As an example, consider the well-meaning but potentially dangerous recommendations to "Touch his feet and ears a lot so he gets used to handling," and "Play with his food while he's eating so he learns that is okay. Any time a puppy is not actively enjoying the socialization experience at least by the end—it's okay if he learns to overcome a short challenge , there is the potential for doing more harm than good. Refer to the checklist in the sidebar for key points to a good socialization experience.
What if you have an adult dog? Maybe you made some socialization mistakes, or you inherited a bad socialization legacy along with the dog. In either case, socialization experiences aren't as they should be.
Is there hope? Yes, of course there's hope! But mistakes happen in the name of socialization with grown dogs, too. I get a lot of phone calls that run like this:.
Note: This phrase is the most poisoned of cues for a professional trainer. It indicates either a dedicated dog owner trying hard to do everything right, or an owner in denial regarding potentially dangerous behavior. Can you tell me exactly what you're looking for? Sometimes his hair stands up. So we know he needs socialization. He sounds like he gets pretty worked up? Tell you what, let's do a private session…". He needs to learn to be around other dogs.
Yes, that dog needs to learn to be around other dogs. But he's probably not going to learn well in a group class. A dog with an over-the-top reaction is a dog too aroused to think clearly, process information, and retain knowledge for later.
In short, that dog is not going to learn, and I'd be wasting your time and money if I took that dog in a group class! Recently I had a client who did not want to waste time on a foundation lesson, who wanted to have the first lesson in the trigger situation.
I explained that this was equivalent to taking a brand-new student driver onto the interstate and then trying to explain gear shifts, turn signals, and left and right pedals—all at 65 mph. It's essential to have skills under stress; therefore, you have to learn them before you're under stress.
So my client took a few weeks to practice the basic skills first. In her second session she was utterly amazed as her large mastiff-type dog, a dog she could no longer walk due to the strength required to restrain his reactive lunging, lay quietly on a mat and responded to cues. He was aware of a second dog, but stable and focused.
Yes, it was worth it. Learning happens in a mind that is still engaged. It's important to start teaching the dog new behaviors while he is still under threshold—and that's not going to be in a room with five other new dogs. Not everyone recognizes the necessity of a foundation and of incremental steps. Instead, well-meaning owners, often thinking they're doing the right thing in "socializing," put their dogs and other humans and dogs in unfair situations—and sometimes even in danger.
Most of these environments violate key points of the good-socialization checklist: the dog has no escape route and he cannot chose to leave and return of his own volition. Many people won't leave the trail mid-run or go home from the street fair after only twenty minutes if the dog is overwhelmed. So, the exposure continues and the dog gets more aroused.
By the end he is really confirmed in his reactions. Other people attending a community event did not sign up to rehabilitate a troubled dog; they came to enjoy a social outing. Putting a stressed dog in their midst neither helps the dog nor enhances attendees' enjoyment. At best, it only confirms public opinion that dogs are often nuisances and should be banned from public areas.
At worst, it creates more problems for the dog and puts others in danger. And while we were working feverishly to prevent fears and bad behaviors from developing, many very severe issues began overtaking our well socialized pup, including but not limited to separation anxiety, very serious human aggression and reactivity towards other dogs.
Well, not in the traditional sense. I take my puppies places often. And yet, I consistently raise very confident and driven dogs. And not only that, I regularly turn very timid puppies or puppies with severe issues ahem…. Shank around and boost their confidence so that they actually work…. No one really talks about this. To my point, I have two dogs that are closely related.
Both are anti social with strangers. The older one came to work with me every day at a very busy doggy daycare and got tons of exposure. The other got none.
Both lack social graces with strangers. I have another dog from different lines who came to me at 7 weeks old. And this puppy is a social butterfly. Absolutely perfect with other dogs, people and kids and totally trustworthy with everyone he meets.
Her daughter was raised by someone else. And she was a dog park dog — extensively socialized. Still think it is a coincidence? What if I told you that within that line, aggression between females consistently happens right around maturity?
And what about this one? My puppy is LOUD, barks like crazy and went through a resource guarding phase when he was young. And so did his brother. And so did his other brother. And their other brother did too. All raised in different homes, with different people and different rules. All with the same behavior. A LOT of social issues or lack thereof are genetically inherited.
Social dogs are social dogs. Check the blog lately. Think about it. If teach my puppy that every time we are in public he gets all sorts of affection and attention from every person he sees, and if I teach my puppy that every dog is a playmate, why would he want to engage with me? In fact, in most exchanges, unless you are really good at this socialization thing, you simply become the person that is holding your dog back from all of the fun things in the world.
