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Puppy socialization is low-stress exposure to various aspects of everyday life - people, dogs, other animals, things, and places and events. Always make sure it's not a stressful event and that your puppy has as much control over her experience of the situation as possible.
Socialization is your main focus during the first 16 weeks of life. Training is important too but socialization is even more critical. First impressions are strong and events they experience as puppies (especially scary ones) will stick with them forever. If a dog hasn’t had a neutral to good experience with something in his first 16 weeks, he’s likely to have issues if he encounters it for the first time when he’s older.
Puppies that are not well-socialized often have problems with aggression, fear, or manners later. Under-socialized dogs are often not comfortable with the world they live in and are less able to cope with change than they should be. What a dog doesn't know about can worry, surprise or scare him.
Puppies gather information through their direct experience of the world. Our goal is to provide a range of experiences as the puppy grows so that she can add each experience to her knowledge bank. Then she can draw on that knowledge to make sense of the world. For example, your puppy watches amd hears a flag flapping in the wind. It's a positive experience for her because you are with her, watching together from a distance. Your puppy is curious, maybe tentative, but not scared or worried. The next week your puppy sees a kite flapping in the wind while you are walking on the beach. Now she can compare it to other things she's seen that also flap in the wind. Instead of being afraid or worried about it, your pup makes a connection and thinks, "Hey! Something else that flaps in the wind! I know all about that. Doesn't worry me!"
Your pup's senses will be stimulated in different ways by every socialization experience. Some experiences may be very loud but there is not much to see, for example, a washing machine or a hair dryer. Other experiences will provide a lot of audio and visual stimulation, for example, if you take your pup to your child's soccer game.
Be aware that some situations combine very intense and possibly unplesant levels of many different stimuli. Think, for example, of your puppy experiencing a big truck roaring past. It could seem physically threatening because of its sheer size, especially in relation to your tiny puppy, and frightening because of how fast it is moving. It is also very loud and possibly makes the area vibrate. It smells bad and your puppy breathes in those noxious fumes at street level. All the puppy's senses could be overwhelmed in this situation.
Although we share the same senses, humans and dogs use these senses in very different ways. Never assume that your perception of a situation is the same as your puppy's perception. A situation that doesn't bother your sense of smell might be awful for your puppy (car exhaust for example). A pup might refuse to walk past a running car or bus due to the noxious odours flooding his nose. He's not being stubborn, he's overwhelmed by the unpleasant smell. Smoke, heavy perfumes and other odours may be very unplesant for some pups. Remember that the sense of smell is your dog's primary sense and he is smelling things you cannot even perceive. He can also hear things that you can't hear because dogs can hear sounds at four times the distance humans can hear them.
Let your pup's behaviour be your guide to what he is experiencing and how he feels about it and always believe your puppy's behaviour. Do not try to force or cajole him if he indicates he is worried. Remember that your puppy experiences the world in ways that are very different from you. Try to look at things from your puppy's point of view - imagine what the world looks, and sounds, and smells and feels like when you are small, you don't speak the language, you don't know the rules, and you haven't yet seen or experienced what everyone else around you takes for granted.
Your job is to ensure socialization experiences are enjoyable, educational and appropriate for your pup's age and personality. While you cannot control everything that happens, you can plan ahead and know what to do when the puppy tells you he is no longer enjoying or learning or able to cope with the situation. If your puppy becomes unsure, fearful, over-excited, or overstimulated, he cannot learn easily, if at all, and will not be responsive to you. When this happens, the puppy is practising behaviours and feelings that aren't good for him.
If you are having trouble controlling your pup, your pup needs your help. What can you do? First, change something in the environment - for example, move further away - and see if that helps your pup to be calm and relaxed. Did it work? Is she connected to you now? Can she listen and respond to you? If yes, great! If not, you should leave the situation without alarming the pup, and then help her to recover and regroup. You accomplish little good and possibly do harm if you persist in a situation where your pup's behaviour tells you something is wrong.
The whole point of socialization is to provide good and positive experiences for your puppy to learn about the world. Quality is more important than quantity. It would be better to meet five dogs or people and have good experiences than to meet 50 dogs or people and have poor experiences. Positive experiences will ensure your pup reaps the benefits of socialization and becomes a confident and optimistic dog. If you focus on your puppy's behaviour as the guide to what's happening in the puppy's mind, it will help you make the right choices for your puppy.
Read my articles in the Powell River Peak on puppy socialization: Puppy Power Part 1 and Puppy Power Part 2.
