Most puppies seem to love everybody and everything. How do we best ensure that our dogs continue to get along well with the world as they grow up? Many owners of new puppies will have heard about something called socialization. This is the second most important item on any puppy's educational curriculum, whereas the most important goal is bite inhibition. So what do these terms mean, is there any need to hurry, and what if they don't happen?

Socialization101
The degree of a dog's socialization-whether he becomes a "well-socialized" or "poorly socialized" member of the community-depends on the type of social environment he experiences while young. All young dogs (like young people) will learn about their social world through interacting with it. Those who are exposed to a wide variety of positive, rewarding experiences will form a different view of the world than those who are isolated, mistreated or bullied.

Your aim, as owner, should be to help your dog grow to be both people- and dog friendly. If your young pup is exposed to a large number of dogs, humans and other animals under a variety of different but essentially non-traumatic circumstances, your puppy will grow up to be an adult dog who enjoys the company and actions of other dogs and people. Occasional outside individuals may be obnoxious or frightening, but on average, the world is a good place and there is no need for defensiveness or fear.

On the other hand, if a pup is kept in isolation, he has no opportunity to learn about the outside world and as an adult, other dogs and people will seem strange and threatening. The dog will be ill-equipped to respond in a calm, non-aggressive manner. And an adult dog who is startled, fearful or threatened is an entirely different matter from a scared little puppy.

A young dog must also learn how to behave appropriately. This is his best defense against being mistreated or bullied by other (evidently poorly socialized) dogs later in life. If a puppy has few partners with which to practice social behaviour, he will not necessarily learn the full repertoire of appropriate doggie behaviours, and will not learn to be calm and confident in a wide variety of situations. A dog that flees in fear upon encountering other dogs is likely to be chased! As time goes on, the fear is merely reinforced by each encounter.

Lost more information at http://www.moderndogmagazine.com/articles/puppy-socialization-and-bite-inhibition/271

Thanks to Ann for the article.

Great article ... Ive been trying to tell my neighbor this for the past 6 months ... So far it has been falling o def ears.

Betterdog4u wrote:

Great article ... Ive been trying to tell my neighbor this for the past 6 months ... So far it has been falling o def ears.

Yes, then later they'll come to you and ask why the dog is acting all scared to new things.... its sad that people get dogs and don't bother to do a little research.

very good article and good points. It is really important to train and socialize your pup as early as you can so they become familiar with what is right, wrong, good, and bad...and how to behave in different situations with different people and animals.

Thats right, all too often a new dog owner expects the puppy to react the right way not taking into consideration that the puppy has absolutely no idea of what is "right" by our standards, so we have to teach them and one way we do that is through socialization.

Steven_L wrote:

Thats right, all too often a new dog owner expects the puppy to react the right way not taking into consideration that the puppy has absolutely no idea of what is "right" by our standards, so we have to teach them and one way we do that is through socialization.

I really think that there sould be a test giving with an adoption form that tests the knowlage of a pontential adopter. Even if its "Open Book" they may actually learn something about being a responsible owner!!!

Betterdog4u wrote:

Steven_L wrote:

Thats right, all too often a new dog owner expects the puppy to react the right way not taking into consideration that the puppy has absolutely no idea of what is "right" by our standards, so we have to teach them and one way we do that is through socialization.

I really think that there sould be a test giving with an adoption form that tests the knowlage of a pontential adopter. Even if its "Open Book" they may actually learn something about being a responsible owner!!!

Yeah this has been suggested many times but the arguement against it is that it may discourage many from adopting a pet...which isn't all that bad because if you think about it those that are discouraged are probably the irresponsible dog owners but there would be more dogs in shelters and rescues.

Steven_L wrote:

Yeah this has been suggested many times but the arguement against it is that it may discourage many from adopting a pet...which isn't all that bad because if you think about it those that are discouraged are probably the irresponsible dog owners but there would be more dogs in shelters and rescues.

Its a visious circle, But it needs to be broken. If we teach kids when they are young, we will have MORE informed owners down the road. For now, this would help to cut down on the amount pets that are returned to shelter by bad owners who "Just Dont Get It". The ppl who take and pass the test, may just become better owners ...

I agree 100%