People and other dogs become background noise. They are just there…. So remember when I told you that story about the bleachers? Yeah…well, I saw that dog the other day, and guess who is afraid of the bleachers? Puppies are young and impressionable. And at a young and tender age, they are quite impressionable.
So extensive socialization can very easily end up doing more harm than good. So what do I do? And my puppy is learning in an environment that is familiar. We can explore obstacles out and about once my puppy has had a chance to grow up a bit. Just not in the traditional sense. Instead, I take my puppies places and focus my attention on fun engagement and focus games, and teaching the mechanics of strategic gameplay.
When we are out and about, we simply PLAY…. And listen — I never push the issue. I want them to grow and toughen a bit. I want them to build their relationship and trust in me, and I want to spend time building their drive and engagement so that they know the games before I start playing them in public.
Now you may still be skeptical. Crash is a Malinois who came to me as a young puppy — his owners having aspirations of him becoming a police dog. As time passed, Crash stayed terrified of the world. And one evening at training, I uncovered his intense fear of PVC as I picked up a piece that was laying on the field. But instead of pursuing the traditional socialization techniques to get Crash over his fears, I simply let him grow up.
I just let him be a dog. If I was going to have to resort to training to get him over his insecurities, I wanted him to be mature enough to handle it. He is now 10 months old and I just finally put him back into training. No fear at all. And this was his first session back with ZERO socialization or exposure efforts in between…. I took him to the beach once. But otherwise, he just hung around the house, went for walks around the neighborhood, and simply grew up. I am confident that if I would have socialized Crash, or tried to push the issue of getting him over his insecurities at all, regardless of how confident I am in my abilities, he would have crumbled and I would be faced with the task not of training a dog for work, but instead rehoming a chicken of a dog who was afraid of his own shadow.
At least not in the traditional sense. Instead, my focus is on teaching engagement. Teaching my puppy that I am the BEST thing in his world, and building his work ethic so that the world in essence becomes background noise.
And that he can trust me. And that I am fun. So judge away. And disagree. Meagan has been training dogs professionally since , most recently working with private security, military and law enforcement to provide K9s for high level applications. She owns both The Collared Scholar, an online dog training academy, and Security Services, a company that trains and deploys Executive Security and Protection K9s to private customers.
Wow , great article, i went through the same experiences with previous dogs i have owned. I really liked the article, but I do have a question as it relates to conformation dogs. You need a performance dog completely keyed into you.
No distractions, no matter what…. How does this translate to those of us with conformation dogs who must be able to be handled by complete strangers at any time i. So how would you train a soft tempered somewhat shy companion dog? In my breed, males, even those with sound genetics behind them seem to be predisposed to being shy and resource guarding of family members, unless handled early. They seem unwilling to allow anyone but one or two of their family members touch, handled interact with them.
You can spot a dog who has not been handled outside of its own home a mile away. Looking for suggestions. While far different than conformation, in my sport too, my dog must be handled by others in some in my opinion pretty offensive ways i. For my dogs, I teach this as an obedience exercise and practice often. But I do this once the dog is older and can tolerate it, staring slow and rewarding frequently. A quick touch followed by a reward, working my way up to asking the dog to tolerate more between rewards, always cautious of stress thresholds and always working to stay below them.
I do short frequent sessions followed by lots of play. I could speak with you. Send me an email at meagan collared-scholar. My male is just that: very friendly and out going. I took him everywhere with me for first 20 months or so.
I only ended it when I got my second dog. My second dog was a holdout for the ring but after the final consideration, she was cut. Both are great dogs, both bred for the ring, but both cut in the end. She is also very friendly and outgoing. They are Aussies. This was an interesting article.
The pup came from a very experienced show breeder. The first few days with the pup were a bit stressful. He seemed to have more anxiety than I anticipated. Hysterically, the only thing he showed significant fear of, was an ice cream truck.
He mostly just monitors things from afar, with basic curiosity, and decent confidence. He loves people and goes right up to them, tail wagging. I never force him farther than he wants to go. If he is still nervous, I just take him home.
To me, this seems like a good way to do things. I feel like bringing him into a room with a dozen crazy puppies and people could easily tun into a negative experience, that could do more harm than good. Sounds to me just like the way papa nature does it. Whippets are velcro dogs in my opinion. Mine was easy and outgoing, but hated strange situations unless he was attached to me: shot clinics, baths, stuff like that. Walking, playing, being handled by a known handler for show… no worries1. When I got her she was supposed to be humble but was frightened to do everything.
Outside, inside, people and all. But she knew I was Mom. I took her to a dog park and the dogs tried to mount her at 5 months. And now youre going to have to put up with an aggressive dog for the rest of your life or until pink juice lol.
