Socialize your Dog: Dogs and their Environment! Socialization is a benefit to both you as the owner and your dog.
What is Socialization?
Socialization is the process of building a positive connection between your pet and their environment, interactions, and experiences. Not only do we want our pets to be comfortable throughout their lives with us, but we also want to ensure that they enjoy it as well. Through socializing our pets, we work to build confidence in them as well as teach them how to handle unexpected situations. Have you ever turned a corner on a walk and come face to face with a stranger and their pet? Is your pet frightened of the vet’s office? Can your pets roam free throughout the house when there is company over? Socialization is a process and it should continue throughout a pet’s life.
Puppy Socialization
Socializing a puppy with their environment is much easier than socializing an adult dog, but just as important! Within the first 3-14 weeks of age, puppies go through what is often called the “critical socialization period” or the “sensitive period”. Social interaction and experiences are important during this time because they will stay with a puppy for the rest of their life. This is the time when they learn how to be a dog and how to navigate the world around them!
During the first 8 weeks of a puppy’s life, they get most of their socialization through interaction with their mother, siblings, and pet parent. This is when they also learn “Bite Inhibition”. Bite inhibition is learning how hard to bite something and how to control the incredible power that comes with being a dog! When a puppy bites a sibling or their mother too hard, they receive a reaction. Often the reaction is in the form of a yelp or their mother’s paw bowling them over! That reaction tells them to be more careful when they play.
This stays with your puppy even after they go home with you! Once they leave their littermates, it is up to their new family to keep teaching them how to play appropriately and what boundaries should be respected.
Puppies also go through what is called a “fear stage” around 8-11 weeks. This stage is where bad experiences will likely stick with them into the future. In this stage, and even outside of it, it is especially important not to force your dog to do anything. If they are afraid of something, gradually work towards interactions and experiences. Always pair socialization with positive things like treats. Make sure to reward curiosity, confidence, and patience in your pets.
Socialize Adult Dogs
Socializing an adult dog with their environment is different than socializing a puppy. To know how to properly move forward with socializing your dog, you need to first understand them. Why do they act afraid, tough, nervous, etc.? Is there something that happened in their past that makes them afraid of other dogs or people? Socialization in adult dogs is often specific to each dog, their experiences, and their personality. Work closely with your trainer to build a plan to work with and encourage your dog through positive reinforcement.
Adult dogs often move at a much slower pace than puppies when it comes to socialization. Past experiences and habits can often get in the way of developing newer and healthier social skills around other people and dogs. Patience is often key, and it is very important to make sure that you move at your dog’s pace. Forcing a dog to interact with something or someone that makes them uncomfortable will only further their negative associations. If you are working to socialize an adult dog, make sure that you have a good motivator and give them the option not to interact if they don’t wish to.
Things to remember
Dogs are often not unreasonable, and if they are fearful or uncomfortable, there is almost always a good reason why – in dog language anyways! Often times it is hard for us to pick up on why they might be doing something (or not doing something), so it is best to keep the following in mind.
If your dog is not responding to something you’ve said that you know they are able to do, one of these three things is likely the reason. Check in with their body language and take your training back one step to make things easier on them or remove them from the situation and take a break.
- The environment is too distracting.
- They are uncomfortable or in pain.
- They do not understand the criteria of what you are asking.
What can I do to socialize my dog with their environment?
Here is a list that includes a list of different ways to work on socializing your dog with their environment. Remember, you will need to keep up socialization throughout your pet’s life, even after the critical period has passed!
Stop Friends and Family:
Introduce your new puppy to your family! Invite them over to say hello, and make sure to supervise any interactions with children.
Other Puppies:
Have a playdate! Make sure that both puppies are up to date on their vaccines and healthy.
Surfaces:
Even new surfaces can be scary to pets. Try letting them explore carpet, tile, linoleum, and hardwood floors as well as grass, concrete, turf, and other safe surfaces. In the summer, make sure that the ground is not too hot, if you can’t stand on it barefoot, your pet shouldn’t either! Work on getting your pup used to their boots for the winter.
Places:
Did you know, there are many places that allow leashed and vaccinated dogs in our area? Try taking your dog to the park or going out to eat on a dog-friendly patio! Most state parks allow leashed pets, and if your pup behaves, many stores will allow them as well. Just make sure you call first if you do not know whether they allow dogs! If you’re looking for a place to bring your dog try checking out BringFido!
Objects:
There are many objects that are strange and sometimes scary to our pets. A few examples of such things are wheelchairs, umbrellas, sunglasses, hats, tents, flags, and garbage cans. Make sure that you do not push your pup too far and associate these things with fear!
Noises:
Our pets can hear a lot better than we can. Loud or strange noises can be frightening! Some noises that you can work on include storms, cars, skateboards, planes, hair dryers, fans, instruments, radios, and pans clanging together. When it comes to fireworks, most dogs will be frightened and should be kept inside and in a safe place. When you think about it from their perspective, the fourth of July is more like living in a war zone full of explosions than a celebration!
Touch:
Think about how you would react if a stranger ran up to you and suddenly touched your face, it would be awkward and extremely uncomfortable, right? Our dogs are the same way! Make sure to spend time every day getting your pet used to being touched. You can do that by petting their ears and their chin as well as touching and manipulating their paws gently, lift their tail and check their teeth and pretend you are giving them an exam like the vet would. The more that your dog is used to you and others touching them, the less frightening it will be when they need to visit the vet or the groomer.
Restraint:
Please remember that dogs are not instinctively used to wearing collars, harnesses, or sweaters. These are things that we use to keep them safe and comfortable in different situations, but we need to help them grow accustomed to wearing such things. The same thing goes for walking on a leash, wearing a muzzle, being held for procedures like nail trims and grooming, and being carried. These things are not natural for dogs, so it is up to us to help them be comfortable even if we may never need to do certain things with them. You never know what surprises might come your way!
Children & Strangers:
Both children and strange people can be scary to most dogs. They often do not know what to expect and therefore do not know what to do in these situations. Make sure you can manage your environment when you are out with your pet and only allow interactions that you can control. Children under the age of 8 should always be supervised with dogs. Remember it is alright to say “no” to an interaction with a stranger if your dog seems uncomfortable!
Private Training
Call or text us today at 630-296-7076 to get in touch with our trainer if you need some help with socialization and more! Feel free to reach out to us from our services page using the Contact form at the bottom!
Group Training
We also offer group classes through Springbrook Animal Care Center! Click here to be brought to their site and view the class start dates!