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How To Socialize Your Pet Dog
In very simple words, socialization for dogs is to teach them how to cope in various situations, people and places in a healthy, non-aggressive manner. All of this is reason enough to begin socializing your dog not only to your family but also to people and fellow animals outside it.
Owing to their very nature of being part of a pack, isolated living goes strictly against a dog's basic instinct. Therefore, any dog, no matter what breed, age or temperament NEEDS to be socialized; it is only the method that differs from dog to dog.
One common misconception among dog owners is that socialization is something that dates back to puppy hood. In reality however, this process needs to be continued through obedience classes, walks to parks and even something like a visit to the veterinarian. In case of aggressive or shy dogs moreover, the need is greater still.
Aggression in dogs is any hostile behavior, intended to intimidate and/or harm other dogs, animals or human. Aggressive behavior in dogs can be of any kind, dominance oriented, territorial aggression or fear based aggression.
Of these a dog may exhibit dominance oriented behavior towards both, people (especially members of the family, if the dog perceives you to be inferior to him in the pecking order of importance in the family) and other dogs.
Territorial aggression on the other hand is mostly caused due to fighting over "marking" one's territory, and may be present in an otherwise non-aggressive dog.
Whatever the causes of aggression be, one thing that stands clear is that such behavior needs correction and one effective way to correct it is through socialization.
When a dog appears to be hostile towards fellow animal or human, the correct thing to do is to fully have him under your control, instead of trying to calm him down, as is done by majority of the dog owners.
While some dog owners attempt to punish such aggressive behavior by thrashing, yelling or locking the dog up, it is NOT a healthy practice. To check such foul temperament in any dog, early socialization is recommended.
However, if your dog has not been trained at the very beginning, do not panic, there is still plenty of hope for improvement.
Socializing your Dog with other people.
To begin socialization of your adult dog , start with the very basics.
For instance, if your dog dislikes people wearing caps, have two of your friends over and ask them to bring their caps along but not wear it. Have your Dog on a leash and ask your friend (without his cap on) to feed your dog with his own hand. Once your dog is comfortable enough, have your friend gently show the cap and resume feeding your dog. Finally ask him to put on the cap casually and feed the dog.
Such practices with time will reduce baseless fear or aggression in your dog. Try it out with friends who are willing to volunteer, very soon your dog will be looking for people in caps since he has now learned that people in caps are generous!
Remember that socializing your dog is a continuous process and needs to be done on a daily basis.
Socializing your Dog with other dogs
Often, taking your dog to obedience training classes is an effective way to let your dog get used to the presence of other dogs and people around him. This will give you both plenty of things to work on together, as a team, and by the end of it your dog will learn a bunch of basic manners in no time!
f your dog is hostile to other dogs, it implies he has not been adequately trained, but it is impractical of you if you expect him to be friends with every other dog. If you find your dog face to face with a neighbor's pet he cannot stand, don't make matters worse by tightening his leash or scolding him.
This is important because your Dog probably sees your getting angry and tensed as a reaction to the fellow dog's appearance. The appropriate thing to do is to reward your dog with a tidbit every time he sees a dog and is about to growl. This tactic instead of making the situation tense will take his mind off the squabble that could have otherwise taken place.
Moreover, done regularly, your dog will come to associate appearance of new dogs with the "happy" change of mood in you. It is advisable though to maintain a safe distance from any new dog which will be comfortable both for your dog and the new one. Also having a leash around your dog is also a good idea to prevent your dog from getting out of control.
With a variation of such techniques and ample patience you are bound to find a sea change in your dog's behavior. Good habits like these will not only calm your dog down but also eliminate whatever fear he had, that had so long made him direct it as anger.
SOCIALIZING SHY DOGS
Why do we need to socialize them?
f your Dog is shy, it could mean one of three things:
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that he has had very little contact with people,
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he is genetically shy or
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he has been roughly handled.
Such dogs once exposed to loving, caring families, who are willing to interact with them and love them unconditionally can become the best of pets. Stories of such dogs adopted from rescue homes are everywhere.
TIMING: Preferably, you must not force your dog to do anything. To let a dog progress at his own pace is by far the best option. If the dog in concern has always been shy, then sudden human interaction or overly affectionate behavior by the family he is a part of now,may scare him too. The best thing to do is to wait for him take the initiative and respond on his own. In the meanwhile an approachable behavior is advisable.
How to go about it?
Providing your Dog with a den of his where he can be all day and observe activities of the house as well as hide conveniently. Often letting the dog be on his own helps them to absorb things around them more easily. Also, a shy, ill-socialized dog has mostly been a "nobody" and the transition might startle them altogether.
Gradually taking your Dog out for short walks, on a specific hour of the day will teach him to come to expect such outings. Eventually you could increase the duration, very slowly and carefully, observing every bit of your pet's reaction to it.
However, contact with other animals or people on such outings should be minimal, unless your dog is ready to be around them on their own. Remember, socializing your dog with others can only work if your dog is comfortable being with your family.
During the initial period of exposing your dog to other people, it is a better idea to have people over at your house, than to drag him outside to meet them. This is because the sense of being out with new people in a new surrounding could be over-whelming to your shy dog. When inviting friends over, encourage them to strike-up friendly behavior with your pet by treating him little tidbits.
Remember such interaction of your dog with strangers will need repeated practice, before your Dog finally begins to rely on them or even completely understands that they would not harm him.
Keep in mind that socialization is a process that must keep growing. While it takes an awful lot of time and patience to rehabilitate a shy dog, nothing still compares to the result of such effort. Your dog will learn to socialize a little more with every passing day.
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