Ive been doing this approach since i got my puppy.. Malinois, male. Im not a trainer…just an owner. This article is going to help me u derstand just what it actually is that im doing. Let his instinct influence what i do. Many things mentioned in this article, he just does.
Inhabe a few issues i want to work through and may actually need a trIner for but in the meantime i am going to let him work at his pace and help steer his drive. I hyper socialized my search dog in only one way, when we went on walks my pockets were full of cookies, and if I saw a trusted person I made sure my puppy saw me give that person a cookie to share with the puppy.
That was the dog I wanted. He succeeded every obstacle with joy and power and laughed together with me through his whole life. The example of the puppy on the bleachers is not an example of socialization it is a poor example of Habituation.
In fact it sounds more like flooding. So many people misunderstand socialization. The point about genetics is all very well but what about all those cross breeds? What about rescued dogs with no antecedents? I completely hear you. The problem is, your definition of correct socialization is not the widely accepted one.
The widely accepted version encourages people to take their dogs out and get them interacting with people and other dogs consistently. So they hear socialization and they make ALOT of mistakes. There is never a time when I find the traditional and widely accepted notion of socialization to be beneficial. And regardless of genetic make up, I will always practice guarded socialization with a focus on engagement and work ethic.
I find it to be most productive and what I always advocate as a safe alternative to traditional socialization.
We have started fostering a rescue puppy who we have no knowledge of her life up to being rescued in a kill shelter at approx 4 months old. Should we continue to just get her entirely comfortable in one aspect before trying to move on to anything else? She is likely about 5. Best of luck to you! With that history I would imagine they are a nightmare at the vets office, unable to cope in a crowded group setting off lead i.
I would bet no stranger could help catch them. They may look great in the ring but are they really adequately equipped for LIFE?! Has a point though.. Hence my need for so e professional help and advise. I never stoped to think about it seriously, But you tickeled my mind about 2 dogs reared in a far away backwoods and when we arrived these pups now yesrs old were social as a priest, of coarse they bark upon arrival they snif us and became friends.
In this same litter, 2 females were put down ,owners had bad time socialising them , lived in city. Cool article and it actually makes a lot of sense. I can, however, think of plenty of situations where puppy kindergarten made already fearful dogs even MORE fearful of other dogs as they were forced into those situations and expected to interact.
Another great article, Meagan. So many good points. I love your writing skills as well. Fun, agile and to the point. Thanks so much for writing this Meagan… your experience mirrors mine in so many ways. I have yet to wash out a puppy or adult dog.
The common denominators have been the same elements you described: Genetics they are all descended from my original service dog , protecting the puppies from flooding during sensitive periods, building a trusting relationship with me and a few other dog smart people, assuring that any dog to dog interactions are with dogs well known to be excellent puppy raisers, and most of all, giving the puppies time to mature both physically and emotionally in a consistent environment that is fun, safe, and rich with confidence building and problem solving games.
By the time they are older and ready to work in new environments, the transition is entirely seamless. They have had no problems with new environments or distractions. After training is largely completed, some of the dogs have remained with me to work as my service dogs, and other have been placed with other individuals who need assistance.
Those dogs have all transitioned to their new people very easily. That said, I also feel puppy socials ARE actually valuable, but that the vast majority are run poorly and with no focus on engagement and unfortunately often a full on free-for-all with no steps to protect a fearful dog.
I honestly feel really proud of our groups, but we take great strides to move very slowly and spend at least half, sometimes most of the session working on engagement. This was an amazing article, I really enjoyed reading and it makes so much sense. I never would have thought that over socializing a puppy could lead to those issues. I recently read a behavioral study that I wish I could find again, but it essentially stated that socialization is massively important for puppies — even to the degree that it is best to socialize now, and train them later, because there is a window in their development that will close forever if you fail to teach them boundaries and manners.
It stated that allowing your puppy to organically experience the world around them and learn from it is key to having a healthy adult dog. How can isolating your dog from all other animals ever help them from learning how to interact with them on a healthy level? Forcing your puppy to do things that scare them is bad. Socialization is not. I work with dogs for a living and the ones that give me the most problems are the dogs that were never properly socialized with dogs or people.
Perhaps since you only have bred dogs, and as you said genetics is the biggest factor, that is why your puppies never need to be around other dogs?
In my experience, the average puppy absolutely needs to be socialized. He cannot play with other dogs. He is not aggressive; he is just WAY too boisterous. He ignores warnings and body language and continues to jump all over the other dog and needs to be removed. As I suspected, he was an only dog and had limited contact with other canines as he grew up and his owners indulged him whenever he wanted attention.
