Puppy Socialisation …it’s probably not quite what you think it is.
Puppy socialisation is the term used to describe the careful introduction of your puppy to other animals, people, environments and objects. A properly socialised puppy will grow up to be confident and happy. A poorly socialised puppy may end up anxious and fearful. Anxiety and fear can lead to aggression which can lead to injuries and worse. In this article, I will explain what that means in practical terms. Also how to avoid many the many pitfalls, based on advice from well-meaning but misinformed friends and relatives.
When should socialisation start?
When puppies are born, they are deaf and blind. The first 3 weeks of life are about familial imprinting with their mum, brothers, and sisters. As they grow, they go through various stages of development, as shown in the chart below.
The socialisation and enrichment periods are where confusion begins to creep in around what is suitable socialisation for puppies. Many new puppy owners are led to believe that socialisation means just one thing – letting their puppy play with other dogs. Of course puppies do need to meet and play with other dogs of all ages so that they can learn and grow, but this socialisation needs to be carefully considered. There is also very much more to it than just playing with other dogs.
Potential problems
There are two potential problems if the only consideration when socialising your puppy is playing with other dogs while out on walks:
1. Your puppy meets an aggressive dog, or an overly exuberant playful dog and has a scary experience. Negative experiences are just as bad, if not worse than no experiences. A bad experience during the critical period can result in lasting negative impressions and behavioural problems; namely, fear and/or aggression.
2. Your dog has a positive experience. That positive experience leads your puppy to place a high value on other dogs. Their positive value beats your value to the puppy. They then choose playing with dogs in preference to you in the park. Cue recall issues and ‘selective deafness’!! Generally, the second problem is much more common than the first. What has happened is that your puppy has had a lot of fun with the other dog! If your puppy has a strong preference for doggy play time, who can blame them? Unfortunately, this leads to recall issues when other dogs are around because playing with other dogs is loads of fun!!
What is socialisation meant to be?
Socialisation is allowing your puppy to experience as much social contact with humans (men, women, children, teens etc), other dogs and pets for a short time and always with a positive outcome. Keep in mind that it’s about quality not quantity. Socialisation should also include exposure to new experiences. Car travel, hearing the vacuum cleaner or walking over different types of flooring – hard floors, carpets, tiles, grass and concrete.
Generally the biggest thing missing from a socialisation program is encouraging the puppy to see value in being with their owner while out on a walk, particularly in the presence of other dogs.
A huge part of a quality puppy socialisation program is taking them around other controlled dogs and ‘paying’ them for engaging with their owner, rather than disappearing into the distance playing rough and tumble with someone else’s dog. The take home message for the puppy is that other dogs are good (socialisation), because when they’re around, they get treats from their owner. Doing this builds value and engagement in the owner and makes training other behaviours significantly easier.
What about puppy classes or parties?
Puppy training classes aren’t the same as puppy parties. Parties are generally held indoors before vaccination course are 100% complete. Their purpose is to allow puppies to play in social groups. Unfortunately, there is often very little control, and some puppies can become stressed. What was supposed to be a positive, playful experience can lead to unwanted behaviours.
A good training class will not encourage puppies to play in groups. It will be run by an experienced and qualified trainer who will use reward based methods and encourage you to bond with, learn, teach and play with your puppy while other puppies and people are around. Letting puppies play in groups with no proper control can lead to some becoming nervous of other dogs and others becoming overly confident and almost bullying the less confident. If there is social contact in a puppy class, generally the puppies will be matched in pairs for a short, controlled period. A short owner/puppy play session should then take place as a reward for returning to the owner.
Socialisation on walks
Allowing your puppy to run up to and play with every dog when on a walk teaches it that it is allowed to run up to every dog and encourage it to play. There becomes an expectation of play with every dog the puppy sees. This behaviour is not always possible or appropriate. Not every dog wants to or is able to play. Some are elderly and frail, some are ill or recovering from injury and possible surgery and some are just too scared of others to be able to cope with social greeting and they react out of fear and behave aggressively.
Interacting with your puppy on walks is key; playing little ‘find it’ games with toys or treats, laying scent trails, or playing retrieve games and even doing some steadiness and focus training are all great ways to interact with your puppy on walks. Also, try the rule of 3: 1. You must stay with me 2. You can say hello 3. You can play This is a great rule to follow it allows the puppy to socialise in different ways but also teaches it that sometimes it’s not appropriate to say hello, and this is where you will find your puppy’s recall improves.
Making a socialisation plan
One reason often heard for socialisation being difficult is an incomplete vaccination course. The only limit an incomplete vaccine course places on your puppy is being able to walk on the floor outside of your home and garden. You can take your puppy out in your arms so that they have an opportunity to see, hear and smell lots of different things.
Planning is key. What are the things that YOUR puppy will encounter as it grows up? Outdoors, there will be cars, lorries, motorbikes, runners and cyclists, wheelchair and mobility scooters. Indoors, there are hairdryers, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, TV’s and alarms. Take them past a school playground or play park (don’t hang around too long to avoid causing concern!!) Make sure your puppy sees people in sunglasses and wearing hats. Take them to see other animals – cats, rabbits, chickens and if possible, horses and cows etc. Make a list of everything you can think of so they can be ticked off each time your puppy encounters them. You can keep adding new things all the time but be aware that you have to encounter them again and again to make sure your puppy is happy around them.
Summary
Socialisation is about giving puppies the tools and outlook to navigate through our society with minimal stress to themselves, their owners and others. Socialisation doesn’t stop after the critical periods end; rather, it carries on through the dog’s life. Giving them good socialisation experiences when young means they are better able to cope, emotionally, with new things as older dogs.
If you are considering a puppy, or you have brought a little furry bundle of joy into your life already, get in touch now to find out how I can help you formulate a socialisation plan to start off on the right foot. Together, we can go through some important socialisation information and help you write your socialisation plan, I am also more than happy to discuss collars and harnesses, diet, grooming, teeth cleaning and any other aspects of dog behaviour and training with you.