.  Never stop your puppy from interacting with new people and dogs completely as he may become unsociable and even aggressive later on in life.   

When socialising your dog make sure you expose him to as many different breeds of dog as possible;  there are many different shapes and sizes of dogs and more importantly many different tails, ears and coat types.  As dogs use body language to communicate so it is important that your dog learns to accept these differences as just that and not accidentally interpret a high proud tail of an akita as an aggressive stance, similarly the low tail of the greyhound could be wrongly interpreted as submission, or a very fluffy Samoyed as having heckles raised.  The best way to do this is to take your dog to a place where many dogs are walked, you could also take your dog with you to the pet shop (many pet shops are very happy for you to bring your dog), also check with your vet to see if there are any socialisation classes in your area – your vet may even run one themselves. 

You will also need to socialise your dog with many different types of people; people come in all shapes, ages and sizes too, but some people push trolleys, walk with sticks, some are in motability scooters, some have umbrellas, glasses and hats and there is one place where you can find all these different types of people – the supermarket.  Whilst you will unlikely be allowed to take your dog into the shop, just standing in the car park and watching the world go by with your dog is a good way of showing him that these different people are all normal and should be accepted as such.  Again, if you want your dog to ignore most people that he comes across try to discourage too many people from coming over and petting him – easier said than done if you have a particularly cute puppy, but try your best!

As well as people and dogs, you will also have to introduce your puppy to household noises such as the hoover and washing machine, different walking surfaces like grass, pavement, laminate floor and carpet, and traffic and outdoor noises such as fireworks.  Depending on where you are you may also have to introduce your dog to live stock such as cows and sheep.  When doing this type of socialisation you should take your dog on a lead near to these things (close enough that he can see and hear them) and encourage him first to have a good look and then to stand with his back to them, this will show him that you want him to ignore them.  Try to stand with him for as long a time as possible so the experience really sinks in. 

Whenever you are socialising your puppy it is important that he shows no fear, if this happens – do not try to comfort him – this will act as a reward and your puppy will think that he is right to be afraid, instead take him a little further away from the object and try again, once he is comfortable you can start to reduce the distance between him and the object again.

If you are socialising an older dog from scratch he will have already learned to fear some objects, in which case his reaction will be to either stand still, fight or run away from an object.  The first thing to do is to stop any flight or fight reaction – do this by keeping your dog on a short lead while training (use a muzzle if you have any concerns about your dogs reaction) and start by standing with him at a distance where he is out of his comfort zone but not freaking out, stand there until he starts to look bored – look for signs like lip licking and yawning, these are good signs that your dog is thinking and that he is trying to calm down (this could take minutes or hours, depending on the dog and the situation)  once he looks more relaxed move him a little closer to the object – just taking him out of his comfort zone again and keep going like this until he has accepted the object will not hurt him.  This could proceed an inch at a time or 10 feet at a time depending on how afraid your dog is of an object – don’t rush it.  Whilst you are standing with your dog try not to give him any attention at all, don’t talk to him, stare at him or touch him – especially not to reassure him.  Comforting is a human reaction to stress and is completely natural, it is not natural for a dog though and you may just end up encouraging an anxious response by rewarding it with your attention, just being there with him will give him confidence and as he starts to calm down he will realise that you are not afraid and this will give him even more confidence and will enable him to face his fears and get over them.  If you have any concerns about doing this with your dog then seek a professional to help you and show you how to do it right. 

Examples of things you should socialise your dog with – this list is not exhaustive, please add your own