The
Importance of Socialization
Every
species of animal has
a critical developmental period
during which “socialization” takes
place. The purpose of socialization
is to ensure that the young of
every species learns very early
about things to avoid in order
to survive. For many species
this early learning, taught by
the mother, teaches them to flee
or fight things that could cause
them injury or death. Whether
you are a rabbit learning about
aerial shadows that might predict
a hawk looking for lunch or a
mouse listening to a creaking
floorboard under the pressure
of a cat’s foot, it
is wise to learn these critical
lessons very early. Each species
has its own specific age by
which socialization must take
place for optimum learning.
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Move
The “socialization
period” for
dogs is between 7 and 12
weeks of age. You might
think that there is not
much to learn about how
to survive if you are a
domestic dog. That is true:
dogs’ human
caretakers provide most
of their needs. However,
that does not mean that
dogs are still no hard-wired
to learn the most about
their world by the time
they are not much older
than three months of age.
Hebert-Trip
and Peanut
If
your dog does not have
good experiences about
the variety of sights,
sounds, people, and animals
in its life by 3-4 months
of age, the result can
be a lifetime of fears,
suspicions, and even aggression.
The vast majority of the
aggression cases seen by
DogPACT are the direct
result of poor or improper
socialization.
This
includes dogs who never
learned appropriate play
skills who aggress toward
other dogs when they misinterpret
canine communication signals,
as well as dogs who have
been mistreated by children
during puppyhood.
Winston
One
of the most common misunderstandings
about dogs and socialization
is that if a puppy misses
being socialized and develops
fears and/or aggressive
behavior that those behavior
problems can be overcome
by “socialization” later
in life. True “socialization” is
restricted to that first
three to four months of
life. Simply exposing a
dog to things later in
life is more accurately
termed “habituation.”
Caber
Breed: 3-month
old Border Collie
Owner: Sharon
Adams
This
young pup is being exposed
to water at an early age
so that he not only tolerates
being in water, but will
actually enjoy it. He is
going to compete in agility,
and cooling a dog between
runs is important. Playing
in water can also be a
powerful reward when dogs
have positive experiences
with water when they are
very young. Many dogs can
be encouraged to put their
noses in water if you float
a treat on the top of a
couple inches of water
in a puppy pool. Then try
using treats that don't
float. Pups will learn
to hold their breath while
they retrieve the treat
from the bottom of the
pool.
Charm
Breed: 12-week
old Silky Terrier
Owner: Nikki
Myers
All
dogs should be exposed
to grooming routines from
a young age. This is especially
important for dogs that
will require extensive
grooming throughout their
lives (terriers, poodles,
cocker spaniels, etc.).
Starting earlier˜and
making it a positive experience
by using a lot of treats
during bathing and grooming˜will
pay off handsomely.
Charm
and Emily
Breed: Silky
Terrier
Owner: Nikki
Myers
Puppies
need to have good experiences
from a very young age.
Children who are appropriate˜gentle
and quiet˜are
an important part of early
socialization. Emily is
holding Charm, the Silky
Terrier pup, firmly and
supporting his full body,
without squeezing.
Pretzel,
Rat Terrier and Charm,
Silky Terrier
Regular
play dates with carefully
selected friends play an
important role in learning
to exhibit and interpret
diverse canine social signals.
These two pups play vigorously
with each other (only pausing
briefly for this photo
opportunity), but have
also learned to interrupt
play when one or the other
starts to get too rough.
With these two particular
dogs, the presence of a
highly valued item such
as the chewie to the right
of Charm does not cause
fights, while with many
dogs it would be wise to
remove those items prior
to play time.
It
can be helpful, but to
overcome social deficits
caused by poor early socialization
usually requires active
behavior modification to
gradually “desensitize” and “countercondition” the
dog to the things he is
afraid of. Worse than trying
passive habituation is “flooding,” a
misguided and dangerous
attempt at making a dog
deal with his fears by
forcing him into situations
where he is fearful until
he “gets
over it.” Many,
many dogs’ fears
are increased (“sensitized”)
as a result of flooding.
Socialize early.
Socialize often. Make
it fun. Make it positive.
Click
here for an in-depth
article by a respected
veterinarian about how
you can socialize your
pup early without unnecessary
risk to his health before
all his vaccinations are “complete.”
Click
here for a letter from
Dr. R.K. Anderson, DVM
Diplomate, ACVB and ACVPM,
an epidemiologist reaching
out to other veterinarians
about the need for early
socialization.
Click
here for a Socialization
Chart you can use to ensure
you are adequately socializing
your pup to the multitude
of stimuli he’ll
encounter in his life.
Click
here to learn more
about the myths and realities
of successful socialization
programs.
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