He barely handles being left alone. Thanks so much for your comment. I want to clarify that I am not a breeder. I am a trainer and have raised over puppies for working applications from different breeders and have trained over pet dogs over the course of my career — all different breeds.
It has been my experience that a focus on engagement and building drive and work ethic is more productive. Thank you for the thought provoking article. I believe relationship and confidence building are very important topics.
When train working dogs, do you have a specific method by which you transfer the strong bond you created to a new handler? Do you teach handlers specific techniques? Once a dog places high value on the one to one bond, they probably seek that with other handlers in your absence?
But given the confidence we build, the transfer tends to go pretty smoothly. Meagan, You are very informative and I can appreciate your input. I believe one of the key points you made and not many people may see that highlighted is: Genetics.
With that said, my Belgium Malinois have always had exceptional responses to other people and dogs and it had nothing to do with not socializing. I read your comment and will say the absolutely greatest dog I have for social skills is an intact male GSD who was only socialized with a handful my own and one other of reliable adult dogs when he was a young pup who, themselves, were working dogs who were dog neutral.
If he meets dogs, the genetic hardwiring and maybe the limited exposure to my own adult dogs as he was a puppy is there and he has the basic social graces. He is not bothered by snarky dogs.
As a puppy, I always put me between him and strange dogs. In the past I had dogs who had puppy classes, puppy playtime etc. I wound up with fear reactive dogs or dogs who could not do obedience because what they really wanted was to play with other dogs. I absolutely find truth in this article. Perhaps it depends some on your goals. I cannot tell you how many compliments I get about his wonderful temperament. After years of having past dogs with issues, I am definitely sold.
I will say I did have more controlled interaction with people for him but Search dogs do have to spend a lot of time engaging with people. Agree, though, genetics is a large part of it as well.
So so true. I have learned on my current dog. My saving grace is that I have a huge play relationship from early on.
And the genetics affecting it all? So much yes! In credibly interesting article.. Definate food for thought your clearly getting sound results.. Well done brilliant work and commitment to getting the best out of our four legged companions. Have you worked with Rough Collies and would you still recommend your socialization approach?
Thank you. I do advocate this approach for any breed. But always keep the focus on you. Thank you! Her litter was very fussy and she seemed to be reactive. I took her to a puppy class for socialization. A Chelsie X fresh out of the shelter came tearing over to her.
With a lot of work, I can take her out but I hypermanage situations because she cannot handle it. Her older half-sister was never taken to be socialized and has leaned that agility people have treats. Bryn is the happiest dog with a terrific disposition genetics.
Per the breed standard, Bryn is cautious with people. At agility trials, the number of people who think all dogs should play and be friendly drives me nuts. As long as my dogs are not attacking other dogs or people, they can stick by my side without interacting with every dog. I am getting a new puppy tomorrow.
We will go to the park, etc aND just hang out with some good treats. Her parents have good dispositions and we will be fine! Yes yes yes! But kudos to you for all of the really great hard work you put in! Love it! And I agree with the OP this trait is inherited.
If you do not have your puppy yet make sure the parents are confident and social. I let the puppy explore. Alva was a very social little puppy. She wanted to meet everyone. I was no one to say no. She liked most dogs as much. I took her to places. The busy streets in the middle of the city, the railway station, public traffic pets allowed here and so on.
She was not afraid of anything except a barking big dog she could not see. After an excursion day I usually gave her a day off or two and only walked her in familiar environment. I wanted to be sure she would not be overstimulated and had enough rest. I tried to make sure she had only good or neutral experiences with people and dogs.
She had a puppy playmate. I had already started her obedience training and when she once ran off to another dog without permission I arranged a lesson where she learned that I am better than other dogs. She does not know how to ask permission but I try to teach my dogs that they are not allowed to run everywhere on a whim and that if I say here they have to come.
At that point I should have addressed her excessive playing with their younger dog P for P later developed resentment towards her. P is shy and a bit nervous. Their older dog was a good lesson though. She did not like puppies so when Alva approached, Netta the Tervueren gave her one freezing glare. Some dogs are so stressed that they have a difficult time ever coming below threshold and even getting to a state of mind where they can learn.
The proper use of appropriate anti-anxiety medications, supplements, or other aids can help to bring these dogs below threshold, allowing them to start learning and forming better, healthier, happier associations with different things. Your behavior consultant can help determine if this is something you should consider and may recommend talking with your veterinarian or connecting with a veterinary behaviorist early in the training process rather than waiting. This does not necessarily mean that your dog will need these medications long-term.
