Wednesday, April 30th 2008

12:00 AM

Your Dog The Social Animal?

Did you know that dogs love to socialize? Taking your dog to different places can be such a great adventure. When interacting with other dogs or people, your dog will develop the social skills needed to be a better pet.

These trips can stimulate them both mentally and physically.
Of course it is best if your dog has had some sort of basic training. It is
important for you to have control of your dog in these situations. Once your dog has had basic obedience training you can more easily allow them to socialize with other dogs.

You will have total control over them, thus avoiding any unpleasant mishaps. As you take your dog to more places, you will start to see an even better behaved dog. More socializing leads to a more manageable dog.

Another benefit to socializing your dog is less boredom. With the proper amount of interaction with other dogs and people, your dog should be more content at home and less likely to attempt escaping or running around unnecessarily.

Giving your dog a variety of experiences with different situations is an
important part of being a responsible owner. Also, by being together in a variety of places and social interactions your bond deepens. So take your dog to as many places as possible. Allow your dog to develop into a confident individual and your relationship will blossom....

So often, the way a dog responds to environmental stimuli is a product of owner training and management, or lack thereof. No matter when you adopt your dog, you can apply canine socialization principles to help him or her be a more stable, happy, trustworthy companion.

Socialization does not end at puppyhood. While the foundation for good behavior is laid during the first few months, good owners encourage and reinforce social skills and responsiveness to commands throughout the dog's life.

If you are a dog owner, you are probably aware of the importance of socializing your puppy. Dogs have a sensitive period for socialization between the ages of 3 and 12 weeks. This means that pleasant exposures to people, other dogs and other animals during this time will have long-lasting influences on the sociability of your dog. Well socialized dogs tend to be friendlier and less fearful of the kinds of individuals they were socialized to.

Veterinarians, dog trainers and other dog professionals urge new puppy owners to take their dogs to puppy classes and to provide other socializing experiences. Although this is excellent advice, a puppy class by 4 months of age or a basic training class at 6 months shouldn't be the end of a dog's social training.

Don't underestimate how important it is to continue to socialize your dog well into adulthood. We've seen quite a few dogs that seem to have been well socialized early in life, were friendly and accepting of people and other dogs and then began to react with threats or aggression during social encounters. These dogs had no traumatic or frightening experiences but became fearful and/or aggressive later, usually beginning around 8 months to 2 years of age.

If you're bringing a new adult dog into your home, your major concern is to check out how well socialized the dog is and to strengthen any weak spots. For example, if you find that this dog is a bit uncomfortable with men in hats, then you must make a concerted effort to help your new dog to learn to love men wearing hats.

Invite over one or two friends at a time to meet your new dog. Ask them to bring hats, but not wear them. Have your dog on a leash and have everyone take a seat. Have one friend (without his hat on) hand-feed the dog his dinner. When your dog is comfortable, have your friend show the hat and feed the dog. Then ask him to casually put on the hat and feed the dog.

Make an effort to invite over as many as possible of your male friends, one or two at a time, to follow this procedure. Pretty soon your dog will be searching out men wearing hats because he has learned they are a pretty generous bunch.

Socialization is ongoing for the rest of your dog's life. Your dog may have gone to a puppy class (yippee!), and a lucky dog is walked to the park each day. But, while this dog has met a number of people and a number of dogs, it is also likely that he will meet those same familiar faces each and every day. To keep your dog socialized, he must continue to meet new dogs and new people. The two best ways to do this are walking a different route each day and having parties in your home. Problems Caused by Failure to Socialize

Socializing your dog is so easy and so much fun that a lot of people fail to take it seriously. However, without adequate socialization, your dog may become fearful and is likely to develop two of the most serious and hard-to-resolve problems, biting and fighting.