One of my biggest frustrations as a dog trainer is meeting a dog that has not been sufficiently socialized. Insufficient socialization occurs for various reasons: a) pet parents do not know about the importance of early socialization for puppies; b) we are not aware of a puppy’s critical window of socialization that begins at 3 weeks and ends at 12 weeks; c) we are given well-meaning advice from our veterinarians who tell us not to take our puppies for a walk or go to any group class until they have had all of their shots.
Here is a list of the most common behavior issues people complain about when they call for me help for their young puppies, adolescents and rescue dogs:
- fearful of people, including children if none are already in the home;
- fearful and highly reactive when seeing other dogs;
- fearful of novel stimuli, like garden flags and trash cans banging around on windy days;
- fearful of cars and noisy trucks whizzing by;
- fearful when hearing barking dogs or passing homes with barking dogs in the yard or house;
- fear-aggressive to strangers (especially workmen) who come into the home;
- fearful of people of color or white people due to lack of exposure; (no the dog is not a racist!)
- fearful of the mail delivery person.
I’ve worked with very social families who have company in their homes on a regular basis. Their dogs love everyone who visits. However, when taken outside, their dogs were scared of everyone! On the reverse side of things, I have met families who socialize their dogs like crazy, taking the dogs everywhere and introducing them to both people, puppies and adult dogs. Sadly, these same people never get any company and so their dogs are frightened of anyone who comes up their driveway or walks by their house with a dog.
Socialize, socialize, socialize! Continue socializing for the life of your dog.