Sometimes it takes a combination of different medications, supplements, and other aids. Because every dog and every situation is different, there can be some trial and error and some fine-tuning needed when using behavioral medication.
Engaging the help and guidance of a board-certified veterinary behaviorist as part of your support team can greatly increase your chances of success with your new dog. Doing so can also greatly decrease the setbacks and frustrations that may be encountered along the way.
You can search for a board-certified veterinary behaviorist or ask your behavior consultant or veterinarian for a referral. Veterinary behaviorists are unfortunately few and far between — however, even if there isn't one near you, many provide telehealth options or can consult directly with your dog's veterinarian.
Doggy daycares are not always ideal for remedial socialization. They are best for dogs who are already socialized and do well in these environments like those unicorn dogs I talked about before. Read more here about whether your dog will enjoy and do well in daycare. All dog daycares are not equal — some may have a good setup and management in place for dogs who need some time to get more comfortable.
Click here for more tips and what questions to ask when choosing a dog daycare. They can be great for some dogs unicorn dogs!
If your dog missed early socialization, do not take them to a dog park and hope for the best. Your behavior consultant can help you determine how and when this activity may be appropriate. When you are unable to actively counter condition your dog and manage their environment to prevent them from going over threshold, it's best to have them safely confined in their safe space. For example, if your dog doesn't do well around children and family or friends with children are coming to visit.
Or if you're going to an outdoor event where there might be crowds or lots of other dogs, simply leave your dog at home with a stuffed Toppl or interactive toy to work on. There is nothing wrong with not bringing your dog along if you know it may be difficult for them to stay calm.
This way you can enjoy yourself and your dog can relax. Dogs who become overwhelmed out and about or don't do well with other dogs or unfamiliar people can live very fulfilled and happy lives without being places in these situations. Would you mind giving me some advice around where I should go to school to learn and get certified? Or how I can go about figuring out where is best?
Do you know where will help me most with getting the best education and what would end up helping me most career-wise?
It would mean so much if you could, I figure the best person to ask if someone in the business themselves who I respect and want to emulate. Sorry one more question.. If you have any advice on that it would be so appreciated. In terms of learning more and getting started in the business, there are lots of things that you can do.
The Karen Pryor Academy www. The Fenzi Dog Sports Academy www. This can be every bit as valuable or more so, in many cases as taking a class or attending a lecture, so definitely take advantage of this kind of opportunity if you can.
I had thought of volunteering at a few places but shadowing them would be even more useful. Thank you again!! No problem! Sadly exactly that has happened to my pups. I rescued these sickly, mangy, wormy, ticky brother and sister pups. So because they were so full of everything it took loads of effort and TLC to get them looking good and healthy. And even though we have two older dogs they are now fear aggressive to any other dog which is becoming scary for me walking them.
At 16 weeks we took them out and over came a happy big dog sniffing them and they chunked like they were going to get killed. That was the worst experience for them.
Two dog trainers later am I no where closer to success and have actually ruined my dogs. I have always had dogs and happy social dogs and have never know what I just read in your article…. If I walk them now, I walk one of them with an older dog and always only 2 at the time, which is time consuming.
And I go at a time when hopefully I will not encounter any other dogs……can you give me any recommendations what I can do? Poor pups! For most dogs with this problem, the best approach involves teaching them to associate good things with seeing other dogs. We usually do this by praising or clicking, if you use a clicker and rewarding with high-value food rewards every time they see another dog. Over time, your dog will begin to look happily at you for his cookie rather than reacting aggressively, and you can slowly begin to move closer.
Absolutely agree wholeheartedly with the article. We carefully socialised our 2 pups very early. We also tailored our socialsaton specifically to the breed we have. They are now very robust in terms of dealing with their their environment on walks, eg ,men with hats, bikes, children, or startling noises. I also have fostered a number of street dogs from other countries, and in the main they have coped incredibly well, sometimes a lot better than relatively well socialised local pet dogs.
I do wonder therefore, how much genetics has to play a part. Some breeders do breed for good temperament and calm manner, some breeders for a certain type, colour, performance ability at the expense of a good all round pet dog. Amazing article. Thank you!!! It does! But in general, the prime socialization window ends at around 16 weeks for the vast majority of puppies. Thank you. Love it! Especially the explanation of why! I always wondered why they are wired that way! Pingback: Puppy Kindergarten Vs.
Jen's Dog Blog. My dog is almost 4 yrs. What can we do? Start now, obedience classes are good. Just be aware, and protect your dog. It will ease up. Best of luck on your endeavors! Thanks for clearing that up as I did think the pups had to have all their shots first.
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