I MUST Socialise my Puppy!
I MUST Socialise my Rescue Dog!!
Em, yes, well, but.... please take care to ensure that your pet doesn't become frightened or overwhelmed by the experience.
Socialisation is NOT forcing your dog or puppy to go to a training class where they bark, whine, lunge at other dogs or hide under the seat.
Socialisation is NOT making sure that everyone holds your puppy.
Socialisation is NOT impossible before the puppy vaccination period is passed.
Socialisation IS probably one of the most misunderstood aspects of dog behavioural needs.
And, I’m thinking that socialisation may be
something that new xmas pet owners are thinking about just now. Unfortunately,
this term is one of those mis-understood aspects of dog ownership. Most tend to
think that socialisation is about getting dogs and puppies out and letting them
loose to play with each other.
Unfortunately this can all too frequently
go wrong. Yes of course we want dogs to meet up with each other. But what’s
most important is that we ensure that we organise these meetings so that we
don’t expose any dog or puppy to any fear or indeed over-excitement. Canine
introductions really need to be handled very carefully to ensure that we don’t
introduce any unwanted behaviours or expose our dogs to a situation where they
may feel cornered and may become aggressive or bolt away from you. In fact,
this is exactly what has happened to many of the dogs we see on the lost dogs
listings.
First, if we think about puppies,
socialisation is much broader than just introducing them to other dogs. They
need to be carefully exposed to all sorts of objects, noises and other animals
and people in a calm and careful way to help them learn to ignore noises and to
be calm and happy around people and animals.
We also need to take care considering
socialisation for many rescue dogs and especially imported rescues. Many dogs
will be quite anxious and need some time simply to adjust to their new environment
and learn to trust you. Even if you do want them to meet other dogs straight
away, always keep rescues on lead for a while until you can be sure that they
won’t bolt away from frightening situations.
The third confusion is when pet owners want
to socialise a barky or aggressive dog
at a training class. Unfortunately, this can be the worst thing to do. Indeed,
barky dogs may calm down after a few weeks at class (after disrupting the
others). But highly excited or scared or anxious dogs are not able to actually
focus on learning what you want. The best approach here is to get some 1-1 help
and help and to build their confidence through training and behaviour exercises
and with various mentally stimulating games. Then they will be more likely to
be able to cope in more distracting environments like classes.
There’s lots more information and detail on
socialisation on Pawsability.co.uk. It’s also one of the topics discussed in
the book Dogz Thinkz Differentz (available on Amazon) which clarifies many
confused areas of dog behaviour including dominance and stubbornness. Read more about Dogz Thinkz Differentz here.
As always,
please do just call or email anna@pawsability.co.uk
for help with your dog or puppy training and behaviour questions, especially if you live in the Scottish Highlands. Otherwise, please contact ICAN International Certified Behaviourists for help
For help from a dog behaviourist in Scotland, from Aberdeen to Inverness and the Highlands, please contact www.PawsAbility.co.uk
First Published in the Northern Times, Jan 19
Author - Anna Patfield
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