A puppy's development is broken into many periods. The first period, canine socialization, allows a puppy to learn normal dog behaviour from its mother and litter mates, including normal canine play, communication and bite inhibition. This period takes place from 3-7 weeks of age.
The second period is human socialization. During this period a puppy's learning is most rapid. It is open to new things and very receptive to teaching. Experiences during this phase will greatly shape how a puppy acts for the rest of its life. This period occurs at 7-12 weeks of age. However, this period also overlaps with a puppy's fear period, where fearful situations have a great (and lasting) impact. Therefore it is important that a puppy's experiences stay happy and positive, to prevent a fearful exposure.
After, the puppy goes through a senior classification period, where it will be tempted to push the limits of its previous training. It may not want to come when called, and it may "forget" what it has already learned. The puppy is challenging you (the pack leader) as a way of resolving the question of leadership - who is in control here?
Thus, the key socialization period for puppies is before 12 weeks of age. But it is important to remember those fear periods. Thus:
socialization = new stimuli + POSITIVE experience
Studies have shown that dogs socialized early and frequently are more attracted to humans and show less fearful behaviours. The most common cause of fear and aggression is lack of socialization - a puppy does not have to be mistreated to become afraid of people or new experiences. Furthermore, young dogs with behavioural problems are more likely to be surrendered to shelters or euthanized than their well-adjusted counterparts.
How Does Socialization Occur?
As when introducing anything new, start slowly. Create a list of things you'd like to socialize your dog to (the internet can be a handy source for such lists). Your list could include:
- other animals (cats, dogs, horses, birds)
- new people (men, women, children)
- scary sounds (thunder, fireworks, vacuum cleaners, sirens)
- objects (wheelchairs, baby strollers, cars)
- environments (city street, suburban neighbourhood, parking lots)
- objects (brooms, balloons, garbage cans)
It is important to remember that dogs perceive things differently than we do - a man with a beard looks very different than one without, and a person wearing a helmet might not be perceived to be a human at all! Also remember that exposure to the same dog fifty times is very different than exposure to fifty dogs once.
Start exposing your dog to new things one at a time, and if possible, in a controlled environment. Gauge your puppy's response - is it fearful, freezing, barking, struggling to get away, or is it calm and relaxed, exploring the object? Treats can be an excellent way of associating a scary thing with a positive experience, but ideally a puppy should be comfortable around a stimuli without the help of food. If your puppy responds fearfully to an object, it will have to be re-exposed (likely with more treats). Keep working on exposure, and remember that it is ok to loose the fight if it means winning the war. For example, if you are trimming nails, its ok to stop after three if it means that the next time you trim nails things will be easier, and the puppy will be more comfortable with the experience.
Further Resources
Because puppy socialization is recognized to be so important, there are many resources available to help puppy owners.
Dr. Sophia Yin (drsophiayin.com): an excellent webpage on all things behaviour-related, created by a well-renowned veterinary behaviouralist. It even has a downloadable socialization check-list. Also check out the poster depicting fearful canine body-language - a good guide when gauging your dog's response to new stimuli.
Puppy Happy Hour: Many places offer puppy socialization classes - a great opportunity to expose your puppy to new thing in a safe environment. At Bowmanville Veterinary Clinic we offer a complimentary socialization session to our patients. The purpose of these sessions are to expose puppies to new dogs, new stimuli in a safe (and fun) environment. For more information or to register for one of these sessions, visit our webpage: http://bowmanvilleveterinaryclinic.com/newpage101.pml.
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