Socializing Your Dog is Important

Getting a new pet is a huge responsibility that includes ensuring health and happiness. The welfare of a living creature is not something to take lightly. Without proper socialization pets often become a burden to their owners and can't be trusted in social situations. You are responsible for the impact your pet has on your family and the rest of the world around you. A well socialized pet can enjoy outings with your family and should be included as often as possible; after all, your pet will be with you for the rest of its life. Investing your time and effort in the developmental stages of a puppy's life can make those years' happy ones.

When to Socialize
Anytime is a good time to socialize your dog however socialization between the ages of 3 and 12 weeks is often the most crucial. This is when they are at their most curious and most innocent, just like a small child. What goes into their tiny brains at this age sticks so exposing your dog to other people and animals should always result in positive rewards. Take your time and be patient. Many people try to socialize their dogs too quickly; they force it to socialize with other dogs and/or people. Forcing a dog only reinforces that other dogs and people are scary things to be avoided. Giving your puppy mass amounts of exposure during this important time in their life tends to make them friendlier and less fearful of things around them.

How and Where to Socialize Your Dog
Take puppy classes. Puppy classes are important for two reasons. One, your puppy will learn to behave and two because your puppy will be exposed to unfamiliar surroundings with unfamiliar people and animals. Consistent, frequent contact with strangers in a positive environment can enhance your dog's interaction with other people and animals in the future. When a dog is repetitively exposed to strangers and strange situations and handle it well they begin to develop a sense of self confidence. Their fears begin to lessen and they learn they can trust their owner.

There are many organizations that offer free puppy classes, don't get suckered in by Petco or other commercial company advertisements for obedience training. There's a woman in my town that provides the classes for free of charge for any dog that was rescued by the SPCA, animal shelter or merely picked up on the side of the road. For pets that were purchased through a breeder or other sources, the charge is $35 and everyone gets a graduation certificate at the end of the program. So before you sign up for classes and hand over the cash call your local shelter, rescue organization or SPCA and see if they know of a better, cheaper alternative.

Visit a dog park. More and more dog parks are popping up all over the country. Vacation resorts and national parks are more pet friendly now than they ever were before. Get out there and meet other animal lovers. Not only will you enjoy finding new friends but so will your dog. When visiting a dog park be sure to observe the rules and pay attention to whether or not your dog is trying to attack the other dogs.

If your dog is trying to attack the other dogs keep him or her on a leash. This is a clear indication of aggression and aggression is a serious problem. Do not leave a dog like this unattended and do not allow people to try to pet your dog. Not right off the bat anyway.

Most dog lovers in a dog park are more than willing to give you a hand in socializing your dog. Take your dog around and visit with a few strangers. Ask them to throw a ball for your dog or pet your dog. Introduce your dog to their dog. Do not try to make your dog be friends with another dog as this can cause a dog fight. Just like people, not all dog personalities mesh.

Take your dog with you anytime you are going to be out in public. This is a great way to teach your dog patience as well as practice socialization skills. Your dog should be able to handle small children tugging at his or her tail or putting sticky fingers in their face without so much as noticing unless you give him permission to lick the kid. By dragging your pooch everywhere you go you will be giving your dog countless opportunities to prove that they can obey you in public. This also helps them become desensitized to loud and strange discrepancies that can happen at any time, anywhere. The more desensitized to these things they become the more relaxed they are in public.

Practice at home. Call a friend that your dog hasn't met yet and invite him over to your house. When you introduce them have your friend sit or squat so that they are not so threatening to your puppy. Dogs view a person looming over them as a practice of domination. Never let your friend shove their hands in your dog's face unless you want to explain to the police why your dog bit him. Have your friend talk nicely to your dog in a high pitched voice and offer a toy. Your dog should learn to associate toys with positive experiences. Only allow your friend to pet your dog once your dog is comfortable in your friend's presence. Remember that you will need to introduce your dog to anyone that comes and goes from your home on a regular basis.

Be sensitive to what you are asking from your dog. If you push too much too quickly, your pet will only become more fearful and may feel it must defend itself. Socializing a dog is a task that takes a lot of time and patience. Thrusting your pet at every visitor and dog that you see can be counterproductive. A stranger should never be allowed to approach your dog and pet it. The first contact should always be left up to your pet. If your dog does not want to initiate contact, that is OK. Allow your dog the time to watch what's going on around them, eventually they will come out of hiding. Let your pet move at it's own pace.

Socializing Older Dogs
Socializing an adult dog is every bit as important as socializing a puppy. Too many dogs are socialized as pups, are friendly and accepting of people and as they begin to age and are less socialized turn aggressive. Dogs that miss the crucial socialization period and are never socialized after that tend to exhibit aggression and timidity and are unable to relate to other dogs. This can cause your pet to become so protective of their environment that they attack. It is far better to properly maintain socialization skills in your dog than it is to have to put your dog down because they attack someone out of fear. Dogs that bark obsessively, take on guarding behaviors and are anxiety prone are a lot of the time lacking in socialization. The number one reason for euthanasia amongst dogs is caused by lack of socialization which makes it the owners fault the majority of the time.