Socialization For Your Dog Is Important For Its Entire Life

Any time you talk with someone that works with animals the topic of “Socializing” becomes part of the conversation. It is so important to Socialize your pet not only the puppies but your adult dogs as well. Even though you take a puppy around other dogs and people a lot while they are small does not mean all is well and they will stay well adjusted. This activity needs to be an on going part of their life style.

Dogs have become our closest companion since we share so may behaviors with them. In doing so, we have a tendency to anthropomorphize his actions. For instance “They look guilty when they have been destructive” when in fact their response is more likely to be fear. They have learned to respond to you yelling at them for tearing something up by ducking down and running off where they feel safe.

Fear:

In a potentially harmful situation is a normal and healthy reaction. Let’ take thunderstorms as an example. We humans have the distinct advantage over all other animals in that we can talk about it. Imagine what a thunderstorm would be like if no one could tell you it wouldn’t hurt us. They only way we would learn that thunderstorms aren’t dangerous would be through habituation, through learning from experience that the noise would not harm us.
This is the way dogs must learn to control their fears.

Fear comes from many origins. One being genetic, it can be inherited and this genetically ‘pre-wired’ fear behavior is resistant to change. It might affect only one pup in a litter and is easily detectable at six to ten weeks of age. This pup will be wild eyed and withdrawn. Inherited fear can also affect entire litters. In these circumstances, exaggerated fear develops between three and ten months of age. These pups have a generalized fear of anything new or unusual, a global fear and once more, this behavior is ‘pre-wired’ into the mind of the dog and is resistant to change.
Every dog, just as every human, will inherit a certain level of reactivity to his environment. This is normal and healthy. It contributes to our and their survival, but in some breeds or individuals, this inherited reactivity appears to be exaggerated.
Nervous mothers can imprint nervousness into their offspring, unwittingly teaching barking and excitable behavior. We also know that an impoverished physical or social environment early in life will have an overwhelming influence on the emotional development of the dog’s mind. Pups that are deprived of normal exposure to common stimuli during their critical periods of development quite simply become fearful dogs when they mature. There is considerable individual and breed variation but virtually all dogs will show a fear response to new and unusual stimuli that they have not experienced before they are sixteen weeks old.

Dogs express their fear in many ways, Fight or flight, usually flight , is a common response to fear but dogs often can’t flee from what frightens them. Instead, they might bark anxiously and assume the body posture of fear, in which the tail is tucked between the legs, the back is arched, the lips are drawn back, hackles are raised and the ears are flattened against the head. At the same time there is autonomic nervous activity. The heart rate increases, pupils dilate and trembling might occur. The dog might even urinate and, of course, he might try to bite.

When fears are not unlearned through desensitization, they can become phobias. Dogs can develop phobias to loud noises, traffic, people, vets, or many other things. Phobias to veterinarians and clinics are probably just about as common in dogs as phobias to dentists and dental clinics are to their owners. This might happen because the first association was exceedingly unpleasant.

If you have a pet with these issues talk to your veterinarian or a professional trainer to help you work through these issues.

Until next time, provide your pet with good nutrition, exercise, mental stimulation, and affection.