A Few Thoughts On Socialization, Canine & Human

* Your first days with a new puppy are for building trust and a powerful bond. Socialization can come after the first few days or week that your new puppy is with you. This trust builds the puppy’s sense of security with you and when you’re out will make you a better source of comfort should the puppy be overly stressed. Of course the whole point of socialization is to build the puppy’s/dog’s confidence by stressing them very slightly, never so much that they’re frightened.

* Carry your dog anywhere sick dogs may have been, such as pet stores or vet offices until your vet says its immune system is ready. A rule of thumb is that a puppy’s immune system takes about a week to fully respond to shots.

* Good socialization results in your puppy/dog being able to choose between ignoring new dogs or people, or engaging in healthy play on its own terms.

* Good socialization is not exposure to as many dogs and people as possible, but rather a series of positive interactions that build the puppy’s/dog’s confidence. More is not better. A string of unbroken successes is better. Remember, you are the expert, and are asking your puppy/dog to trust you to introduce it to a huge world that is full of nice and wonderful experiences, but there are also plenty of dogs that don’t meet well, many well-meaning but annoying dog lovers, and more than a few weirdos.

* Comfort your puppy immediately if something causes it to start shrieking repeatedly. This can go on for a surprisingly long time, and will keep going for a while even after you pick it up. Untended the puppy may imprint a fear experience that could have long-term consequences. But don’t intervene in situations where your puppy/dog seems to be pretty much successfully dealing with stress by submitting, hiding, etc. If it’s repeatedly hiding and then running out and engaging it is building confidence. Hiding places (under or behind something, or behind you or between your legs) can be a part of learning that most dogs and people are friendly.

* Even just carrying/having your puppy within sight of other dogs and people has a socializing effect. It doesn’t matter how far away they are as long as your puppy is not tensing up about it. Your puppy should be calm during this, else move farther away. Being 100 yards away is still helpful. Your puppy/dog usually knows where other dogs are, especially if they’re upwind. If your puppy is calm, you can slowly move a little closer and closer.

* Sometimes your height advantage or better awareness of people’s habits can allow you to spot dogs first, especially if your dog is distracted, say by sniffing. If so, you can do a stability check by carefully watching your puppy’s/dog’s response when they spot the other dog.

* We’ve had great success distracting an anxious or even fearful puppy/dog with treats while walking them past unknown dogs. Start far enough away so your pup isn’t worried about the other dog and then while distracting, walk toward the other dog(s). Turn around well before your dog tenses up. This could be a 20’ safe zone or could require 100 yards or more. Watch your dog and find out. Repeat and get a tiny bit closer each time. Once your dog has spent some time ignoring the other dogs their fear recedes and they can approach more casually. Sensory overload can also be helpful. Winding your way through a large number of dogs, while keeping far enough away can sometimes work wonders, perhaps because their attention is split so many ways and none of the dogs will be paying much attention to them. Carefully observe your puppy’s/dog’s stress level and don’t set them back by overdoing it. Remember, they’ll be reading and smelling you with incredible precision – the slightest tensing up on your part can cause them to read threats into a situation.

* Introduce to FRIENDLY unknown dogs after yours has had final shots and also to FRIENDLY, but not too friendly, unknown people. Even just taking the puppy/dog with you on chores where they see people and dogs counts a little, even through car windows. Puppies start to become less open to new experiences at around 12-16 weeks, so have weekly or more frequent outings starting early and continue through at least 15 or 18 months. Keep taking your dog out, it just doesn’t have to be as often. If you stop for a couple of years, expect the dog to become increasingly stand-offish.

* Proper manners are a must. Always insist that your dog not bully other dogs, which is can be different than excited, rough and tumble play. It depends on whether the other dog is keeping up. Likewise keep your puppy/dog away from excessively obnoxious dogs. We sometimes cross paths with a certain adult small breed dog that appears very friendly and welcoming until a puppy gets about a foot away and then lunges viciously. It only does this to puppies, not adults. Time and again we’ve seen the owner allow this. We give this pair a wide berth.

* Daycares can be too rough for some dogs, especially puppies. Monitor if possible. If there’s no way to monitor be suspicious since this is the age of cheap internet cameras. There are plenty of horror stories.

* Choose playmates for your dog or puppy carefully. Mellow adult dogs and puppies of roughly similar age, size and energy levels are ideal. Opposite gender can be a plus.

* Dogs just exploring and hanging out together is great socialization. They don’t have to be running and playing.

* To reduce pressure on the puppies and give them time to feel comfortable you can distract the more experienced dogs by talking to and petting them.

*  Try to build a network of friends with friendly dogs and puppies for play, though a major part of socialization is meeting new dogs and new people.

* Always end sessions on a positive note, which means keeping them short, especially with small puppies. You don’t want anyone getting tired and have a melt down! If anything does go wrong, de-escalate and create some positives before leaving, if possible.

* Holding back a dog with a leash or dragging your pup toward another dog will increase fear and defensiveness. Try to socialize without a leash. Initially meeting on either side of a chain-link fence can give you a chance to observe body language and predict how things will go.

* When socializing older dogs that are running free it can help to distract less experienced dogs with treats or by throwing sticks or balls. Throw enough in different directions to avoid any resource guarding. One stick can cause competition, but 10 sticks or balls constantly thrown just gets the dogs running around, side-by-side. They’re still aware of each other, but also focused on you & what you’re doing. You need a lot of sticks and balls to pull this off!

* Remember, your dog has a personality. While they all need good manners and to be stable in almost all situations, we shouldn’t expect them to pretend to like things they don’t. A GSD breed characteristic is that they bond tightly with their family and can be a little stand-offish with other people.

* Your puppy/dog does not have to tolerate being gushed over by every passing stranger if they don’t enjoy that.

* Be wary of other people’s efforts to socialize their dogs using your dogs or children. Of course you have every right to refuse. There are horror stories.

* It’s a treat to hear Dr. Gayle Watkins on PureDogTalk (episode 555) discussing socialization and fear imprint periods/sensitive periods. From that episode:

– Socialization is building[, and building the ability to build,] social relationships with people and dogs, and with cats and livestock if possible.

– Socialization is not “a checklist thing”. Think through your plan for socializing and developing your puppy. Remember, you are not developing the puppy in the book, or your previous puppy. Your new puppy is unique. Watch and see what works.

– Avoid the expectation that every dog of every breed should be as friendly as a Lab. Not every dog will love every dog and person in the world.

* Jane Messineo Lindquist, author of Puppy Culture, also has a lot of great ideas on socializing your puppy:

– Puppies need to observe, feel safe, and be free to engage withdraw as they want.

– Allow puppies to engage on their own – don’t lure or encourage them. Successful decisions, self-made, are best for growing confidence.

– Giving the young pup lots of encouragement can reinforce their timidity. Don’t train them to wait for you to tell them to engage, train them to use their own judgement. Reward them after they do something hard or courageous. “Good puppy!”

– Introduce dogs in a spacious area so they’re free to approach or withdraw as they choose. Dogs only learn and grow from their choices.

– Give young dogs some way to hide, like a fence they can get through but the older dog can’t or low tables that only they can run under. Or squat down, allowing the puppy to run under you or hide behind you.

– Dogs don’t generalize very well, so you’ll want to expose them to different kinds of dogs & people – large & small, male & female, dogs with ears that stand and with ears that flop, people with hats and coats, etc.