Read the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior position statement on puppy socialization.
Socialization is your main focus during the first 16 weeks of life. Training is important too but socialization is even more critical. First impressions are strong and events they experience as puppies (especially scary ones) will stick with them forever. If a dog hasn’t had a neutral to good experience with something in his first 16 weeks, he’s likely to have issues if he encounters it for the first time when he’s older.
Puppies that are not well-socialized often have problems with aggression, fear, or manners later. Under-socialized dogs are often not comfortable with the world they live in and are less able to cope with change than they should be. What a dog doesn't know about can worry, surprise or scare him.
Puppies gather information through their direct experience of the world. Our goal is to provide a range of experiences as the puppy grows so that she can add each experience to her knowledge bank. Then she can draw on that knowledge to make sense of the world. For example, your puppy watches amd hears a flag flapping in the wind. It's a positive experience for her because you are with her, watching together from a distance. Your puppy is curious, maybe tentative, but not scared or worried. The next week your puppy sees a kite flapping in the wind while you are walking on the beach. Now she can compare it to other things she's seen that also flap in the wind. Instead of being afraid or worried about it, your pup makes a connection and thinks, "Hey! Something else that flaps in the wind! I know all about that. Doesn't worry me!"
Your pup's senses will be stimulated in different ways by every socialization experience. Some experiences may be very loud but there is not much to see, for example, a washing machine or a hair dryer. Other experiences will provide a lot of audio and visual stimulation, for example, if you take your pup to your child's soccer game.
Be aware that some situations combine very intense and possibly unplesant levels of many different stimuli. Think, for example, of your puppy experiencing a big truck roaring past. It could seem physically threatening because of its sheer size, especially in relation to your tiny puppy, and frightening because of how fast it is moving. It is also very loud and possibly makes the area vibrate. It smells bad and your puppy breathes in those noxious fumes at street level. All the puppy's senses could be overwhelmed in this situation.
Although we share the same senses, humans and dogs use these senses in very different ways. Never assume that your perception of a situation is the same as your puppy's perception. A situation that doesn't bother your sense of smell might be awful for your puppy (car exhaust for example). A pup might refuse to walk past a running car or bus due to the noxious odours flooding his nose. He's not being stubborn, he's overwhelmed by the unpleasant smell. Smoke, heavy perfumes and other odours may be very unplesant for some pups. Remember that the sense of smell is your dog's primary sense and he is smelling things you cannot even perceive. He can also hear things that you can't hear because dogs can hear sounds at four times the distance humans can hear them.
Let your pup's behaviour be your guide to what he is experiencing and how he feels about it and always believe your puppy's behaviour. Do not try to force or cajole him if he indicates he is worried. Remember that your puppy experiences the world in ways that are very different from you. Try to look at things from your puppy's point of view - imagine what the world looks, and sounds, and smells and feels like when you are small, you don't speak the language, you don't know the rules, and you haven't yet seen or experienced what everyone else around you takes for granted.
Your job is to ensure socialization experiences are enjoyable, educational and appropriate for your pup's age and personality. While you cannot control everything that happens, you can plan ahead and know what to do when the puppy tells you he is no longer enjoying or learning or able to cope with the situation. If your puppy becomes unsure, fearful, over-excited, or overstimulated, he cannot learn easily, if at all, and will not be responsive to you. When this happens, the puppy is practising behaviours and feelings that aren't good for him.
If you are having trouble controlling your pup, your pup needs your help. What can you do? First, change something in the environment - for example, move further away - and see if that helps your pup to be calm and relaxed. Did it work? Is she connected to you now? Can she listen and respond to you? If yes, great! If not, you should leave the situation without alarming the pup, and then help her to recover and regroup. You accomplish little good and possibly do harm if you persist in a situation where your pup's behaviour tells you something is wrong.
The whole point of socialization is to provide good and positive experiences for your puppy to learn about the world. Quality is more important than quantity. It would be better to meet five dogs or people and have good experiences than to meet 50 dogs or people and have poor experiences. Positive experiences will ensure your pup reaps the benefits of socialization and becomes a confident and optimistic dog. If you focus on your puppy's behaviour as the guide to what's happening in the puppy's mind, it will help you make the right choices for your puppy.
Read my articles in the Powell River Peak on puppy socialization: Puppy Power Part 1 and Puppy Power Part 2.
Read the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior position statement on puppy socialization.